RE: Finally - a BMW i8 Roadster worth talking about

[Martin315]

MattsCar said:

I have never seen so much waffle in a car advert....

"Our 100-hour Pre-Sale Preparation Process:
This BMW i8 Roadster Hybrid has been subject to our innovative industry leading (up-to-100-hour) labour-intensive preparation process that is designed to satisfy even the most pedantic of enthusiasts. Our exacting standards have been met at each stage of our methodical process for this BMW i8 Plug In Hybrid Roadster to be offered for sale by Automotive Addiction.
The first part of this process is our crucial pre-purchase inspections, this includes Deep-Dive Diagnostics, Mechanical Inspection & Road Test Analysis to ensure what lies beneath the paintwork is of the highest degree of integrity, followed by an in-depth inspection of all exterior and interior surfaces which includes the Paint Protection Film, Paintwork, Wheels, Glass, Tyres & Interior with a rigorous Paintwork Depth Analysis which identifies to us the originality of the paintwork.
Any maintenance identified by us during our inspections have been completed before moving onto our pre-sale professional detailing work.
60 hours of meticulous preparation from our highly-skilled in-house professional detailers with over 10-years of experience has been completed prior to advertisement in our bespoke detailing studio
This includes deep ‘wheels-off’ decontamination cleanse, multi-stage paint correction, brake disc centre refurbishment and deep interior cleanse to ensure this BMW i8 Roadster Hybrid is presented to you in the most optimal condition possible regardless of age or mileage.
This unique industry-leading process has been documented by us in the form of photo and video. We have included some images of the work carried out in the gallery for this advert, we have also included a small clip in the walkaround video for this car, however much more content of the work carried out can be supplied to any prospective buyers on request.
Automotive Addiction has grown out of our unrivalled passion for perfection in vehicle preparation and performance.
Please contact us without delay, for a full breakdown on the preparation we have carried out on this BMW i8 Plug In Hybrid Roadster"

Couldn’t agree more. That sort of BS would make me look elsewhere.

[erics]

I had 3 i8’s all brand new. First one in 2014. Last one bought in first lockdown and identical to the car in this article. Still in the garage.

Love them, so useable, soothing and pleasant. Easy to drive and very easy to access the performance. They do not beat you up on modern UK roads. I had a 992 gts last year and that lasted 3 months it was so unbearable. Also has a high torque figure. I love the skinny tyres, something futuristic and different. Modern monster wide tyres are largely pointless in 99.9% of driving conditions and induce highly annoying rolling inside the cabin 100% of the time. Porsche, yes it’s you that i am talking about.

My i8 roadster has 3k miles now and i believe it belongs to the very small category of ‘special’ bmw’s. I loved the M1, Z8 etc but they are now out of reach. I will keep it for that reason. It also ‘feels’ special. Again more so than any modern 911.

What the article does not say is that hardly any of the last i8’s sold new for £125k. You could get a brand new one for £75-80k from a dealer with 0 miles. Back in 2014 when they came out they were trading at full price and even a premium for a few months before bmw started tripling production.

The 1.5 engine criticism is silly really. The Mercedes project one has an equally small motor and sells for £3m. In the future, 3rd parties will offer battery replacements at low cost with double the tange and possibly more performance. This only has more potential on that front.

Imv a star in the making. At least I did put my money on it. Even if it does not, i have a very nice car and getting great pleasure out of it.

[thelostboy]

It is worth noting that the 3cyl is a weak point on the car. I have replaced two engines so far with cars with less than 40,000 miles.

The Mini Cooper has the same engine, but there is a 100bhp disparity. It's fair to say in the Mini it is understressed, but even so, quite a hike for a little engine.

[964Cup]

I had a Roadster. Intriguing-looking thing, but...

• The drive is numb; the brakes are inadequate.
• It's quick-ish, but less so when the battery is discharged.
• The EV range, like most PHEVs, is too little for serious use. The motorway range at autoroute speeds is poor, because the tank is tiny and once the battery is flat you're in the usual upper-mid 20s mpg. I couldn't get from London to our French house (about 280 road miles) without a refuelling stop, despite starting with a full battery and tank.
• The Roadster has laughable storage space - a couple of shelves behind the seats and a tiny boot. I often wondered if I should have bought the coupe, but the later model coupe with the bigger battery was a very rare thing.
• It's absurdly large. I have no idea what they do with all the space under the skin, given the tiny engine, but it's longer and wider than a McLaren 750, which has significantly more luggage space as well as a socking big V8. A 7/8ths version would have made much more sense and been much wieldier - no width restrictors for you in your i8 sir, for a start.
• The interior really doesn't feel like even the £74k mine was when I bought it with 1k miles, never mind the £142k list price. Way too much plastic.

It was a huge disappointment, because I loved (still do) the idea and the looks.

[purpleperil]

Well you can no longer buy the E-Copper one referenced in the article

[biggbn]

Love these, love the wee triple, concept car come to reality...

