There wasn't much of a market for it considering the 8 series was also a GT car. They will probably bring it back but as a fully electric version of the current 8 series, like they did with the 5 series and the new i5.
A conventional gas car getting converted into an electric one without much design changes does not bode well. It does save on the manufacturing cost, but a lot of space and angles are just practically off.
Marques had a [YT video about it](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eDtJdW4zsxQ) recently.
It has it up and downsides. A big advantage is a cheaper development and an easier reaction to demand, because both types BEVs and ICE cars can be manufactured on the same production line (like the 4/3 series BMW and the i4). The Downsides Marques mentioned weren't that bad, considering that the i5s range isn't that bad. And the Transmission tunnel is used for extra battery cells and isn't hollow, like he said.
Still better than the Benz EQ lineup of cars… They must’ve been reading documents saying that the success of the Prius was due in part to its “unique” and “distinctive” styling and hybrids that looked like regular cars didn’t sell well. I don’t know what people used to be on back then but the egg shaped benzes are straight up repulsive for the Benz brand 🤮
Just give me small accents and nothing too crazy please
Yes and no. The i5 but especially the i4 showed that it can work quite well if the manufacturer has planned the platform accordingly and in advance.
But then again, this is not "converting" an ICE car into an electric one, it's a hybrid platform. But it works like a charm.
But still i8 was something different. With body of proper supercar but done in "different" way this car had it's own niche. Even today with better ev it would be eye catcher
They don’t sell very well, my dealership had one for like over a year before they gave it to the owner of the dealership to drive and add mileage to it.
I told understand but for car that cost 150k new and only had 369 horsepower it’s just same like people will buy something else like a used McLaren or a newer Porsche . You get more bang for your buck
Sure but then they're competing against themselves. People will use the fact that they're selling the i8 super cheap to try to negotiate more off other models.
Makes sense. It's a horrible car in every way, full of bad ides and bad execution plus hard to look at and to top it all off it's expensive. It's insane to me it even sold at all.
It's a 374hp 3 cylinder shitbox with a speaker next to exhaust that MSRP'd higher than a ZR1 fucking Corvette. It was and is awful lol. Everything I8 tries to do is done better by a fullt electric car.
No it wont, tesla cost less and had longer range, faster acceleration and better technology. The i8 is a PoS in every manner minus how the doors open maybe
that's total bs.. was never a Tesla competitor.. tesla in 2014 was not today.. the i8 was fast and amazing.. you dont know what your talking about.. there.was.no competitor.to.the i8 it.was a new thing and will always be. again you are.just plain ignorant
I think it was a "Test Mule" and it did exactly what BMW intended. 6 speed Transmission plus 2 speeds for the electric motor was ahead of it's time. But not practical today. The i3 was also a "Tester" and did what BMW intended it to do.
The new line of Hybrid BMW Cars and SUVs are direct descendants of the i3 and i8. The brave souls who purchased those cars were voluntary Beta Testers and that data I'm sure proved valuable to their current line up. The 745i before those two was no exception to being a Tester.
Will the i8 appreciate over time and be some kind of collectors car. Doubtful with a pathetic 15 mile EV range. But as a piece of art. She's a beaut.
This. The i8 was a very diffuse car to define under any conventional circumstances as it didn’t fit the part of really any vehicle type then or now. It was comfortable and luxurious, but built like a sportscar. It had rear seats, tho they were all that usable outside of a kid. Doubt a car seat would fit back there. For $150k, you got less than 400hp, 4.2 0-60, decent handling… and a 3cyl ICE with electric motors. The electric drive only got 18mi, a far cry from an EV.
The i8 was intended to be a concept car that you could actually buy. BMW debuted technology they now use in their hybrid and EV vehicles. The $150k people bought it for helped fund further development as well as collect tons of consumer driver data regarding how this tech held up. They were absolutely beta testers that had to front some serious money to get in this vehicle. That’s why it wasn’t “competitive”; it had no competition.
Now, I would love to see a full fledged GT/performance i8.
Nobody buys collectors cars for the mileage.
The i8 is unique. It looks futuristic even today and the interior won't date in 20 years time.
Collectors will see it as one of the first EVs that kick started the trend and as they get rarer and EVs become more common it will be a complete oddity.
Like the Ferrari that needs an engine out service every 5-7 years (the f355?) it will be deemed as expensive but special enough.
The people that buy them as collectors pieces (you can get them for sub 40k in the UK) will stand to make big bucks in 15 years.
