BMW I8 battery life

[culminator]

I've got to the point where I've nearly convinced myself that my next toy will be a used I8 and not another high performance ICE. Looking at used values, I can shortly justify spending 60-65k on the right car and the values will be there quite soon I guess.

Whilst the car will be used as a weekend toy, I really do not want to be lumbered with massive maintenance bills in the future. Therefore, I was wondering about the forecasted life of the main battery. I'd heard that these would be about £30k to replace?. If so, how long are they supposed to last?

Everything else about the car stacks up for me.

Thanks!

[danp]

I can't see why they'd be any different from the battery in say a Prius and pretty much never need replacing. (well let's say 10/15 years min). I'm sure it's state of charge etc will constantly be monitored and the ICE turned on as and when required to keep it in good shape for as long as possible.

And it's only a small battery anyhow - 7.1kwh so IF it did need replacing I couldn't see it being anything like 30k! (Leaf/i3 battery of circa 20kwh are about 5k IIRC). Or you'd likely be able to get it refurbed once EV's are more common and specialists are about to perform such work.

Edit: NB if it's to be used as an occasional car it'd probably help with battery life if you can plug it in, and not just rely on self charging.

Edited by danp on Tuesday 13th December 19:56

[culminator]

Thanks danp, if that's the case and the batteries are far longer lived and a lot less cost than what I've heard, I really do think I'll take the plunge in the Spring.

[hajaba123]

I'm also considering a used I8 at some point, how have you got on organising test drives etc?

A lot of the AUC cars seem to be held in central stock whatever that is

[danp]

Might be worth a read/posting on here: (not sure what the "best" forum would be for an i8, but this one is UK based at least):

https://speakev.com/forums/bmw-i8/

[FeelingLucky]

I've just got a new i8 and I'm pretty sure an 8 year HV battery guarantee was mentioned.

Give your local dealer a ring and ask for a test drive, they fell over themselves to get me into a demonstrator.
Overnight test too.

It worked though, as the used one I was originally enquiring about had a deposit down on it, they got me into a new one for not too much more.

Now it's winter the deals on offer *may* be even keener?

[TheBMWDriver]

I was offered 20 500 off and 0% finance on a new one, I think there was another 5k discount to be had.

I paid 66k for a used one in the end, one year old and 10k miles.

[comrie]

TheBMWDriver said:

I was offered 20 500 off and 0% finance on a new one, I think there was another 5k discount to be had.

I paid 66k for a used one in the end, one year old and 10k miles.

£20500 off with possibly more on the table......that seems to be a massive discount !!!
anyone else get near this figure?


stv

[FeelingLucky]

That was the deal I got, I pushed hard for more (as their trade in offer on my 997 was soo poor), after a good couple of week of negotiation I was convinced no more was to come, so I signed, and sold my car to 911V.

[MrOrange]

BMW FS are currently publishing a 15.5k contribution on their site so I would imagine getting more than 20k off is achievable with some jiggery pokery.

[TheBMWDriver]

MrOrange said:

BMW FS are currently publishing a 15.5k contribution on their site so I would imagine getting more than 20k off is achievable with some jiggery pokery.

yes 20 500 is easy, 2300 doable and 25 500 was on the table at one point all with 10% finance.

I bought used at £65k for 15 months old and good spec.

[anonymous-user]

culminator said:

I've got to the point where I've nearly convinced myself that my next toy will be a used I8 and not another high performance ICE. Looking at used values, I can shortly justify spending 60-65k on the right car and the values will be there quite soon I guess.

Whilst the car will be used as a weekend toy, I really do not want to be lumbered with massive maintenance bills in the future. Therefore, I was wondering about the forecasted life of the main battery. I'd heard that these would be about £30k to replace?. If so, how long are they supposed to last?

Everything else about the car stacks up for me.

Thanks!

It's funny how people think about EVs.

When going in to buy say an M3, which is a less expensive car than an i8, has ANYONE ever said "Well, i like the car, i can afford to buy it, but in 10 years time i don't want to buy a new engine for it"? No, no they haven't.....

