BMW i8 - Outstanding
Discussion
Insurance is high – I’m £380 at 50 years old with a big excess.
Mpg
Sport mode is 30mpg - if that.
Long distance open road driving (so home charge not making much impact) -45mpg
My 32mile daily commute with home charging, in comfort mode uses about 10miles leccy getting in/out of town, (speeds less than 45mph) 22miles petrol (speed>45mph) and the display reads 55-65mpg. (if you I force it to use the battery then obviously I could get it to read much higher)
It all depends on your trip and if you charge it.
Cost to charge? Must be about a £1 for 16miles I guess?
Mpg
Sport mode is 30mpg - if that.
Long distance open road driving (so home charge not making much impact) -45mpg
My 32mile daily commute with home charging, in comfort mode uses about 10miles leccy getting in/out of town, (speeds less than 45mph) 22miles petrol (speed>45mph) and the display reads 55-65mpg. (if you I force it to use the battery then obviously I could get it to read much higher)
It all depends on your trip and if you charge it.
Cost to charge? Must be about a £1 for 16miles I guess?
iain123 said:
Insurance is high – I’m £380 at 50 years old with a big excess.
Mpg
Sport mode is 30mpg - if that.
Long distance open road driving (so home charge not making much impact) -45mpg
My 32mile daily commute with home charging, in comfort mode uses about 10miles leccy getting in/out of town, (speeds less than 45mph) 22miles petrol (speed>45mph) and the display reads 55-65mpg. (if you I force it to use the battery then obviously I could get it to read much higher)
It all depends on your trip and if you charge it.
Cost to charge? Must be about a £1 for 16miles I guess?
I love the look of these and the concept but those mpg figures would be bettered by most diesels. I get that they wouldn’t have the performance, but I’d hoped/expected for a bit better than that. At those sort of figures, I’d rather get a pure petrol car while they’re still around ...Mpg
Sport mode is 30mpg - if that.
Long distance open road driving (so home charge not making much impact) -45mpg
My 32mile daily commute with home charging, in comfort mode uses about 10miles leccy getting in/out of town, (speeds less than 45mph) 22miles petrol (speed>45mph) and the display reads 55-65mpg. (if you I force it to use the battery then obviously I could get it to read much higher)
It all depends on your trip and if you charge it.
Cost to charge? Must be about a £1 for 16miles I guess?
LotusJas said:
I wouldn't say it's a toy at all.
It's my primary family car, daily driver, and my long distance tourer.
I've also used it on track, but it's not suited to that really.
I have owned mine for 40 months and done 40,000 miles having bought it as an ex demonstartor with 1300 miles.It's my primary family car, daily driver, and my long distance tourer.
I've also used it on track, but it's not suited to that really.
The only issues I have are as follows:-
1) Petrol cap woud not open and i had to develop the art of giving it a rythamatic thump to open it - it was repaired and then mis performed and then on the second attempt it was fixed properly
2) Smoke from the engine - attributed to a faulty oil filler cap. The standard of service under the warranty was very good indeed within 24 hours of reporting it the car was collected and a almost brand new i8 was dropped off
Servicing costs over 40000 miles have been just under £450 in total -
Fuel costs - I do a number of 40 odd mile journeys and with charging I get around 40 MPG
Tyres I am just about to put on the third set
Insurance - at 57 yrs of age I am paying around £800 - if I came in from a another planet I wouldn't take on the risk for £800 !
I had a couple of R8 before my i8 and whilst I think the R8 held the road better the i8 is still very good. Its side view is probably the best there is of any car sub £180k - Back view is too much colour and mine is ionic silver and looks as if a Porsche 911 is about to come out - less colours would help make the car look wider at the back - Front view quite pleasing
I have never seen more than 20miles on the pure electric range - mine now shows typically around 14 when fully charged
Now the bad news...I paid £109k and if I sold it on webuyanycar.com I would get £41K , The truth is that the car is really worth £87k brand new and if that was the disclosed price when new then you can see why £41k with 40,000 miles and being 40 months old that would be about acceptable. Certainly a review on auto trader will show that a less than 12 month old car with a 1000 miles or so can be had for early £80k
Its a 4 seater and if you have young children (which I have) then it works as a good second car
Finally. The wheel nut key sits on a ledge in the back behind a panal and I thought I had lost it, it had migrated behind the trim at the back of the car and a magnetic screwdriver retrieved it and saved the day
Whilst the luxury end of the car market is drifting towards hybrid and we await more cars like the Tesla the BMW i8 is a good choice PROVIDED it is brought mindful that the new price is really about £87k
LotusJas said:
Disagree completely it's new price should be that low. It's fairly priced. Where else can you get a full carbon tub at this kind of price? (Excluding i3)
The problem is BMW stupidly over-produce them, exceeding demand. What do you expect from a volume manufacturer I suppose.