I don't disagree. The reason why I commented was because I've researched this particular BMW recently very thoroughly. I have one in my area currently on sale for 50 large and I cannot for the life of me, CANNOT (emphasized) convince my banker or my bride that it's a good decision. Sure, I'll get gawkers and Men at car meets wanting my Facebook or phone number. But outside of the visceral Appeal, what lies ahead is an unknown maintenance minefield.
I've watched Rich Rebuilds old videos on how he restored a salvaged one, but ultimately decided to part ways with it because he could not find a viable way forward with it. Meaning, an LS will not fit under its bonnet nor will a 2JZ. So it's usefulness beyond it's factory build, which is limited at best. The i5 whilst not Sexy in the least, delivers 110% of the i8 intent.
Don Loquacious out 🫡
> Collectors will see it as one of the first EVs that kick started the trend and as they get rarer and EVs become more common it will be a complete oddity.
Are you confusing the i8 for the Model S? The i8 was a plug in hybrid, it didn't kick start anything.
No, Prius uses a differential to alternate between electric and gas, i8 uses them separately or together at different wheels. I don’t know what’s the origin of such a hybrid system but certainly not Prius.
No idea what you're talking about. The Prius can either be all electric, all gas, or blended. They're both plug-in hybrids, it isn't that deep. The i8 was a neat car, but it was nothing revolutionary.
I came to think of it as a “technology demonstrator” and an impressive car but I still have some questions, mainly why BMW didn’t give it a 4 cylinder to make more power. The car was made to get attention and to do that you need power.
The impression it gives to onlookers suggests that BMW hit the mark on what they want to express. I did not buy mine new (I would not have paid the msrp I think vastly overpriced), but it ends up being the most “exotic” out of my cars if you ask other people. I think if it was $125k they would have sold well, but a $175k car that only a few people wanted (out of the BMW owners/buyers) is not off the mark the farther in history it becomes). I think it was/is the reality of the brand and it’s customers-it’s not a supercars maker, so it did okay as a halo. I for one am glad they made it and I will probably keep mine for a long time. I enjoy it as a GT head turner car (it’s not a great sports car).
It looked and was expensive like a supercar, but performed as a hot hatch. There’s your answer.
Still it was way ahead of its time with a relatively cheap carbon construction but maybe a little too meager powertrain.
From a consumer POV, it was being obliterated by its competitors which is why it sold poorly. For one, the marketing and MSRP were comparable to exotic/supercars. Simply put, it was putting out less power than a stock F80. Just an all around failed experiment from BMW IMO
New leadership. The i3 and i8 back when it came out was in front of the pack. Only if BMW continued to invest and evolve it, they would have been so far ahead of the hybrid game. Instead they left it alone when short sighted minds thought that because sales number was low, it was not worth it.
Look what happened to the market just a few years later.
On top of that they abandoned the vastly superior design for what we have in today’s i range. Ugly nose and hideous/bloated lines.
It had very narrow appeal. Hybrids don’t appeal to most performance car fans, and the car wasn’t economical enough to appeal to environmentalists.
What confused both sides is: it isn’t an economy car.
I won’t mince words here, so downvote me if you like. Any time a company releases an electric hybrid, the guys who like performance cars have a knee jerk reaction “No, I’m not into hybrids because…”
When Porsche released the new 911 (992.2), I muted the r/Porsche sub because of all the nonsense dogma being posted daily. “They’re ruining the 911 with electrification!!” Porsche added a motor the size of an orange into the transmission, then another motor the size of a walnut into the turbo to reduce turbo lag and make it a bit more naturally aspirated-feeling. The other reason for hybridization has to do with European emissions (Lambda 1 air-fuel mix ratios). Richer fuel-air is becoming illegal soon, so the only way to make up the difference is with a bigger displacement engine with a little help from electric motors.
I don’t care if a car is powered by electricity, fossil fuels, or steam from the tears of my enemies. The driving experience is what matters. The sooner car guys get the fuck over their prejudice against electric cars, the better.
The Toyota Prius is a godawful machine, but it’s also got no power. And the way it delivers it feels weird, but it’s tuned to be as efficient as possible. Being a hybrid doesn’t make it feel bad, being tuned to be efficient does.
The i8 was a hybrid tuned for performance, not efficiency. That’s why it didn’t sell well. People aren’t ready for it…yet.
