Recently, we've seen the BMW i3 in a bit of trouble because some of its airbags supposedly fail to deploy in low-speed crashes. That's brought more negative attention to the i3 electronic vehicle because its German auto manufacturer is now facing a recall for it. BMW just announced a special edition i3 that might help the image of the car improve in the public eye. While it's not as extreme as this orange custom i3 that makes V12 noises, it still features some refined new touches.

The base version of the "Shadow Sport Edition" i3 still gets a fairly short 81-mile range battery. It's no improvement in that area since last year. So what makes this special edition BMW so special? Well, for one thing, you can now get a sunroof on it. This simple feature has been available on European models of the car since 2013, so it's about time the United States got this option. The limited edition paint on this little car is called "Fluid Black" and is only available on this model.More important than a sunroof or special black paint, however, is the fact that this new i3 has a revised, sport-tuned suspension. No specifics are yet available on what those suspension upgrades will entail. One concerning factor about this version of the i3 is that it bases at $43,395.

Want the extended range version because you want to go somewhere more than 80 miles away? That'll cost you $47,245. To put that in perspective, for the cost of this range-extended i3, you could buy a 2007 Porsche 911 Cabrio S, or a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8, or a slightly used BMW M3, or (where I live) a low-mileage 1996 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur. We understand that someone considering a new i3 special edition probably isn't interested in any of the above gas-guzzling, environment-destroying cars, but it at least demonstrates that there are certainly SOME better options for $47,000+.