In reality, 2 different scenarios are possible:

1) car depreciates as normal, so in 8 to 10 years time, it's worth buttons. Your original large outlay has gone. if something expensive fails (battery for an EV, or Engine, gearbox, diff, or about 10 other complex, expensive, mechanical parts that wear continuously as you drive) then the car is scrap

2) Car becomes a classic. Expensive bits fail, Car is worth good money so you replace those parts.


On an EV, the battery is easy to change, can be re-furbished or re-cycled, and due to the mechanical simplicity of the rest of the car, it's more likely to be worth replacing. On a 10 yo 150kmile m3, if the engines gone bang, then theres a good chance the rest of it is knackered too.....

[culminator]

Not correct

The battery warranty lasts 8 years, so if I buy a 3 year old I8, I have 5 years of comfort left. If I decide to sell the car on after a further 3 years, who is really going to want to take the risk of battery failure with only 2 years of warranty remaining. Hence the logical question of how much does the battery cost to replace.

You have assumed its easy and inexpensive to replace, what is that based on?

[anonymous-user]

culminator said:

Not correct

The battery warranty lasts 8 years, so if I buy a 3 year old I8, I have 5 years of comfort left. If I decide to sell the car on after a further 3 years, who is really going to want to take the risk of battery failure with only 2 years of warranty remaining. Hence the logical question of how much does the battery cost to replace.

You have assumed its easy and inexpensive to replace, what is that based on?

eh? You mean exactly the same situation as occurs on a conventional dino powered BMW at just 3 years old??

Buy say an M3 at one day over 3 years old, and if the transmission goes bang as you drive it off the forecourt, you're looking at something like an 8 grand bill..........

[RE66ELL]

Hi, after much negotiation was offered 25K of a new one but went for a year old one for 63K with 11K miles and 5K BMW finance contribution recently. Replaced by Ferrari 458 with the i8, what a car

Now thinking of making the following change to it to beef up the exhaust sound

BMW i8 - Maserati exhaust sound

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrwHIwGs0HY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRYygiXZRi4


Has anyone does this or Maxhaust? if so what you think of the results,? tempted?

Thanks

[TheBMWDriver]

lol I was just looking at a thread on the BMW i8 forum about that not long again. Let me know how you get on if you do it.

Did you pay 63k less another 5k discount for a 2015 car? if so you did really well. I just paid 65k for a 2015 car with 10k miles

[hajaba123]

Test drive arranged for Wednesday, looking forward to it

[Wayne95]

Hi all you i8 owners

Just restarting this thread. How are you getting on with the used i8s bought.

Thinking of swapping my vantage for one as a daily driver. What sort of economy do you get on the motorway ?

I will be plugging in at home and work , with a 70 mile commute each way.

Any comment now you are a few months in ?

[FeelingLucky]

Wayne95 said:

Hi all you i8 owners

Just restarting this thread. How are you getting on with the used i8s bought.

Thinking of swapping my vantage for one as a daily driver. What sort of economy do you get on the motorway ?

I will be plugging in at home and work , with a 70 mile commute each way.

Any comment now you are a few months in ?

55ish on the motorway.

If you can manage your journeys to be EV from the point you leave an M or A road to work and back again you will see dramatic economy.

Obviously short journeys can be done entirely EV, and this is what I find most beguiling about the car. It's a supremely comfortable and relaxing place to be, more so than any other car I've had. Particularly in urban crawl.

Whilst most of the reviewers got about 40mpg during their time with the car (as did I to be fair on my two day loan) living with the car and not needing to flip it into Sport mode all the time, I'm averaging nearer 100mpg, clearly I do a lot of EV driving. With practice, you'll learn how to use the modes to arrive home with the EV range depleted.

[Wayne95]

Thanks. Sounds like you are enjoying it.

has the interior quality stood up to a few 1000 miles driving or have the squeaks arrived.