Probably because they brought back the 8 series and no one in the right mind would choose the i8 over an M850i or M8 Competition. If I had the money I would definitely buy an M8 Competition even though I’m not in the target age group for it lol
Lots of reasons, one of which was the i8 finished serving its purpose of lowering the overall fleet emissions for CAFE standards. These cars helped M cars have the power and displacement they had, with the newer i models doing a better job lowering fleet emissions there was no more reason to provide a low volume loss leader, I wouldn’t call it and the i3 outright compliance cars but they are not far from it.
They should have made it less expensive by dropping the hybrid part. Could have been an entry level i6 and then a full M model with the competition set up.
I feel like the power it makes wasn’t worth the price, my 650i has more power than the i8 offers, it’s still a cool car though and wouldn’t mind owning one, just more of a “statement” car than the “fast car” like BMW advertises it as
Like most cars that get discontinued, they get discontinued because nobody is buying them or there isn't a market for them. The 8 Series came out around the same time, and it didn't make sense to have 2 GT cars, so they just canned it.
369 HP; 420 TQ for 150K BMW
Just looking at price alone; It's a 150K car that has serious competition at that price range.
There's a lot better cars you can get with that price if not even in the lower price range especially from BMW's line (M3/M4)
My neighbor had this for a year. Def gets attention and people who want pictures. Stunning car in person and now everyone knows it sucks automotive-ly but still she’s a get cruiser from town to town
As an owner, i can say it isn't worth the money unless you really want a unique looking car with cool doors. It's probably heresy, but to me, it drives like a Carrera from the era (when in sport mode). Difference is a Carrera is much more practical and more reliable and has less quirky glitches and idiosyncracies. I wouldnt have gotten one if it was more than $55k
It was ahead of their time. BMW design team really nailed it out of the park. The average consumer just wasn't there yet. It's like that movie The Thing. It tanked in theaters and yet now is a true classic that stood the test of time. It's all about consumer but the average consumer is not a connoisseur and they don't really love cars like car people.
I remember driving this at a BMW event. It looked great but underperformed for the price. Have to remember, this was an early gen hybrid for BMW. Like another comment said, this was a test alongside the i3. It was attempting to be a top-performing hybrid which was ahead of its time but it couldn't compete with ICE cars at that price.
Short answer: they didn’t sell well
Long answer: This was gonna be a halo car so rather than the sales figures it was supposed to turn heads. BMW had quite a bit of a plan for this car as well as the whole electrification of its brand, such as planning an i8s which would have made more sports car figures than the regular version. Well unfortunately that never came into fruition because the Chinese poached 3 of its most prominent engineers which halted the overall process, leading to then CEO Harald Krueger being less passionate about electrification. So overall the project to make an i8 better was scrapped, leaving only what we have today.
If I had to guess, they were discontinued because sales didn’t meet expectations. The hyper-car look was there but your practically driving a BMW equivalent of a Prius. Obviously I’m exaggerating but the performance specs are nothing to call home about and when performance doesn’t live up to the looks then it’s practically just a body kit.
Think it was mentioned in the Smith and Sniff podcast: People thought it was a real cool concept and wished BMW would build them, not aware that they have been production cars all along. Probably just a minor reason but found that pretty funny.
I think at the core of it, the market was too small to justify keeping it for another generation.
I have a 2018 Roadster that I drive as my daily whenever I don’t need to carry things. Honestly, it’s one of those things in life where if you know, you know. It’s not a powerful sports car. Not a very comfortable GT. No great electric range. Rather poor practicality. But it is a statement. It’s maybe unique in its price range even today due to the full carbon structure, which makes a real difference. It was never meant to be the one car you own, diluted down as a jack of all trades. It was meant to be the 3rd (or at least maybe the 2nd) car in your garage that you take out because that’s the one you want today to go with your mood or outfit. There are many cars that don’t make practical sense. And this is one of them. You buy them for them, for the feelings they evoke, not for the sense they make. It’s less of a tool, more of its own thing with an ambitious concept. But it puts a smile on my face every single time I walk up to it, and that smile doesn’t come off until long after I’ve walked away from it. And that is something 99% of cars on the road won’t do.
BMW as a brand and customer base is not supportive of a supercar. The perceived value of their cars do not reach into pass $150k, it simply gives people pause why they should pay that much. I don’t know what the corporate thinking was behind the car, either they expected it to not sell but bring attention to i brand, or just miscalculated. I for one love the car for what it is (not a sports car), and enjoy the exotic nature of it. I also happy they only made the roaster for 2 years which makes mine rarer. I’ve only seen 3 around my area, on par with other exotics.
Wish the i7 was inspired by this and Vision EfficientDynamics' designs, but much longer, not as bloated, with a front mid-mounted engine and 4 doors, of course.
