All i4 owners please take this poll: Broken charging port? Yes or No?

Serph said:

Strangely enough this happened to mine today as well when I needed to charge — sitting at 22%. Have an appt with the dealer tomorrow morning. Couldn’t imagine this happening if I was taking it for a road trip/vacation somewhere.

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cruzer666 said:

Many of us have the $13 air wedge in our trunks for emergency situations. No issue popping it open, that’s what the service department does.

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Iridium said:

Is there any indication yet of the build range affected, or when BMW started using the revised part for builds from a date?

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Jonathan S. said:

Apologies in advance if this has already been posted, but this is a screen capture via a FB group of the official BMW technical instructions. I wonder if the tape is intended to prevent any loosened parts from flying about or instead to concentrate the force where it is most needed?

Note that many FB posters claim that forcing it open will void a warranty claim. This seems incorrect as the official BMW technique is exactly the same. Plus if you’re desperately in need of a charge, would BMW prefer to tow you for potentially hundreds of miles?

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cruzer666 said:

It will void the warranty on the cover pot itself, but most dealerships will submit it to warranty regardless since it is a known issue. YMMV but any dealership will understand you had to force it open.

The loose painters tap is there so the flap doesn’t fling open after it’s “popped”. This is very helpful information, I would’ve thought they would’ve insert the air wedge on the left side instead of the bottom.

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Magicrat said:

This would be so unfair if they said that the warrant was voided by forcing it open. If it happened at home I'd let them tow it, but out on the road I would force it open so I could go on my way and not wait for a tow and other nonsense BMW would have you do.

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cruzer666 said:

There’s not much monetary risk to pop the cover pot open. You’re looking at $100 for the pot and 2 labels and an hour of tech time to install it.

Like you said, it’s not worth waiting for a tow truck unless you’re home. I had 24% SoC when I discovered this which was enough to drive to the dealer luckily.

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Magicrat said:

You're right of course, but we shouldn't have to pay for a known part failure.

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Jonathan S. said:

Apologies in advance if this has already been posted, but this is a screen capture via a FB group of the official BMW technical instructions. I wonder if the tape is intended to prevent any loosened parts from flying about or instead to concentrate the force where it is most needed?

Note that many FB posters claim that forcing it open will void a warranty claim. This seems incorrect as the official BMW technique is exactly the same. Plus if you’re desperately in need of a charge, would BMW prefer to tow you for potentially hundreds of miles?

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kindofblue said:

And just a note to say that painter's tape is less likely to leave any residue compared to something like duct tape. Then again you'll need to use whatever you've got at hand.

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salamix said:

OK guys I understand you don't want to add a poll response for those without the car yet...

but what if.... my 6 year old 330e charge port flap decided to also get stuck?
Is this a BMW marketing trick to let me "experience" I4 stuff before the car is delivered? (some special perk after 1.5 years of waiting?)
Is this thread jinxed and anyone reading it will have some sort of flap get stuck in the near future?

given the info on this forum, I did manage to: remove the colored cover, and found out the mechanics are reversed (the rod is on the door and pushes "in" a hole in the car), and way easier to bypass, while waiting for a slot at the service center (3-4 weeks to get a diagnosis, then they will order some part and reschedule an appointment again 3-4 weeks later, hurraaay for service quality)

for those interested I made a short video of it given I found none on the interweb. (I did find various wrong official BMW video's that state the emergency release is to open the charge port door, while it is to unlock the plug!)

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gsbaker said:

If you have truly found a solution you should be nominated for the i4talk person of the year.

This from someone who has had no charger port problem, but bought a bladder jack just in case

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gsbaker said:

This from someone who has had no charger port problem

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