RE: BMW i8 | PH Carbituary

RE: BMW i8 | PH Carbituary

Author
Discussion

Alfapapatango

69 posts

52 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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She’d.

Alfapapatango

69 posts

52 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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Hate predictive tits. Shed.

Alfapapatango

69 posts

52 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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BFleming said:
I still rate the i8 as the best car I've driven. But it wasn't £100k great. And I think that's where it has struggled. This thread makes for an interesting read (in case you haven't seen it before): https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Fake car. Fake noise. Pointless but at least they gave it a go. Huge fail. You need to drive some other cars I might suggest.

modeller

444 posts

166 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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Alfapapatango said:
Fake car. Fake noise. Pointless but at least they gave it a go. Huge fail. You need to drive some other cars I might suggest.
Your loss.

Had one for a week (thanks chargemaster) and thoroughly enjoyed it. It had 93k miles on the clock and still felt fresh.

JD2329

478 posts

168 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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The best looking, and most interesting BMW for many years.
A pity IMO, that it struggled to clarify exactly what it provided.

The hybrid element contributes considerably to the performance, but ultimately the powertrain is dependent on its ICE. A pure EV range of 23 miles doesn't amount to much.
At its price point, a 3 cylinder turbo, irrespective of how impressive it is, has its work cut out to compete against some very heavyweight competition.
I admire the work that went into creating it, but commercially it was £50k too expensive.

anonymous-user

54 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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Olivera said:
Absolutely abject as a sports car - 3 cylinders and *external* speakers playing fake engine sounds. Just no.
I'm intrigued, what was it about the car, when you drove it, or spent any meaningful time with one, meant it felt 'absolutely abject' as a sports car?

For all those commenting on it's supposed inadequacies, happy to hear about your thoughts on styling, etc, but if you've never spent time driving one, please let's not hear your opinions on the driving experience, because if you haven't done that, then they don't count, and I'm guessing few are really interested in the myopic prejudices of internet randoms.

RoverP6B

4,338 posts

128 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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Awful looks. Awful powertrain. Can't really see what there is to like about it.

They could at least have put the S65 engine in, coupled to the hybrid gubbins, to make it a bit more engaging.

BFleming

3,594 posts

143 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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Alfapapatango said:
BFleming said:
I still rate the i8 as the best car I've driven. But it wasn't £100k great. And I think that's where it has struggled. This thread makes for an interesting read (in case you haven't seen it before): https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Fake car. Fake noise. Pointless but at least they gave it a go. Huge fail. You need to drive some other cars I might suggest.
Not that I need to defend myself, but I've driven a few. The i8 impressed me. I appreciate it doesn't impress everyone though, but it's hardly pointless.

cerb4.5lee

30,467 posts

180 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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Whenever I've seen one out on the road I've always thought that they look great. I'd imagine them to be a proper head turner as well when you are driving one.

With the money that I'd imagine it cost to develop this...I would have liked to see a successor to the old M1 instead or similar. BMW seem quite adverse to building a proper sporty car for some reason.

Gameface

16,565 posts

77 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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MrOrange said:
Gameface said:
Battery longevity/replacement costs keep me from taking a closer look at these.
8 year, 100k miles warranty as standard. The battery is one pack (7kWh) from the i3, replacement/recycle should be in the low thousands on an older car so not a high-cost to factor in in terms of ownership.

Batteries are, on the whole, lasting well - some total failures, but rare and usually in the warranty period. I'd worry more about bore-scoring on a 911, or gearbox replacement on other similar GT/exotica.
Interesting. Cheers for that.

PhantomPH

4,043 posts

225 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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modeller said:
Had one for a week (thanks chargemaster) and thoroughly enjoyed it. It had 93k miles on the clock and still felt fresh.
93k miles?? Was it still on it's original battery pack, do you know? If so, that is surely the best answer to those saying they worry about battery longevity.

aaron_2000

5,407 posts

83 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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I think had it been a hybrid with a straight 6 then it would've sold a lot better. It's a shame they didn't go full EV with it really.

sidesauce

2,469 posts

218 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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Alfapapatango said:
Fake car.
What? How exactly is it a fake car? Does it not exist? Can it not be driven on a public road? What are you on about!?


Alfapapatango

69 posts

52 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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Mutton dressed as lamb.
3 series interior Pug engine pile of pooh.
Slow with terrible handling and zero EV range.
So not a ‘sports car or an EV’.
So what ‘was’ it?

Alfapapatango

69 posts

52 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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JD2329 said:
The best looking, and most interesting BMW for many years.
A pity IMO, that it struggled to clarify exactly what it provided.

The hybrid element contributes considerably to the performance, but ultimately the powertrain is dependent on its ICE. A pure EV range of 23 miles doesn't amount to much.
At its price point, a 3 cylinder turbo, irrespective of how impressive it is, has its work cut out to compete against some very heavyweight competition.
I admire the work that went into creating it, but commercially it was £50k too expensive.
Great summary.

anonymous-user

54 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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Amazes me how BMW were so far ahead of the initial curve with the I3 and I8 then didn't seem to capitalise on that.

Alfapapatango

69 posts

52 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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JIMMYJ4ZZ said:
Amazes me how BMW were so far ahead of the initial curve with the I3 and I8 then didn't seem to capitalise on that.
That’s my badly made point and agree. Pointless if they learned to delete it rather than develop in this sector. It really is not what it thinks it is. But it certainly could be .

BigChiefmuffinAgain

1,062 posts

98 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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I think it shows just how much BMW have lost their mojo in the last few years. I3 and I8 were way ahead of the curve but they were NOT commercial successes.

They seemed to lose their confidence since then. Design has gone seriously odd ball ( especially the grill ) and they seem to have become a follower where once they were a leader. And I am writing as someone who has enjoyed 6 of them over the years.

Very sad but also slightly strange.... Hard to understand why they have got it so wrong.

BFleming

3,594 posts

143 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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Alfapapatango said:
stuff
3 series interior Pug engine pile of pooh. As in Winnie the Pooh? Not as bad as the N13 Prince engine. The 3cyl is a lot better.
Slow with terrible handling and zero EV range. Eh? Not slow (4.4 seconds to 60, 155mph), not terrible handling, and a 23 mile EV range (not zero).
So not a ‘sports car or an EV’. A hybrid maybe? Definitely a sports car. Not a repmobile, not a saloon,not a people carrier.
So what ‘was’ it? Desirable to some people, and nowhere near as bad as you think it was.

Just out of curiosity, what is your experience based on? Ownership? Leasing? Hiring? Driving? Looking? Genuine question.
Why the downer on the i8?

Edited by BFleming on Thursday 19th March 21:50

edit

56 posts

170 months

Thursday 19th March 2020
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Loved mine. It was the perfect winter sports car. Drove it throughout the Swedish winter a couple of years back. Regularly in heavy snow, and double digit negative temps. Just enough space for a baby seat in the back and a stroller in the boot.