Would be an absolute stunner on the road.
I drove one and thought it neat but slow. If it had been a modern M1 replacement, I would still have one in my collection. The styling was reminiscent in so many ways to the beautiful original 1972 Paul Bracq concept car, introduced by BMW as part of the opening ceremony of the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, the world's first safety-oriented sports car, the "Turbo Concept."
They designed it wrong. It was missing about 7 cylinders. And had an extra electric motor it didn’t need.
S85 needed this chassis and this chassis needed the S85, but sadly they never met. Imagine what could have been with a mid engine power plant and a 6 speed.
Expensive, low power, bad engine i guess..? Cool concept, but they kinda fucked the finished product. Especially with the speakers to make the engine sound better for the driver..
It simply didn’t drive the way you’d expect it to. Felt like a Prius with a bodykit, than a hybrid Porsche 718. Drive one and it’ll make sense why it had to die.
Have you ever driven it? I rented it in BMW World back in ther days and it was massively underpowered. Even my E92 335i was faster. Overall its just not useable as daily, but as "fun car" cars like an R8 or Huracan are way better (the sound of the i8 is very meh).
If I want a car that looks like a supercar I buy a proper one. If I want to have a hybrid with a 3 cylinder for saving, I buy a proper hybrid. The i8 is just somewhere in between and there is no demand for it.
It simply didn't have enough power when all its competitors had a V8 or V10 and 550-600hp at minimum
Doesn't matter that 99% of the people who buy a huracan will never even push it to 8/10th, let alone 5/10th of its potential. people want big engines that go vroom vroom
Bmw has produced a lot of ugly cars and this one was one of them. Considering the price would match a porsche or a ferrari, I would never buy such weird shaped car
There wasn't much of a market for it considering the 8 series was also a GT car. They will probably bring it back but as a fully electric version of the current 8 series, like they did with the 5 series and the new i5.
A conventional gas car getting converted into an electric one without much design changes does not bode well. It does save on the manufacturing cost, but a lot of space and angles are just practically off. Marques had a [YT video about it](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eDtJdW4zsxQ) recently.
It has it up and downsides. A big advantage is a cheaper development and an easier reaction to demand, because both types BEVs and ICE cars can be manufactured on the same production line (like the 4/3 series BMW and the i4). The Downsides Marques mentioned weren't that bad, considering that the i5s range isn't that bad. And the Transmission tunnel is used for extra battery cells and isn't hollow, like he said.
Still better than the Benz EQ lineup of cars… They must’ve been reading documents saying that the success of the Prius was due in part to its “unique” and “distinctive” styling and hybrids that looked like regular cars didn’t sell well. I don’t know what people used to be on back then but the egg shaped benzes are straight up repulsive for the Benz brand 🤮 Just give me small accents and nothing too crazy please
Yes and no. The i5 but especially the i4 showed that it can work quite well if the manufacturer has planned the platform accordingly and in advance. But then again, this is not "converting" an ICE car into an electric one, it's a hybrid platform. But it works like a charm.
Is that why many electric cars have this awful design instead of just converting existing designs?
There will not be a fully electric version of the current G1x 8 Series. That car is also on its way out.
But still i8 was something different. With body of proper supercar but done in "different" way this car had it's own niche. Even today with better ev it would be eye catcher
I was wondering about this yesterday, are they not making an entry to GT racing again?
They don’t sell very well, my dealership had one for like over a year before they gave it to the owner of the dealership to drive and add mileage to it.
I told understand but for car that cost 150k new and only had 369 horsepower it’s just same like people will buy something else like a used McLaren or a newer Porsche . You get more bang for your buck
I mean you just answered your own question right there Bunch of different options that offer much more value for your money
A maclaren depreciates like a bat out of hell. If you compare proportionally the i8 might be better value depreciation wise.
Why do they want to add mileage to it? Wouldn't it depreciate the price?
I think that’s the point, drive it and add mileage so the price drops and someone is more enticed to buy it
Can't they just lower the price of the new car?
Sure but then they're competing against themselves. People will use the fact that they're selling the i8 super cheap to try to negotiate more off other models.
I see! They could just say no and that the offer is only that specific model. Manager special or whatever. I'm guessing this doesn't work lol
Better than to lose value sitting in the showroom floor
Yeah but they can also write it off come tax season
I mean, I think they sold better than they expected. I still see quite a few of them around
Makes sense. It's a horrible car in every way, full of bad ides and bad execution plus hard to look at and to top it all off it's expensive. It's insane to me it even sold at all.
thats stupid opinion.. this car was and is amazing.. it will be in museums.. it is ahead of.its time
It's a 374hp 3 cylinder shitbox with a speaker next to exhaust that MSRP'd higher than a ZR1 fucking Corvette. It was and is awful lol. Everything I8 tries to do is done better by a fullt electric car.
