BMW Outlines i3’s

Wacky World: BMW Outlines i3’s Bizarrely Named Trim Levels

BMW has finally released rudimentary details surrounding its i3’s trim levels and standard and optional features. If you were expecting the German automaker to utilize its recently deployed Luxury, Sport, and M Sport trim level categories (dubbed “lines” in BMW-speak) for the otherworldly i3, well you were dead wrong. Instead, the Bavarians have gone full psychedelic on its carbon-fiber-intensive electric car, offering it in three unique “Worlds.”

Hold onto your hat, folks, because this gets weird. Each “World” correlates to what us earthlings commonly refer to as trim levels or models. The base i3 is called Mega World, and is followed by the Giga World and top-spec Tera World. Why BMW chose to name the different i3 iterations after various powers of 1000 is beyond us, not the least because we’re not sure whether an i3 Tera World really is 1,000,000 times better than a Mega World. (Hopefully it doesn’t cost a million times more than the Mega, which we assume is the base i3 BMW previously announced would cost $42,275.) Anyhow, here’s what separates the i3s, in non-nerd terms:

i3 Mega World: Standard 19-inch wheels; navigation; BMW ConnectedDrive; 7.4-kW on-board charger; LED headlights, taillights, and daytime running lights; and “Sensatec” and sustainable cloth interior trimmings. A leather-trimmed steering wheel is also included, but the capacity to overcome the guilt drawn from needlessly killing an animal for steering-wheel embellishment is not.

i3 Giga World: adds Giga-specific 19-inch wheels; leather- and wool cloth–wrapped interior; decadent contrasting stitching for the leather-wrapped steering wheel; universal garage-door opener; keyless access; a sunroof; and satellite radio.

i3 Tera World: adds Tera-specific 19-inch wheels, full-leather interior, textile accents with contrasting stitching, and anthracite floor mats.