[fflump]

"Of course, there can be no question whatsoever that the i8, with its three-cylinder petrol engine and charmingly small 11.6kWh battery, is a product of its time - but it is also arguably among the landmark BMWs of the past decade. And that’s traditionally a description that makes cars exceptionally collectable. "

It's a product of it's time, just as the iPhone 6 was back when the first i8s were being sold.
I don't think that makes it desirable per se.

[Olivera]

I despise these things, a faux sports car with skinny eco tyres, 3 cylinder engine and external speakers blasting out fake engine noises. It's a travesty compared to greats such as the E30 M3 and E46 M3 CSL.

[GTRene]

Olivera said:

I despise these things, a faux sports car with skinny eco tyres, 3 cylinder engine and external speakers blasting out fake engine noises. It's a travesty compared to greats such as the E30 M3 and E46 M3 CSL.

Batteries and motors out, S65 engine in, job jobbed.
the s65 v8 needs a light car, then it comes alive also at lower rpm.

[Still Mulling]

purpleperil said:

Well you can no longer buy the E-Copper one referenced in the article

Congrats, and enjoy! (If I've read between the lines correctly...)

If I were to come into the cash, I love the idea of running one as a second car when the kids have left home. Every time I see one on the road it catches my eye and makes me smile. Interesting to read the comments from owners who have had different usage cases and thus different opinions and levels of respect for the car.

[purpleperil]

Still Mulling said:

Congrats, and enjoy! (If I've read between the lines correctly...)

If I were to come into the cash, I love the idea of running one as a second car when the kids have left home. Every time I see one on the road it catches my eye and makes me smile. Interesting to read the comments from owners who have had different usage cases and thus different opinions and levels of respect for the car.

Thanks - arriving next week
Had an early coupe from new and covered nearly 15k miles in less than 2 years before selling. It was (is) a great car (imho) and I’m pleased to been able to secure a Roadster for less than I lost on the Coupe 😱.

Must stop reading the spotted section - that’s two I’ve bought now!

[cerb4.5lee]

GTRene said:

Olivera said:

I despise these things, a faux sports car with skinny eco tyres, 3 cylinder engine and external speakers blasting out fake engine noises. It's a travesty compared to greats such as the E30 M3 and E46 M3 CSL.

Batteries and motors out, S65 engine in, job jobbed.
the s65 v8 needs a light car, then it comes alive also at lower rpm.

I've always wanted to try the S65 V8 in a lighter car too.

I've always wondered what the S65 V8 would feel like if it was put in a Cerbera for example.

[CKY]

Olivera said:

I despise these things, a faux sports car with skinny eco tyres, 3 cylinder engine and external speakers blasting out fake engine noises. It's a travesty compared to greats such as the E30 M3 and E46 M3 CSL.

All a matter of perspective and opinion; when new I rejected the E30 M3 demonstrator we ran as my daily as it had 0 torque and was crap to drive at 80-100mph on the motorway due to the gearing and the harsh S14 4 cylinder engine - all because at the time I had an E28 M5. I'd probably do the same thing today if in the same situation tbh - add in to that the fact the M3 was wrong hand drive and not any quicker cross-country than my M5 meant I didn't rate it. If i'd been 5 years old watching touring cars on the television I would probably have lusted after an E30 M3, however I got to use them when new and I do not.

E46 M3 CSL with that gearbox... no.

[Still Mulling]

purpleperil said:

Thanks - arriving next week
Had an early coupe from new and covered nearly 15k miles in less than 2 years before selling. It was (is) a great car (imho) and I’m pleased to been able to secure a Roadster for less than I lost on the Coupe ??.

Must stop reading the spotted section - that’s two I’ve bought now!

So you're the reason PH Marketing sees an ROI on the feature.

[BFleming]

I drove an i8 on a Supercar Experience Day - drove 5 cars that day. I loved the tired old Ferrari 360 (F1); the manual Gallardo was ok; the auto Vantage was so clapped out I could have made a cup of tea between shifts; the Ariel Atom was scary, and last the BMW i8... car of the day for me
on the day. Hindsight has me firmly sitting in the 360 though!

[erics]

Big difference between driving a car 30mins on a race track and owning it, driving it on the road, doing mundane stuff with it.

The i8 is one of the very rare sporty cars that is great at going slow. Seems silly but very important to normal (non driving Gods) people like me.

[Martin 480 Turbo]

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Was the v8 retrofit ever finished and roadworthy?

[georgeyboy12345]

Martin 480 Turbo said:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Was the v8 retrofit ever finished and roadworthy?

Probably slower than the original hybrid version

[BlackandWhite]

Funny it is that we used to have people who bought cars and now we are immersed in a world full of collectors. Wonder where they keep their collections, houses are getting so much smaller.

[dave_rob]

An N55 squeezed in and some wider wheels would have made it really good but that wasn't the point of the car; hats off to BMW for doing it, other manufacturers may have surpassed the hybrid drivetrain now but it has taken 10 years. I've had mine since new (2015 coupe), 85k mile daily and for the ~£30k it's worth, there's still nothing I'd swap it for. Looks great, cheap to run given the pace it has, really well damped, most of it won't rust which is handy in the Scottish Highlands & 2 kids can be stuffed in the back.