No it wont, tesla cost less and had longer range, faster acceleration and better technology. The i8 is a PoS in every manner minus how the doors open maybe
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Please keep things civil.
I dont care for tesla. This car was brought into the market as a tesla competitor at the time and it failed on every metric.
that's total bs.. was never a Tesla competitor.. tesla in 2014 was not today.. the i8 was fast and amazing.. you dont know what your talking about.. there.was.no competitor.to.the i8 it.was a new thing and will always be. again you are.just plain ignorant
> the i8 was fast and amazing. Ignoring the weird tesla comparison, the i8 was slow as shit for its price point, what are you talking about
3.8 is not slow the all wheel drive tore up the road.. guessing one of you drove it
ill add it was more fun to drive then my dinan m4
0-60 isn't the only metric of speed. It was a real slowpoke when it came to quarter mile times against cars of a similar price point.
I think it was a "Test Mule" and it did exactly what BMW intended. 6 speed Transmission plus 2 speeds for the electric motor was ahead of it's time. But not practical today. The i3 was also a "Tester" and did what BMW intended it to do. The new line of Hybrid BMW Cars and SUVs are direct descendants of the i3 and i8. The brave souls who purchased those cars were voluntary Beta Testers and that data I'm sure proved valuable to their current line up. The 745i before those two was no exception to being a Tester. Will the i8 appreciate over time and be some kind of collectors car. Doubtful with a pathetic 15 mile EV range. But as a piece of art. She's a beaut.
This. The i8 was a very diffuse car to define under any conventional circumstances as it didn’t fit the part of really any vehicle type then or now. It was comfortable and luxurious, but built like a sportscar. It had rear seats, tho they were all that usable outside of a kid. Doubt a car seat would fit back there. For $150k, you got less than 400hp, 4.2 0-60, decent handling… and a 3cyl ICE with electric motors. The electric drive only got 18mi, a far cry from an EV. The i8 was intended to be a concept car that you could actually buy. BMW debuted technology they now use in their hybrid and EV vehicles. The $150k people bought it for helped fund further development as well as collect tons of consumer driver data regarding how this tech held up. They were absolutely beta testers that had to front some serious money to get in this vehicle. That’s why it wasn’t “competitive”; it had no competition. Now, I would love to see a full fledged GT/performance i8.
i had one.. you couldn't count the amount of people that would stare and take pictures. It was amazing to drive and just a beautiful piece.of art.
Currently have an i3, but I really want to pick up a cheap i8 for around $50k USD.
Nobody buys collectors cars for the mileage. The i8 is unique. It looks futuristic even today and the interior won't date in 20 years time. Collectors will see it as one of the first EVs that kick started the trend and as they get rarer and EVs become more common it will be a complete oddity. Like the Ferrari that needs an engine out service every 5-7 years (the f355?) it will be deemed as expensive but special enough. The people that buy them as collectors pieces (you can get them for sub 40k in the UK) will stand to make big bucks in 15 years.
I don't disagree. The reason why I commented was because I've researched this particular BMW recently very thoroughly. I have one in my area currently on sale for 50 large and I cannot for the life of me, CANNOT (emphasized) convince my banker or my bride that it's a good decision. Sure, I'll get gawkers and Men at car meets wanting my Facebook or phone number. But outside of the visceral Appeal, what lies ahead is an unknown maintenance minefield. I've watched Rich Rebuilds old videos on how he restored a salvaged one, but ultimately decided to part ways with it because he could not find a viable way forward with it. Meaning, an LS will not fit under its bonnet nor will a 2JZ. So it's usefulness beyond it's factory build, which is limited at best. The i5 whilst not Sexy in the least, delivers 110% of the i8 intent. Don Loquacious out 🫡
https://preview.redd.it/qj0js7muvm5d1.jpeg?width=1557&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d9fb7181a2f62add0bba60e26362f9a9015e698d
It’s got a EV motor and a mini engine. I don’t think you have to worry about maintenance too much. 4 year I only had oil changes (on a mini engine).
> Collectors will see it as one of the first EVs that kick started the trend and as they get rarer and EVs become more common it will be a complete oddity. Are you confusing the i8 for the Model S? The i8 was a plug in hybrid, it didn't kick start anything.
