BMW i8 - Outstanding

[MKA29]

Anyone received the battery software update for their i8?

Salesman told me all i8s will get the update, which will theoretically increase electric range to the same as the new model

[iain123]

How's that going to work? I thought the new ones had a larger capacity battery.

[MKA29]

iain123 said:

How's that going to work? I thought the new ones had a larger capacity battery.

Salesman said was the same battery just a software upgrade

[EddieSteadyGo]

MKA29 said:

Salesman said was the same battery just a software upgrade

Salesman is confused.

article said:

The most notable change is the car's battery pack; out goes the old 7.1kWh pack, replaced by new 34Ah cells, to give the revised i8 a total of 11.6kWh.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/01/bmw-gives-the-i8-hybrid-sports-car-a-battery-and-power-boost-for-2018/

[wilwak]

Mines due it’s 2 year service and they’ve said they want to have it for two days to make some upgrades..... not safety related.

Not sure what that’s all about?

[j80jpw]

Didn’t think I’d see one in Dubai due to the low fuel prices but here you go.... doesn’t look particularly standard?

[johnnyreggae]

MKA29 said:

Anyone received the battery software update for their i8? Salesman told me all i8s will get the update,

I was advised last week by an i8 programme manager that the factory is investigating a driver-purchasable upgrade to replace the current batteries with the latest version which makes it sound like a bit more than software (as noted in the other post above)

First indications are that today's car's 15 mile capacity is a genuine 35 miles with the new batteries

[culminator]

That sounds more like it. I'd be really interested in knowing how much the upgrade will cost and when/if it's available.

[MKA29]

johnnyreggae said:

I was advised last week by an i8 programme manager that the factory is investigating a driver-purchasable upgrade to replace the current batteries with the latest version which makes it sound like a bit more than software (as noted in the other post above)

First indications are that today's car's 15 mile capacity is a genuine 35 miles with the new batteries

That sounds more realistic, thanks

If anyone hears any further info incl pricing, please let us know

I think this will probably firm up used prices as older cars can essentially be upgraded to 'new spec'?

[EddieSteadyGo]

MKA29 said:

I think this will probably firm up used prices as older cars can essentially be upgraded to 'new spec'?

To some degree, but I believe the new 2018 version also has a slightly more powerful electric motor (extra 12hp).

II agree it will be very interesting to find out what BMW decide to charge for the battery upgrade. My finger in the air guess would be £8,000 inc fitting and VAT.

I can't see it costing much less than that by the time everyone has added their margin into the price.

[modeller]

When the i3 had the battery update, BMW UK decided not to offer it as an upgrade.

[FeelingLucky]

Mine went in mid May for an oil service, and they wanted it for the full day to undertake software revisions.

Once returned to me with the battery completely flat, I went home and charged it.

Late that same night, I noticed it was still charging (display key showing 99%) many hours after is should have finished.
I waited for it to finish, and then monitored it, sure enough, within 5 minutes, the charge level dropped from 100% to 99% and it started charging again, rinse and repeat.

I checked the telemetry of my Tesla Powerwall, and it revealed it had been doing this for hours. I unplugged it and contacted Sytner who couldn't fit me in for a "No fault found diagnosis" for a week.

During that week, the issue never reoccurred.

Once back at Sytner for the diagnosis predicted earlier, I got the distinct impression that they didn't believe me, and they sent me on my way.

A few days later they emailed me s Customer Satisfaction Survey which I completed. Within hours I had a reply demanding to know how I could possibly be dissatisfied. I replied that I was somewhat surprised they'd asked the questions in the first place, and that surely he'd checked for ongoing issues before sending the survey. Apparently not.

The reply came back filled with concerned buzzwords, and promising an investigation and explanation, needless to say, this never happened.

The charging issue HAS reoccurred, but it sorted itself after a few more minutes.

Beware.

[anonymous-user]

EddieSteadyGo said:

MKA29 said:

Salesman said was the same battery just a software upgrade

Salesman is confused.

article said:

The most notable change is the car's battery pack; out goes the old 7.1kWh pack, replaced by new 34Ah cells, to give the revised i8 a total of 11.6kWh.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/01/bmw-gives-the-i8-hybrid-sports-car-a-battery-and-power-boost-for-2018/

You could increase range on the same physical battery pack by reducing the 'unusable' proportion of the charge. All modern batteries have some portion that cannot be accessed, or more accurately, is prevented from being accessed by the Battery Management Software (BMS). This is done to maximise battery life, by preventing the battery being discharged down to a true zero State of Charge (SoC). Early EVs had very conservative BMS calibrations, often with over 20% of the battery being 'unusable', but as battery degradation has generally found to be not as bad as originally feared, a re-calibration to release a bit more capacity would be possible.


For example, the 'small battery' i3 has a nominal 22kWh battery, but only around 18kWh is useable. So far, battery degredation looks to be very minimal indeed, with i3's over 100kmiles showing just a couple of percent reduction of capacity, so a recalibration of the BMS to release say an extra 1.8kWh would add around 10% to the vehicle range without any h/w changes....

As the battery in the i8 is small however, the gains available would be pretty small, probably in the order of a couple of extra miles at best.....

[JimmyCauty]

I picked up my i8 new 9 months ago, and am absolutely delighted with it.

I generally charge it at home when not in use, and for trips in & around the city tend to use only e-drive. As a result, i'm seeing average mpg over the 3400 miles on the odometer at nearly 60mpg. Coming from a Mercedes that averaged 22.1mpg over 15000 miles - this is a huge difference.

I am really impressed with how versatile the car is. Sport mode is very engaging, sounds great (I know it's artificial) and the car really does feel stuck to the road even when pushed on B roads. In the city, it crawls along silently and probably has a realistic range of around 13-14 miles on battery only.

