BMWi8

John Laidlaw

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Most of you will know I ‘defected’ over to the dark side 27th. December 2018.
Luckily (so far) I’m still tolerated on here, I love the banter and there are some great folks on here, I also still haven’t forgotten everything I’ve learned on Mercs so I can still sometimes be of minor use hopefully!

A lot of you have asked various questions regarding the change and how the i8 is, so thought it might be fun to start this kind of ‘diary’...

Ok, so why did I change over from a perfectly lovely E63 AMG to what is affectionately described as a “Duracell” Tupperware tub?
The 63 (or Panzer as I named it), I had owned for close on 2 years, I normally get itchy feet on 2 years anyway- however the Panzer was the best car I have owned, bar none, and I had thought maybe keep for another 1-2-3 years...
Few things changed that..
The 213 which replaced my 212 is so well kitted out and bolted together I kept looking over the fence
Over the fence is way too expensive for my budget to finance and more importantly run (3 young kids and a wife to provide for)
Because of this, the Panzer was feeling less special in some ways
Lot of 212s are now slipping into the highly modified brigade, not my scene (sorry)
I did toy with the AMG GT, but again the financial side crept in...
So I wanted something ‘special’
By accident I looked at an i8 in a private dealership when I went to look at an AMG GT
Seemed this was a ‘supercar’ which can be run reasonably economically....

So the hunt began, having set out what I wanted (there are very few options on these as they are well specked anyway), found ‘the one’ at BMW Shrewsbury, bought it...
Picked it up 27th. December

Thoughts so far....

The car

Pluses
Lovely drive
Very smooth
Very economical
Beautifully built, not a squeak or rattle anywhere
Everyone stares at it
Loads of folks stop you to ask questions
It’s a ‘supercar’ of sorts/Dihedral (scissor) doors
Picked the optimum colour (Protonic blue)
Wife hates it
Quite powerful despite the small 3 cylinder engine backed up by electric

Negatives
Everyone stares at it
Loads of folks stop to ask you questions
Wife hates it
Not enough cylinders
Beggar to get in and out of
There is no boot whatsoever
Haven’t yet got the seating position just right (easy in the Merc or Volvo)

The running
Not smooth sailing unfortunately, I discovered on the first ‘cold’ day after I picked up the car (just last week as I’ve not driven it that much due to being away), that I had no cabin heat
it’s BMW approved used so warrantied
So into Halliwell Jones Chester, my nearest
4 days to diagnose
4 days carless , as the policy of BMW is only to give you a replacement when they have diagnosed and are awaiting parts!
Now in a 68 plate 530d, as they await auxiliary heater unit

Service is...well less than perfect!

BMW Generally
Showrooms excellent/Forums hopeless/Workshops clueless ?

To be continued.....
 

Naraic

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Four door, 5 seat car, 5 person family...sensible.
Two door, 4 seat car, 5 person family...?
 
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John Laidlaw

John Laidlaw

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Good honest write up JL . I look forward to which MB you are getting in 2 years time :D
You are more than probably right Wighty...
One thing I forgot in my initial trail was that if Mercedes had an offering similar to the i8 I know where my money would have gone, the i8 is quite unique though, so BMW it had to be...
 

sl500amgsport

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How do you find the performance/handling against the AMG?

I had a Lexus gs450h with 3.0l v6 married to electric motors, very quick in a straight line but after a while it became a little sterile for my liking and heavy round bends due to the battery weight..

The silent initial acceleration is spooky at first, loved creeping up on pedestrians crossing the road in electric and watching their faces as they suddenly notice you, then as they clear booting the V6 into play!



Mercedes SL500 R231
 

Blobcat

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You are more than probably right Wighty...
One thing I forgot in my initial trail was that if Mercedes had an offering similar to the i8 I know where my money would have gone, the i8 is quite unique though, so BMW it had to be...
You can't really have "degrees of uniqueness" like virginity, you have it or you don't...

Interesting to know how long you'll "put up" with this one and how much use it will get compared to the Ovlov?
 
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John Laidlaw

John Laidlaw

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You can't really have "degrees of uniqueness" like virginity, you have it or you don't...

Interesting to know how long you'll "put up" with this one and how much use it will get compared to the Ovlov?
It’s my daily Russell, which is a short daily commute 10 miles each way(hence the electric power), some slightly longer trips and some meets. Probably 6k a year, maybe 8k max
The Ovlov is the family, weekend and less frequent Scottish/UK holiday transport. Similarly 6/8k.
This was the same when I had the Panzer, so nothing will change in those respects I think.
The profile we have as a family barely justifies 2 cars to be honest, the Ovlov sits on the drive a lot as the kids school is less than half mile away so it’s walking for them....
 

jp williams

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A good idea John. I was beginning to think that I had missed your introduction of the new car.