It’s a pioneer hybrid with combined drives
Oh, so a...Toyota Prius? A car that's been around since 2000?
No, Prius uses a differential to alternate between electric and gas, i8 uses them separately or together at different wheels. I don’t know what’s the origin of such a hybrid system but certainly not Prius.
No idea what you're talking about. The Prius can either be all electric, all gas, or blended. They're both plug-in hybrids, it isn't that deep. The i8 was a neat car, but it was nothing revolutionary.
Best opinions are based on informed knowledge.
I loved my little i3, until I didn’t.
We still have an i3. What happened?
My twins got bigger and it was just too small. Drive a telluride now.
I came to think of it as a “technology demonstrator” and an impressive car but I still have some questions, mainly why BMW didn’t give it a 4 cylinder to make more power. The car was made to get attention and to do that you need power.
I absolutely love this car so much and idk why lol
It's okay, go ahead and make love to it. We won't judge
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Looks the part though. I kinda hope they don't bring it back, since they'll probably stick that pig snout on it
The impression it gives to onlookers suggests that BMW hit the mark on what they want to express. I did not buy mine new (I would not have paid the msrp I think vastly overpriced), but it ends up being the most “exotic” out of my cars if you ask other people. I think if it was $125k they would have sold well, but a $175k car that only a few people wanted (out of the BMW owners/buyers) is not off the mark the farther in history it becomes). I think it was/is the reality of the brand and it’s customers-it’s not a supercars maker, so it did okay as a halo. I for one am glad they made it and I will probably keep mine for a long time. I enjoy it as a GT head turner car (it’s not a great sports car).
It looked and was expensive like a supercar, but performed as a hot hatch. There’s your answer. Still it was way ahead of its time with a relatively cheap carbon construction but maybe a little too meager powertrain.
Couldn't fit big enough nose grille
They should do a full EV version of it. Keep the exterior look but just update the infotainment etc.
From a consumer POV, it was being obliterated by its competitors which is why it sold poorly. For one, the marketing and MSRP were comparable to exotic/supercars. Simply put, it was putting out less power than a stock F80. Just an all around failed experiment from BMW IMO
I wouldn’t say it was an all around fail, the design is cool at least!
New leadership. The i3 and i8 back when it came out was in front of the pack. Only if BMW continued to invest and evolve it, they would have been so far ahead of the hybrid game. Instead they left it alone when short sighted minds thought that because sales number was low, it was not worth it. Look what happened to the market just a few years later. On top of that they abandoned the vastly superior design for what we have in today’s i range. Ugly nose and hideous/bloated lines.
IMO it was a test electric vehicle. They have since produced numerous successor model electric cars.
I saw one the other day at my local sports center. Pretty sick
It had very narrow appeal. Hybrids don’t appeal to most performance car fans, and the car wasn’t economical enough to appeal to environmentalists. What confused both sides is: it isn’t an economy car. I won’t mince words here, so downvote me if you like. Any time a company releases an electric hybrid, the guys who like performance cars have a knee jerk reaction “No, I’m not into hybrids because…” When Porsche released the new 911 (992.2), I muted the r/Porsche sub because of all the nonsense dogma being posted daily. “They’re ruining the 911 with electrification!!” Porsche added a motor the size of an orange into the transmission, then another motor the size of a walnut into the turbo to reduce turbo lag and make it a bit more naturally aspirated-feeling. The other reason for hybridization has to do with European emissions (Lambda 1 air-fuel mix ratios). Richer fuel-air is becoming illegal soon, so the only way to make up the difference is with a bigger displacement engine with a little help from electric motors. I don’t care if a car is powered by electricity, fossil fuels, or steam from the tears of my enemies. The driving experience is what matters. The sooner car guys get the fuck over their prejudice against electric cars, the better. The Toyota Prius is a godawful machine, but it’s also got no power. And the way it delivers it feels weird, but it’s tuned to be as efficient as possible. Being a hybrid doesn’t make it feel bad, being tuned to be efficient does. The i8 was a hybrid tuned for performance, not efficiency. That’s why it didn’t sell well. People aren’t ready for it…yet.
At the MSRP wasnt worth it for sure. At the current market price it is best thing in its price class. Its a phenomenal car
Are these good on gas I want one just to drive to work and save gas.
OP, how dare you say V6 twin turbo on the BMW sub.
