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BMW I8 Review

9.1K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  ezmaass  
#1 ·
Ok so finally had some time to drive the car and take some pics. Remember first day I got it, it blew rear strut assembly and they replaced it and flatbeded back to me. No issues since then. My comparison is to gen 1. Have not driven gen 2

Looks:

Car does get a ton of attention, maybe not as much as my spyder but very close. I still think r8 looks better as it is a cleaner design. That being said it does grow on you and it is a huge pain in the ass to wash with all the busy bodywork. I do think it is a bit busy, but over all I like it.

Egress:

Believe it or not I find it easier to get in and out of the I8 then the r8. The doors are not an issue and I do like them. As far as seat comfort goes I think the I8 is a little more comfortable, but the seats are a little narrow and not much adjustment. No heated steeering wheel.

DD: The I8 wins here as I drove it to manhattan twice and felt it was just much more comfortable and easier to drive going back and forth to NYC. The dash and controls are full digital and you have 4 drive modes, all electric, comfort , sport and eco pro. Each setting changes the suspension and steering etc.

Unique thing about the BMW is the carbon fiber chasis, which makes the whole car super stiff and super solid, never a creak, rattle, noise etc. It makes the car super quiet in electric mode and the car is built like a bank vault which improves its handling for the narrow tires on it.

Performance: I would say overall the car has 75% of the speed and handling of the r8. Maybe 80%. My son felt the car was faster seat of the pants. The electric motor gives you a huge boost of torque all the time and the tranny is super smooth. It feels more like a jet taking off then a conventional engine. You sort of have to drive it to understand it.


So combined with the carbon fiber chasis two electric motors and 3 cyclinder twin turbo it's pretty amazing driving. It's more like a Jekyll and Hide car. Performance when you want it and quiet when u want.

I have only filled the tank once in 500 miles, because in the morning I drive all electric, so no gas. It's average gas mileage is 37 and I don't drive it easy.

Sound: Sound is not as bad as you think even though it's piped in it sounds pretty good. I was shocked. Is it like my gmg exhaust not at all but it's nice. The other thing I like is the electric motor gives off this cool wine. You get a combo of both, very different. My son thinks it's cool. He didn't like it at first but was shocked at the performance.

So for my purpose of DD and for $1100 a month and 10k miles a year it's something I can drive everyday that's has real good performance and tech and you get great gas mileage.

I think the only other car like it would be P1 or Porsche 918. Nsx is not plug in hybrid and does not have all the carbon fiber chasis. Of course the other cars have way more performance, but they are like $1,000,000

So my review in a nutshell. Who knows in 30 months I may be in another r8.
 

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#2 ·
You can see all th carbon fiber in the door jam
 

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#4 ·
Lease, no money down. I did give a $8500 security deposit that they give you back at the end of the lease. It drops the monthly payment by about $100. Sticker was $144k got it for 124k. They put a real high residual and low money factor, that's why I did it. Sick deal. They are trying to move the 2016 models. BMW has a lot of trunk money on it. Did a 30 month lease because not sure if I was going to like it. Also allowed me to get my money out of my r8.

Not a bad deal for a DD.
 
#7 ·
It is different. Also steering feel not great. You have t drive it, more like. GT then an all out sports car and not a track car. It works for me for now.
 
#11 ·
I think they will take a big depreciation hit that's why I leased
 
#13 ·
I looked at one of these at a local bmw dealer. At first i was intrigued but couldn't get over the businessness of all the black plastic bodywork. The lack of a functional trunk was also strange.

Its futuristic for sure but i agree with the depreciation post. I think it'll drop very fast. Its overpriced imo for what it delivers.
 
#14 ·
10k a year. Yes the whole car is carbon fiber composites and the body panels are the same thing. I guess this will be the future to save weight, etc. it does mak the whole structure super stiff, so no rattles, no nothing.
 
#15 ·
So much for the theory of a soft market.

The i8 was released in Germany in June 2014. Deliveries to retail customers in the U.S. began in August 2014. Global sales since mid-2014 totaled more than 10,000 BMW i8s by early November 2016, making the i8 the world's top selling plug-in electrified sports car. The top selling markets are the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_i8
 
#19 ·
Glad it's been working out for you - it's an interesting car for sure, and I seriously thought about one as a replacement for my 550xi as a DD. I'm still wavering back and forth on whether to replace the 550xi with a 650xi GC. Talk about depreciation, though! As great as the 6GC looks, I think it drops $10k by the time you finish saying, "I just bought a..." :)

New G30 5 is coming out now, too - but honestly looks less sexy (to me) than the F10... both inside and out. The tech is the real appeal, though, as it's everything and more than the latest 7. Really thinking about the 6, though, before BMW goes and screws it up with the next model. :)