My pal with a BMW 3 GTI had seen a blue one around Heswall and I guessed it might have been you.
I did say to him that I would like to hear;
(1)how he can get out of the car once he has parked it the garage ?
(2) what did he think of the (surprising to me) 3 cylinder 1.5 Mini engined combustion power plant ? and
(3) were any of the knobs/switches unique to the i8 or had they all been pinched from other BMW models?

With your new and updating blog, I am about to find out the answers.

Is BMW Liverpool not closer to you than Chester?
VW had similar problems to thos you are experiencing when trying to fix the rare Phaeton`s
I hope that BMW servicing improves so that you can continue to enjoy what is an undoubted eye turner.
Regards
John
 

sl500amgsport

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Cheers Alastair , I could have gone on and on but I detest others long posts to be honest, so....:shock:
Please do give more detail, this is, after all, a motoring forum and people can choose whether it is of interest to them.

I nearly bought a Tesla P90 until I had a test drive, getting hold of an I8 for testing not so easy so your comments are very much of interest..

Mercedes SL500 R231
 

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Cheers Alastair , I could have gone on and on but I detest others long posts to be honest, so....:shock:
"TLDR" is something we need to avoid, I see too many posts on here (not yours above, that's fine:)) that Tolstoy could have written, all jammed into 1 paragraph. Use a carriage returns FFS so we can get some clarity. I'll get off my soapbox now.

Pictures are always good, they save ~1,000 words :p
 
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John Laidlaw

John Laidlaw

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How do you find the performance/handling against the AMG?

I had a Lexus gs450h with 3.0l v6 married to electric motors, very quick in a straight line but after a while it became a little sterile for my liking and heavy round bends due to the battery weight..

The silent initial acceleration is spooky at first, loved creeping up on pedestrians crossing the road in electric and watching their faces as they suddenly notice you, then as they clear booting the V6 into play!



Mercedes SL500 R231
Chalk and cheese with the AMG
The 63 was just stupidly rapid in a straight line, so much torque it would spin your eyeballs in their sockets to be honest. Corners were....interesting shall we say. I’ve been to a few drive outs where SLK55s with considerably less power would disappear around corners in a nice flat way, where I’d be hanging on, just!
the i8 has really light steering and in full sport has 4 x wheel drive so corners extremely well.
It doesn’t have near the power (385 bhp combined vs 705) nor torque on paper. But the delivery is smoother and far more immediate (the electric motor compensates beautifully for the Turbo lag)
as your Lexus, completely silent until the engine kicks in, then the (partly synthesised ) sound barks up.
As I said, Chalk and cheese- both brilliant IMO
 
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John Laidlaw

John Laidlaw

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Please do give more detail, this is, after all, a motoring forum and people can choose whether it is of interest to them.

I nearly bought a Tesla P90 until I had a test drive, getting hold of an I8 for testing not so easy so your comments are very much of interest..

Mercedes SL500 R231
I certainly will, but as I said I will do it diary style as I go along and therefore more digestible chunks for those who want a quick read!

As for test drive, if I was closer....
I did manage mine before purchase for 2 hours, so there must be some your way?
I’m with you on the Tesla- the fit and finish on the older ones certainly was horrid
 
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John Laidlaw

John Laidlaw

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"TLDR" is something we need to avoid, I see too many posts on here (not yours above, that's fine:)) that Tolstoy could have written, all jammed into 1 paragraph. Use a carriage returns FFS so we can get some clarity. I'll get off my soapbox now.

Pictures are always good, they save ~1,000 words :p
I agree 100% hence my comment..can I share your soapbox?
If I’m honest my attention span is quite low therefore when I see a long, long post I’m likely to just move on...as for one long paragraph, I don’t even begin to read it!!:rolleyes:
 

Blobcat

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I agree 100% hence my comment..can I share your soapbox?
If I’m honest my attention span is quite low therefore when I see a long, long post I’m likely to just move on...as for one long paragraph, I don’t even begin to read it!!:rolleyes:
It's probably why we spend so much time on the word association thread :D
 
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John Laidlaw

John Laidlaw

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It's probably why we spend so much time on the word association thread :D
:rolleyes:;):):geek:
I sometime venture on to ‘sum up your day in three words ‘ though :D
 


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