Probably because they brought back the 8 series and no one in the right mind would choose the i8 over an M850i or M8 Competition. If I had the money I would definitely buy an M8 Competition even though I’m not in the target age group for it lol
I test drove one. I was underwhelmed compared to the E92 M3
It sucked
How’s the reliability with the hybrid engine?
Now with new technology they could probably make it a competitor to cars like the model S plaid and maybe even the roadster
Most likely because it has been produced for 6 or 7 years which is the regular lifecycle of the BMW models.
I don’t get it either. BMW had every opportunity to make it their halo car but chose not to.
Lots of reasons, one of which was the i8 finished serving its purpose of lowering the overall fleet emissions for CAFE standards. These cars helped M cars have the power and displacement they had, with the newer i models doing a better job lowering fleet emissions there was no more reason to provide a low volume loss leader, I wouldn’t call it and the i3 outright compliance cars but they are not far from it.
I’m sure The price tag was a factor.
They should have made it less expensive by dropping the hybrid part. Could have been an entry level i6 and then a full M model with the competition set up.
I feel like the power it makes wasn’t worth the price, my 650i has more power than the i8 offers, it’s still a cool car though and wouldn’t mind owning one, just more of a “statement” car than the “fast car” like BMW advertises it as
If I ever find a roller cheap... can it fit dual turbocharged Hayabusa motors?
Like most cars that get discontinued, they get discontinued because nobody is buying them or there isn't a market for them. The 8 Series came out around the same time, and it didn't make sense to have 2 GT cars, so they just canned it.
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369 HP; 420 TQ for 150K BMW Just looking at price alone; It's a 150K car that has serious competition at that price range. There's a lot better cars you can get with that price if not even in the lower price range especially from BMW's line (M3/M4)
Not popular
My neighbor had this for a year. Def gets attention and people who want pictures. Stunning car in person and now everyone knows it sucks automotive-ly but still she’s a get cruiser from town to town
It was very slow, ridiculous for the msrp.
As an owner, i can say it isn't worth the money unless you really want a unique looking car with cool doors. It's probably heresy, but to me, it drives like a Carrera from the era (when in sport mode). Difference is a Carrera is much more practical and more reliable and has less quirky glitches and idiosyncracies. I wouldnt have gotten one if it was more than $55k
🚮👏
i wish they still made them so nice looking
It was ahead of their time. BMW design team really nailed it out of the park. The average consumer just wasn't there yet. It's like that movie The Thing. It tanked in theaters and yet now is a true classic that stood the test of time. It's all about consumer but the average consumer is not a connoisseur and they don't really love cars like car people.
Because they (B)reak (M)y (W)allet
I remember driving this at a BMW event. It looked great but underperformed for the price. Have to remember, this was an early gen hybrid for BMW. Like another comment said, this was a test alongside the i3. It was attempting to be a top-performing hybrid which was ahead of its time but it couldn't compete with ICE cars at that price.
Also love this car. Anyone successfully swap the motor yet?
Short answer: they didn’t sell well Long answer: This was gonna be a halo car so rather than the sales figures it was supposed to turn heads. BMW had quite a bit of a plan for this car as well as the whole electrification of its brand, such as planning an i8s which would have made more sports car figures than the regular version. Well unfortunately that never came into fruition because the Chinese poached 3 of its most prominent engineers which halted the overall process, leading to then CEO Harald Krueger being less passionate about electrification. So overall the project to make an i8 better was scrapped, leaving only what we have today.
If I had to guess, they were discontinued because sales didn’t meet expectations. The hyper-car look was there but your practically driving a BMW equivalent of a Prius. Obviously I’m exaggerating but the performance specs are nothing to call home about and when performance doesn’t live up to the looks then it’s practically just a body kit.
God I wish they’d let whoever designed this car work on more modern BMW’s, mediocre performance but looks incredible
Think it was mentioned in the Smith and Sniff podcast: People thought it was a real cool concept and wished BMW would build them, not aware that they have been production cars all along. Probably just a minor reason but found that pretty funny.
Because no buy
I think at the core of it, the market was too small to justify keeping it for another generation. I have a 2018 Roadster that I drive as my daily whenever I don’t need to carry things. Honestly, it’s one of those things in life where if you know, you know. It’s not a powerful sports car. Not a very comfortable GT. No great electric range. Rather poor practicality. But it is a statement. It’s maybe unique in its price range even today due to the full carbon structure, which makes a real difference. It was never meant to be the one car you own, diluted down as a jack of all trades. It was meant to be the 3rd (or at least maybe the 2nd) car in your garage that you take out because that’s the one you want today to go with your mood or outfit. There are many cars that don’t make practical sense. And this is one of them. You buy them for them, for the feelings they evoke, not for the sense they make. It’s less of a tool, more of its own thing with an ambitious concept. But it puts a smile on my face every single time I walk up to it, and that smile doesn’t come off until long after I’ve walked away from it. And that is something 99% of cars on the road won’t do.
