Spotted i3 (wow it's ugly)

"ZDMW" (Dweiser)
03/15/2015 at 20:27 • Filed to: None

So I saw one of these on the road yesterday, pulled up to a red light look over and it was sitting next to me. It's shockingly ugly. I mean bad, weird lines all over the place, like its covered in giant tumors.

DISCUSSION (21)

Milky > ZDMW
03/15/2015 at 20:31

Kinja'd!!!

jkm7680 > ZDMW
03/15/2015 at 20:32

My best guess is that the designer was blind and drunk.

NotUnlessRoundIsFunny > ZDMW
03/15/2015 at 20:33

Yeah, they made it really stand out all right. The design seems so godawfully busy.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > ZDMW
03/15/2015 at 20:37

I sat in one and it looked like the dash was made of recycled paper. Odd..

area man > ZDMW
03/15/2015 at 20:47

I disagree. The front is just ok but I think the funky beltline will age well.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > ZDMW
03/15/2015 at 20:50

I saw one once drving down the highway on the oncoming side. Stood out way too much. Generic car, generic car, ugly pig beast, generic car, generic car

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > ZDMW
03/15/2015 at 20:51

As an enthusiast, I think the worst thing a car can be is boring, and the i3 is absolutely not boring looking. It's also not exactly attractive, but I'll take interestingly ugly over bland 100 times out of 100.

ZDMW > Milky
03/15/2015 at 21:21

I do love to hate, it's pretty much a past time of mine.

PyramidHat > ZDMW
03/15/2015 at 21:23

I hear you, but I have mixed emotions about these. When I first saw them, I felt the same: Fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. Now, a guy at work has one and...it's sort of grown on me...not that I'd run out and buy one, but I'm not so repelled by it...

Frank Grimes > ZDMW
03/15/2015 at 21:24

I dont think its that bad of course the shape is just bad to try to make a good looking car out of a smashed loaf of bread. I like the colors and and interiors are my favorite all the different textiles and materials is pretty cool.

Kinja'd!!!

ZDMW > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms
03/15/2015 at 21:30

I agree with you, I would rather look at an interesting car any day. Maybe it will be like the Juke for me, at first I was skeptical but now I quite like it. And this was a very quick look, just the rear 3/4 and a bit of the side.

phenotyp > ZDMW
03/15/2015 at 22:04

Where were you? I think a lot of it is context-specific, when it comes to looks. On a Midwestern-US highway? Yeah, probably looks wrong. San Francisco? Munich? Looks totally right.

Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast > ZDMW
03/15/2015 at 22:18

It biggest problem is that tech moves so fast, it will be painfully/laughably outdated in only 4 years.

willblake > ZDMW
03/15/2015 at 22:37

Compared to the other tiny cars out there, when I first saw one my double take was not because it was uglier, but only because it was new to me. Not many of the wee cars look that good to me, especially when they seen to be trying to hard to be stylish. The 90s econoboxes had a nice simplicity to them that was boring then but can be appreciated now...

Joe6pack > ZDMW
03/15/2015 at 22:37

I actually test drove one recently. I have been driving a Leaf for the past two and half years and my lease is up in October. I wasn't that impressed, honestly. It is supposed to be substantially faster than the Leaf, but it really didn't feel that much different. It does have three drive modes vs two in the Leaf. It is also much more expensive than the Leaf and the available packages and options are rather confusing. It only seats 4 and the rear doors arently really full doors either.

The interior looks like it was designed by Dieter from Sprockets using items purchased from Ikea. Berühren meine Apschminki!

Even in EV crazy Atlanta, I have only seen a couple of i3s in the wild.

While I was not left with the most positive impression, I will probably have to revisit it when I officially have to go car shopping later this year.

All in all it is an interesting concept, but given the competition, I am not sure where BMW was going with this one. I am glad they did it however as it makes the Leaf look downright normal.

willblake > willblake
03/15/2015 at 22:48

BTW, I wrote a thing I'd like to post to Oppo... could someone give me authorship, please?

ZDMW > phenotyp
03/16/2015 at 00:10

More or less its native environment, Watertown, MA (outside Boston). It would be considered a more working class area, although the houses/condos are still fucking expensive (greater Boston area housing market blows dicks).

ZDMW > area man
03/16/2015 at 00:11

I'll have to find in person I can walk around before i make my final judgment. I only had a quick view, but it did not leave a favorable impression on the looks department.

boxrocket > ZDMW
03/16/2015 at 01:24

If the side of the consisted of maybe three lines (bottom, window, roof) instead of several.with a few zig-zags, it'd look a lot better. I've spent a while at my local BMW dealerships and the side window treatments ruin the entire car. The weird windows serve no purpose that I've been able to figure out from inside or outside of the car, and look like the designer sneezed while drawing them, and went with it, because Honda did the same stupid thing with the current odyssey.

somemarine > Frank Grimes
03/16/2015 at 03:30

I test drove one of these and was left pretty impressed. Not 43k impressed, but impressed. I'm just not a potential EV buyer right now, I need a car that I can drive from coast to coast on a whim.

I loved the interior. My favorite out of all the modern cars I have driven, not withstanding the dorky steering wheel. I can understand why some people might not like it, but it worked for my hippy ass. If I could get that color scheme and real wood (bamboo) in a 2 or 3-series I would be back in a BMW.

Jonathan Harper > ZDMW
03/16/2015 at 08:48

It's actually really fun to drive. The two-tone color scheme isn't doing it any favors, it looks much more like any other hatchback in one solid color.