Maybe if they were priced lower they’d sell all they can produce? I seriously doubt they wouldn’t make at least a marginal profit at £80k. The problem is BMW stupidly over-produce them, exceeding demand. What do you expect from a volume manufacturer I suppose.
From what I can gather, and I stand to be corrected, between 2014 and 2017 they sold around 5000 in Europe.
Hardly a large number and given that they appear to depreciate quite heavily, it does seem that many feel they’re overpriced.
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 22 July 21:57
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 22 July 22:03
It's a very, very unusual car: 2+2, mid-engined hybrid built around a carbon tub and wing doors. Almost unique, really. BMW miscalculated the number they could sell and as a result they are over-produced vs demand. Bodes well for long-term owners, I suspect.
The fact it's quite cheap to run (40+ mpg, no RFL, cheap servicing, and lots of tax benefits) means some folks buy them and then don't gel so lots are for sale after a couple of years and with tiny mileages - The sort of folks that forked out north of a 100k for BMW are probably not too bothered abut the depreciation which IMHO is no more than any other top-end German luxo-manufacturer.
Interestingly, the new roadster version is north of £130k once you've ticked a few boxes.
The fact it's quite cheap to run (40+ mpg, no RFL, cheap servicing, and lots of tax benefits) means some folks buy them and then don't gel so lots are for sale after a couple of years and with tiny mileages - The sort of folks that forked out north of a 100k for BMW are probably not too bothered abut the depreciation which IMHO is no more than any other top-end German luxo-manufacturer.
Interestingly, the new roadster version is north of £130k once you've ticked a few boxes.
REALIST123 said:
Hardly a large number and given that they appear to depreciate quite heavily, it does seem that many feel they’re overpriced.
Causality versus correlation. Two different things.BMW made too many, and still do. I won't go into why here, but I have a lot of info on the reasons.
Worst depreciation was in the UK. In Europe they haven't depreciated so much. Again there are reasons, some of which are posted above.
Another voice of agreement here.
I looked at the i8 when new but passed, buying a used one earlier this year. It’s immensely useable, commuting 100 miles a few days a week in comfort. Then happily flying down to Italy with a mix of fun and refinement that seems quite hard to beat.
Things that surprised me most: the lack of road noise and long distance comfort. And the fact that people react quite nicely to it!
Personally I would like it to be 6 inches narrower and have a little bit of steering feel, but as a package it’s first rate. Looks are a personal thing but it does seem pretty sensitive to the viewing angle...
I looked at the i8 when new but passed, buying a used one earlier this year. It’s immensely useable, commuting 100 miles a few days a week in comfort. Then happily flying down to Italy with a mix of fun and refinement that seems quite hard to beat.
Things that surprised me most: the lack of road noise and long distance comfort. And the fact that people react quite nicely to it!
Personally I would like it to be 6 inches narrower and have a little bit of steering feel, but as a package it’s first rate. Looks are a personal thing but it does seem pretty sensitive to the viewing angle...
Still absolutely love mine after 2 months (the car but still not the backend).
Things I hate:
The vicious traction control on the front end – why does it have to completely cut power – you’d think it could just dial it down a bit.
The poor position of the heater controls as the gear selectors in the way.
Ventilation is not the best.
The audio system is a bit ‘meh’ and its steering mounted controls I find a fiddle.
Things that are utterly brilliant:
The performance
The seemless and almost imperceivable transition to petrol.
The silence on electric or conventional.
Do I wish it was all electric? Yes, but not on a long trip.
Things I hate:
The vicious traction control on the front end – why does it have to completely cut power – you’d think it could just dial it down a bit.
The poor position of the heater controls as the gear selectors in the way.
Ventilation is not the best.
The audio system is a bit ‘meh’ and its steering mounted controls I find a fiddle.
Things that are utterly brilliant:
The performance
The seemless and almost imperceivable transition to petrol.
The silence on electric or conventional.
Do I wish it was all electric? Yes, but not on a long trip.
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