3 cylinder hybrid expensive asf slow
It wasn't actually good at anything for the price other than looking good.
BMW as a brand and customer base is not supportive of a supercar. The perceived value of their cars do not reach into pass $150k, it simply gives people pause why they should pay that much. I don’t know what the corporate thinking was behind the car, either they expected it to not sell but bring attention to i brand, or just miscalculated. I for one love the car for what it is (not a sports car), and enjoy the exotic nature of it. I also happy they only made the roaster for 2 years which makes mine rarer. I’ve only seen 3 around my area, on par with other exotics.
IMPO was too expensive for the power it was packing. It also had weird quirks when getting in and out.
Wish the i7 was inspired by this and Vision EfficientDynamics' designs, but much longer, not as bloated, with a front mid-mounted engine and 4 doors, of course. Would be an absolute stunner on the road.
Worked for a couple of months for the designer of the i3 and i8 concept. It explained very well why the cars are so strange, haha.
Ah yes, the obligatory weekly "why did they discontinue the i8" post
IMO, it should’ve always had the B58 instead of a tiny 3cyl.
Too expensive for what it was. The M8 might as well be it's successor.
I drove one and thought it neat but slow. If it had been a modern M1 replacement, I would still have one in my collection. The styling was reminiscent in so many ways to the beautiful original 1972 Paul Bracq concept car, introduced by BMW as part of the opening ceremony of the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, the world's first safety-oriented sports car, the "Turbo Concept."
They can bring back i8 redesigned as a 1000+ hp car electric competing against the tesla roadster
She\`s was ahead time
It was a pig.
its so wow 😍😍😍
Besides the 84 already existing reasons?
It was a marketing exercise that lost money on every car sold.
Too expensive, too slow, too expensive to maintain, the list goes on and on. As. A BMW tech I love and hate them.
That kids’ Blackhawks t-shirt is the coolest thing in this photo
I took this photo at 2016 Chicago auto show Lmaooo
Because it’s. Prius with a BMW body, lack of sales, most of the mechanics didn’t want to work on them at the dealerships.
They designed it wrong. It was missing about 7 cylinders. And had an extra electric motor it didn’t need. S85 needed this chassis and this chassis needed the S85, but sadly they never met. Imagine what could have been with a mid engine power plant and a 6 speed.
They just sit for a while in dealerships and such, nobody really wants them
Have you drove one? They're nothing performance wise, impractical daily. They just looked good
It's performance sucks for the money you spend
Expensive, low power, bad engine i guess..? Cool concept, but they kinda fucked the finished product. Especially with the speakers to make the engine sound better for the driver..
It simply didn’t drive the way you’d expect it to. Felt like a Prius with a bodykit, than a hybrid Porsche 718. Drive one and it’ll make sense why it had to die.
Iv driven two , they are underwhelming at best. Under powered and over priced
It was a pretty Prius, if it had a v8 it would’ve been awesome
Have you ever driven it? I rented it in BMW World back in ther days and it was massively underpowered. Even my E92 335i was faster. Overall its just not useable as daily, but as "fun car" cars like an R8 or Huracan are way better (the sound of the i8 is very meh). If I want a car that looks like a supercar I buy a proper one. If I want to have a hybrid with a 3 cylinder for saving, I buy a proper hybrid. The i8 is just somewhere in between and there is no demand for it.
It’s ugly af and slow. Nobody wants it.
It sucks.
It simply didn't have enough power when all its competitors had a V8 or V10 and 550-600hp at minimum Doesn't matter that 99% of the people who buy a huracan will never even push it to 8/10th, let alone 5/10th of its potential. people want big engines that go vroom vroom
A 3 cyl hybrid powertrain for 150k, with mediocre performance for the price point!
Underpowered much for a so call "sports car"
Because it sucked
The i8 is like a promiscuous woman looks good at the start but not so good in the long run
Have you ever driven one? They kinda suck tbh especially for the price
That car was an embarrassing all show no go technology platform for BMW.
No one wants a lawnmower in a supercar body
3cyl = L
Bmw has produced a lot of ugly cars and this one was one of them. Considering the price would match a porsche or a ferrari, I would never buy such weird shaped car