When YouTube’s Rich Rebuilds dropped his latest video, the headline alone was enough to make car enthusiasts spit out their coffee: “I Bought a $50,000 Electric BMW for $500 Because the Dealer Said It Wasn’t Worth Fixing.” What followed was a chaotic, hilarious, and surprisingly educational journey into the quirks of modern EVs, and the stubborn resilience of one particular BMW.
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The story begins with Rich snagging a sleek electric BMW, a car that once commanded a sticker price north of $50,000, for a mere $500. Why so cheap? The dealer had written it off, claiming repairs weren’t worth the trouble. For Rich, who has built a reputation on resurrecting hopeless machines, that was practically an invitation.
The car itself, a shiny-looking BMW i3, looked the part: futuristic lines, premium interior, exposed carbon fiber roof, efficiency-focused slim tires, joyous turning radius, and the kind of German engineering that whispers luxury. But beneath the polished exterior lurked a problem that would soon turn into a comedy of errors.
The Push Heard Around YouTube
Early in the video, Rich and his crew attempt the simple task of pushing the BMW. Simple, except it wasn’t. Despite being in neutral, the car resisted every shove like a stubborn mule. “It weighs nothing until you have to push it,” Rich quipped, “then it weighs exactly as much as my poor life decisions.”
The video captures the struggle vividly: Rich and the dealer grunting, joking about skipped leg days, and nearly getting run over as the car rolled unpredictably. At one point, someone compared it to pushing a car with four flat tires. The culprit? A subtle but relentless magnetic drag from the inverter, designed to protect the drivetrain. In other words, even in neutral, the BMW wasn’t about to roll freely.
Here’s where the video doubled as a crash course in EV mechanics. Unlike traditional cars, electric vehicles don’t disengage completely when shifted into neutral. Instead, the inverter maintains a tiny resistance, almost like winding up a flashlight. The faster you push, the harder it pushes back.
This design protects the motor but makes roadside shenanigans (like pushing a dead car into a garage) a workout worthy of a gym membership. At least viewers were reminded that EVs play by different rules.
The i3
Despite its quirks, the BMW i3 was a gem. In Rich’s own words: “This is one of the strangest EVs ever made, a carbon fiber electric BMW with a tiny range extender engine, weird cooling systems, and electronics that love to fail. The car wouldn’t charge, wouldn’t heat, and wouldn’t drive… but I had a feeling the dealer might’ve given up a little too quickly.” The i3, produced from 2013 to 2022, was a brilliantly innovative, ahead-of-its-time urban EV, now seen as a modern classic.
It was praised for its lightweight carbon-fibre construction, unique and practical interior, and peppy driving dynamics. However, its polarising design, relatively short range (especially early models), and expensive materials divided opinion. While not a mainstream sales success, the i3 was a courageous and influential “concept car for the road” that pushed the boundaries of sustainable design. It definitely left a cult of devoted followers, of which Rich is now a member.
Triumph Through Persistence
So how did it all end? After the sweat, jokes, and near‑mishaps, Rich managed to get the BMW moving and began the process of diagnosing its issues. The video closes not with defeat but with determination. For $500, he had secured a luxury EV that most people would have walked away from.
“We got the car charging, which are two huge milestones,” Rich says in the video, “cuz it was doing neither one of those before. Now, we have to figure out why the range extender isn’t working and why it won’t go into the drive. But I’m sure we’re going to figure that out next episode. Now, I may have added some more complication to the mix by buying a second vehicle, but you know what? It’s all in good fun. In the next episode, I want to accomplish those things, but I also want to get into some root cause analysis as to why this heater failed. See you guys next time.”
The dealer estimates the repairs will set Rich back around $40k. You should probably subscribe if you wish to keep tabs with this i3 project. After all, the fun lies in the struggle. The lesson? Even when a dealer says, “not worth fixing,” there’s always someone willing to prove them wrong.
