Self-Parking Denial - 2014 BMW i3 Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Self-Parking Denial - 2014 BMW i3 Long-Term Road Test

People think they're good at parallel parking, and they don't want help from self-parking tech like they'd get in the 2014 BMW i3.

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vvk

Most i3 owners avoid using this feature because it has been reported to curb the expensive wheels.

I am currently test driving an i3 REx and I must say it is an impressive car. With some big flaws.

ebeaudoin

I like to think I'm quite good at parallel parking. I can confidently park my '01 Camry and '10 Odyssey. I don't think I would attempt to parallel park my dream truck- a 2015 F-150 SuperCrew 6.5' bed. I'll park farther away and walk if I get my hands on one of those.

kirkhilles1

vvk said:

Most i3 owners avoid using this feature because it has been reported to curb the expensive wheels.

I am currently test driving an i3 REx and I must say it is an impressive car. With some big flaws.

Could you elaborate on those flaws? I'd be honestly interested to hear them.

5vzfe

I could parallel park my family's old 2001 Grand Caravan pretty easily - it was the vehicle I learned to drive and park in, and the one I used for my driver's license test. My personal 2002 4Runner, not so much. Even though I've been driving the Toyota for much longer, I have a difficult time parallel parking it without driving onto the curb. The turning radius must be much larger than the van's or I just suck, because even though it's a much shorter vehicle, I can rarely get into a parallel parking spot gracefully with it. Luckily the tires are wider than the wheels and the truck is higher than the curb

bnovida

C'mon. The i3 is such a short car. If you need parking assistance, you don't deserve to be driving this car.

markedwards

I've had my i3 for 17 months, using the parking system two to three times per week on the streets of San Francisco, arguably one of the most challenging cities for parking, thanks to the hills and generally tight quarters. While I'm not saying it's perfect, the system has never curbed one of my wheels. Yes, the i3's size and overall maneuverability makes it easy to park but I still turn on the system more often than not because it excels at identifying and putting the car into spaces barely longer than itself.

tom_in_mn

Getting to use a back up camera should make it trivial. I've found that mine removes all the hard parts: seeing were the curb is and how far you can back up.

schen72

Tilting down the passenger side mirror helps a lot in not curbing your wheels. Many cars do this automatically when you reverse.

csubowtie

I wouldn't use it just to keep my driving skills sharp. Let's face it, my normal drives provide very little in difficulty or skill necessary, kind of like playing a video game on easy. You can do it flawlessy, but it doesn't mean your good at the game or could handle a difficult situation.

redwoodgeorge

I just recently demonstrated the i3's self parking for friends and they both said "OMG, I want this feature in my car!!!" I can parallel park a car just fine but it's much easier to let the car do the thinking...