The charge points in Glasgow city centre are free to use (pay for parking only), so it's useful to be able to drive there on battery, fast charge whilst shopping and drive home without using a drop of fuel!

The car still looks amazing in my opinion, and i'm have been asked many times "what is that?" whilst parking or plugging in the charge cable. They are still a relatively rare sight - so I guess many people may not have actually seen one before.

The interior is a great place to be, albeit without little things you'd expect to see in a car this price, e.g. vanity lights on the visor mirror, storage space for more than a mobile phone, Apple Carplay, memory seats, multiple USB ports etc...

All in all, a great car and one that brings a smile to my face when pushed along.

[MKA29]

JimmyCauty said:

I picked up my i8 new 9 months ago, and am absolutely delighted with it.

I generally charge it at home when not in use, and for trips in & around the city tend to use only e-drive. As a result, i'm seeing average mpg over the 3400 miles on the odometer at nearly 60mpg. Coming from a Mercedes that averaged 22.1mpg over 15000 miles - this is a huge difference.

I am really impressed with how versatile the car is. Sport mode is very engaging, sounds great (I know it's artificial) and the car really does feel stuck to the road even when pushed on B roads. In the city, it crawls along silently and probably has a realistic range of around 13-14 miles on battery only.

The charge points in Glasgow city centre are free to use (pay for parking only), so it's useful to be able to drive there on battery, fast charge whilst shopping and drive home without using a drop of fuel!

The car still looks amazing in my opinion, and i'm have been asked many times "what is that?" whilst parking or plugging in the charge cable. They are still a relatively rare sight - so I guess many people may not have actually seen one before.

The interior is a great place to be, albeit without little things you'd expect to see in a car this price, e.g. vanity lights on the visor mirror, storage space for more than a mobile phone, Apple Carplay, memory seats, multiple USB ports etc...

All in all, a great car and one that brings a smile to my face when pushed along.

Glad to hear you're happy with it!! Can't wait until I find the right one

Anything you dislike with the car?

[JimmyCauty]

MKA29 said:

Glad to hear you're happy with it!! Can't wait until I find the right one

Anything you dislike with the car?

I'd say the only things i'd like to see (rather than actually dislike) - other than those mentioned in my original post - are:

• Windows that go all the way down
• Some sort of protection on the sill that won't scratch so easily. It's so easy to scratch the door sills simply by getting in and out of the car
• The option to engage reverse whilst the engine is in sport mode. As soon as you select reverse, it defaults to e-drive
• Homelink buttons that actually talk to the gate receiver (A Homelink issue rather than BMW though)

Other than these small 'first world problems', I can't really fault the car. I was advised to go for the carbon interior trim by a fellow owner, and am so glad I did. The difference between the one I had for a weekend test drive, and the one I ordered is remarkable. It's a fairly expensive option, but well worth it in my opinion.

Mine is the white one here...

[wilwak]

JimmyCauty said:

MKA29 said:

Glad to hear you're happy with it!! Can't wait until I find the right one

Anything you dislike with the car?

I'd say the only things i'd like to see (rather than actually dislike) - other than those mentioned in my original post - are:

• Windows that go all the way down
• Some sort of protection on the sill that won't scratch so easily. It's so easy to scratch the door sills simply by getting in and out of the car
• The option to engage reverse whilst the engine is in sport mode. As soon as you select reverse, it defaults to e-drive
• Homelink buttons that actually talk to the gate receiver (A Homelink issue rather than BMW though)

Other than these small 'first world problems', I can't really fault the car. I was advised to go for the carbon interior trim by a fellow owner, and am so glad I did. The difference between the one I had for a weekend test drive, and the one I ordered is remarkable. It's a fairly expensive option, but well worth it in my opinion.

Mine is the white one here...

Mine looks exactly like yours Jimmy. Great looking car.

I find the sports seats a bit uncomfortable mainly due to the large side bolsters. I’m the same in most sports seats these days. I prefer a flatter seat area. Can’t see this obsession with sports seats!

The car really does look amazing. It’s a pity they don’t do a purely petrol version! 🤣🤣

[GrahamPM]

I do think that the White i8’s look stunning; my coupe was same as with those turbine wheels and Carpo Halo interior. No carbon as it wasn’t an option when I ordered mine.
I’ve three weeks to wait for the new Roadster to arrive - I’ve had the emails from the factory saying, “it’s on its way!” But can’t collect it until the official launch date of the 26th
This time I’ve gone for the launch spec in E-Copper with orange leather and the new bi-colour wheels.
Quite looking forward to it
Graham

[wilwak]

GrahamPM said:

I do think that the White i8’s look stunning; my coupe was same as with those turbine wheels and Carpo Halo interior. No carbon as it wasn’t an option when I ordered mine.
I’ve three weeks to wait for the new Roadster to arrive - I’ve had the emails from the factory saying, “it’s on its way!” But can’t collect it until the official launch date of the 26th
This time I’ve gone for the launch spec in E-Copper with orange leather and the new bi-colour wheels.
Quite looking forward to it
Graham

Very exciting indeed! Let us know all about it when it arrives! Photos!

[MrwReckless]

j80jpw said:

Didn’t think I’d see one in Dubai due to the low fuel prices but here you go.... doesn’t look particularly standard?

I don't see much out of the ordinary other than a lovely purple wrap and ACS wheels, possibly also some ACS body kit accessories. No big deal IMO.

On the other hand, I cannot fathom why M-division hasn't ditched all the hybrid stuff, stuck the S55 straight 6 in this and made it a 2 seater???