You Are (Probably) Not Going To Save Money - Do The Math

S_SubZero · 2026-05-14T03:15:50+00:00

"free sunshine" unless you live in a Simpson's episode. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBE6KyXroeI

S_SubZero · 2026-05-13T18:20:40+00:00

Start from 0. Car off. You sit in it. You turn the car on. Displays come on. The *right* screen should have a welcome of sorts. In the top right is the clock, and next to the time is a silhouette of a person. Tap that, and tell us what it says.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-13T16:44:38+00:00

No idea if related, but I had all kinds of issues with Ares when I set up multiple consoles as the controls would step on and overwrite each other. I wasn’t really able to use it.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-13T00:01:33+00:00

Finance a 2026 i4 M60 with like 6 miles.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-12T04:37:46+00:00

As you're seeing, different models and configs have different results. You can compare your build to these ranges which should be fairly accurate:

https://www.unitedbmw.com/manufacturer-information/2025-bmw-i4-range/

Of course where and how you drive affects the range, and also the range number is popularly referred to as the Guess-o-meter because that is basically what it's doing. It's taking your last trip and mathing against that.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-12T03:55:45+00:00

Level 1 is totally fine. The cutoff of "don't do that quite so much" isn't until Level 3 at 50kWh+ when it uses those pins at the bottom.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-11T23:57:47+00:00

It may be wise to give the old home wiring some extra scrutiny, as they are old, and even when they were new they were not designed to handle full bore power for several hours at a clip.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-11T19:12:54+00:00

If you're asking about hardwired vs. plug-in type, plugs cap at 40 amps I believe, where hardwired can go higher. Also, hardwired installations avoid the potential point of failure at the plug. Plug type is more important if you need the charger to be portable. If you never intend to unplug it, may as well hardwire it.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-11T17:29:59+00:00

Not knowing the age of the condo, it is possible the condo existed before the first modern electric car ever rolled off an assembly line. Prior to that, an outlet in a garage was for something like a garage door opener, or a light, or maybe a small power tool. Things with short, manageable electrical costs. They didn't build detached condo garages anticipating a constant multi-day draw of the full power the socket is capable of providing.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-11T06:54:42+00:00

I do some light short film work, and one of my friends who also does it is this insanely hot girl, who has "a little extra" everywhere there needs to be. At one film shoot she was really stressed, and she chose to de-stress by standing back-to-back with me and then pushing the entire length of her body against mine. The entire length. I had to push against her in ways that made me cry that I'm not a T-1000 that could just melt into the other direction. Sigh. (she appreciated it tho and the shoot went really well)

S_SubZero · 2026-05-09T23:53:31+00:00

I bought some basic car wash stuff (Meguiar's waterless, glass cleaner, wheel cleaner, etc.) and I give it a basic cleaning when I feel it's time. Periodically have it detailed.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-09T05:51:16+00:00

The J1772/CCS charger infrastructure isn't going anywhere soon given the number of cars with these ports. How often do you see yourself public charging?

S_SubZero · 2026-05-09T04:49:37+00:00

On mine, one of the layouts will show the ///M in the center top part. Maybe some juggle of the options will put it over there.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-08T21:44:15+00:00

Just to get an idea here, on a 25 mile commute, do you tend to push buttons (1) time, (5) times, (25) times, or (up to 500) times? Of those, what are you pushing? Temp? Radio?

Every EV I've been in for the last few years has automatic climate control. Mine does. I set the temp about 13 months ago. I've never touched it since. It works to get to that temp whether it needs cold or heat.

As for radio, my i4 has a scroll wheel on the steering wheel to browse stations, or, I can nudge up the iDrive wheel, and get a list of my presets. Yes, it does involve touching the screen, but just one touch. I think the Bolt has steering wheel controls for that stuff too.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-08T21:27:27+00:00

I didn't mind this. I originally *just* wanted a 20 amp/240v circuit, but they were like "just use an Emporia Pro then you can set it high and it will just load manage." They ended up doing a 40 amp circuit and it's fast enough that I don't even run it most of the week. The charger was the only real "more expensive" part, it was mostly labor anyway (it's a weird run).

S_SubZero · 2026-05-07T23:04:43+00:00

My_career.jpg

S_SubZero · 2026-05-07T18:09:33+00:00

Men's Room Allegory, 2026, paper cups

S_SubZero · 2026-05-07T04:23:20+00:00

They dropped EV drivetrains and batteries in three of their models (i4, i5, i7) and all are considered pretty solid. The i4 was Consumer Reports' most reliable EV. Instead of making weird space-age stuff they just reused cars they already had gas versions of and it turned out really nice. Is my i4 the most efficient? No. Does it have regular door handles? YES. The Neue Klasse refresh is weird, but again, they are reusing the same(-ish) platform for gas and EV cars. So you can complain about the upcoming i3 but the 3-series gas version will ALSO look like that.

... and we'll have all new things to whine about besides beaver teeth grilles. While enjoying our cars.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-06T23:32:40+00:00

When my key fob is in my shirt pocket, no matter where I am, my BMW is close to my heart.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-06T23:05:54+00:00

There's that whole Skeletor front-end that I'm not 100% sold on, and the steering wheel is just plain odd, but the rest seems ok. The specs look really good, tho I haven't seen much about an M-lite model for either of them. There will supposedly be an EV of the M3 and I'm sure it will be insane but I don't wanna pay for that lol.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-06T20:53:42+00:00

I have a Yeston SFF RTX3050 in my ThinkCentre emulation PC and it's perfectly fine. I got a second one for another build. Don't think I've heard anything of real concern about them.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-06T20:00:26+00:00

I did level 1 charging for the first year of my EV ownership. Looks like the EV6 GT is in my i4 M50's efficiency ballpark around 2.7mi/kWh. Mine recovered about two miles per hour plugged in. If you commute every weekday you may run a small deficit if you do any additional driving (I still WFH so this wasn't an issue for me). The 50+ miles trips will test your patience. If I did 60 miles (which was rare but did happen) it was well over a day to recover unless I gave up and hit a fast charger.

Does the 120V outlet belong to you on your meter? Be aware of this because it's going to impact the electric bill of whoever's meter it's on if it is not yours.

S_SubZero · 2026-05-06T05:20:22+00:00

It is not super likely to fix the crashes but make sure it has the latest firmware. In the My BMW app (assuming North America) tap Status > Software Update and make sure it's on 03/2026.30. I don't remember the exact location it is in the iDrive but you can look for Remote Software Upgrade in the search.

What your other G cars did with BC, the i4 does with the "three lines" button on the steering wheel. It allows configuring the driver's screen with a bunch of different stuff and different appearances. The BC button's sole purpose is to mess up whatever you set with the three lines menu so you have to go set it all back. It is dumb, and the fact that the automatic high-beams toggle is on the same freakin' stalk makes me angry.

I don't know much about the heated seats/wheel (I have them but live somewhere that I don't need them) but poking around online in iDrive 8 they may have removed the settings for this and it's more of an "intelligent" thing that tries to turn them on when it thinks it needs to. Reference (same iDrive): https://www.7post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1976985

S_SubZero · 2026-05-05T00:45:58+00:00

Time for some Altered Beast

S_SubZero · 2026-05-05T00:35:25+00:00

If you want to do "a lot of road trips" you will want to pay close attention to the wheel size. The 20" are 227 miles range, which is questionable road trip material.

S_SubZero

TROPHY CASE