BMW i8 Emergency Procedures

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Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
BMW has created the "ultimate shop queen".

+1
Plus, this will be the car that keeps on giving....to the dealer.
 
BMW frequently seem to want to reinvent the ergonomics of operating a car. Every nonconformity like these complicate the use by unfamiliar drivers and emergency services.

Just a day ago some tourists drove through a bridge railing (at speed) and were trapped in their Corolla under water. Would not want to have to operate that absurdly-delicate door opener while under duress.
 
Basically with i8 no owner would ever need to muck under their and they shouldn't.

How many people think they need to work on their own Tesla S? How many people who can afford such a car would?

Quite frankly they don't want you injuring yourself or the car, seems reasonable to me.
 
Originally Posted By: CBR.worm
to having to wait for the tank pressure to equalize before the fuel door opens.

IIRC, the Lexus RX400h and Toyota Highlander Hybrid does that too. Not sure if the new ones still do this.
 
Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
Basically with i8 no owner would ever need to muck under their and they shouldn't.

How many people think they need to work on their own Tesla S? How many people who can afford such a car would?

Totally agree. You've got to look at the target market for this car and then ask yourself if that market is even remotely interested in popping the hood, or if it's going to be a deal breaker if their manual door release happens to break at some point. They'll just call BMW roadside assistance and then go drive one of their other exotics instead.

I'm not saying this is right or wrong, but it is just par for the course. The things that many of us may find preposterous may not even register on the radar of an average buyer.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
Basically with i8 no owner would ever need to muck under their and they shouldn't.

How many people think they need to work on their own Tesla S? How many people who can afford such a car would?

Totally agree. You've got to look at the target market for this car and then ask yourself if that market is even remotely interested in popping the hood, or if it's going to be a deal breaker if their manual door release happens to break at some point. They'll just call BMW roadside assistance and then go drive one of their other exotics instead.

I'm not saying this is right or wrong, but it is just par for the course. The things that many of us may find preposterous may not even register on the radar of an average buyer.


True, though in the past, luxury cars were built to be rebuilt and maintained over a long period of time. For example the MB 600 was a highly complex car, but to this day can be repaired. Not at the local quick lube/general repair chain, but any decent Euro specialist in the US can deal with it. It didn't just meet a couple basic criteria like "fast, chic, Prius," you truly got what you paid for. I feel like Hyundai could make the i8 easily if they could market it.

The i8 seems to cross over into disposability. Maybe the people who buy the i8 are are so wealthy and so disconnected from mechanical things that they just don't care, but I think even if I was very rich, I would only want to spend a lot of money on vehicles that I know I could keep going indefinitely. This doesn't seem like one of those cars. From the video it seems if you look at it the wrong way, some critical little plastic bit will break and the car will be a sealed tomb forever, or until someone is willing to break a window that will cost thousands to replace. It seems like it is absurdity with no advantages. The MB 600 was an absurd car, but had its advantages...what does the i8 really bring to the table other than some "I'm being trendy and green!" mentality for the first dimwit lessee? Aside from electric motor instant speed, what does it really even offer in dynamics or quality? It seems like it's just a "green" disposable car with a fast 0-60 and chic nameplate, NOT engineering excellence.
 
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Aside from electric motor instant speed, what does it really even offer in dynamics or quality? It seems like it's just a "green" disposable car with a fast 0-60 and chic nameplate, NOT engineering excellence.


Jalopnik thought it was a pioneer of new car design...

http://jalopnik.com/2015-bmw-i8-the-jalopnik-review-1641783103

Quote:
On performance and price, the i8 technically competes with cars like the Audi R8, Porsche 911, Mercedes-AMG GT, Corvette, and others of that ilk. But in the real world, this is like flying an F22 Raptor in 1945. Compared to everything else in its class, the i8 feels like the first generation of something new and exciting. The other cars feel like the last generation of something that has been around forever.


Supposedly that's something rich people tell themselves are they spend all that money.
smile.gif


Jalopnik thought that for the price, it's a steal...

Quote:
The Porsche 918 is a carbon fiber hybrid supercar. The base price of the Porsche 918 is $845,000. Yes, it has a race derived engine and super impressive tech, but the i8 is a carbon fiber hybrid supercar, and it costs $136,000.

That's a gigantic delta, and one that makes the i8 the deal of the century as far as I'm concerned.
 
Even though Jalopnik tends to think a Westfalia that runs on hipster farts is the pinnacle of engineering and anything from Germany must be good, that is a surprisingly fawning review.
 
15 years from now, when your Focus and your F150 are built like this, you will find your posts in this thread humorous.

The BMW i8 is a product spawned by your government and its onerous regulations.

BMW is just trying to continue to build innovative performance vehicles into the future.
 
If you're responding to me, I bet in 15 years I'll still have a Ranger in the driveway, forget a Focus or F-150.
crackmeup2.gif
I find myself less enthused with new car models each passing year.

I don't blame BMW for making a mostly electric hybrid fast car, but can they make it a little easier to open the doors and hood if the electronics go dead? As far as I know, the gov't has only mandated more efficient cars, not "make the car a nightmare if anything breaks."

Innovation is good as long as it is actually progress.
 
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
Basically with i8 no owner would ever need to muck under their and they shouldn't.

How many people think they need to work on their own Tesla S? How many people who can afford such a car would?

Totally agree. You've got to look at the target market for this car and then ask yourself if that market is even remotely interested in popping the hood, or if it's going to be a deal breaker if their manual door release happens to break at some point. They'll just call BMW roadside assistance and then go drive one of their other exotics instead.

I'm not saying this is right or wrong, but it is just par for the course. The things that many of us may find preposterous may not even register on the radar of an average buyer.


True, though in the past, luxury cars were built to be rebuilt and maintained over a long period of time. For example the MB 600 was a highly complex car, but to this day can be repaired. Not at the local quick lube/general repair chain, but any decent Euro specialist in the US can deal with it. It didn't just meet a couple basic criteria like "fast, chic, Prius," you truly got what you paid for. I feel like Hyundai could make the i8 easily if they could market it.

The i8 seems to cross over into disposability. Maybe the people who buy the i8 are are so wealthy and so disconnected from mechanical things that they just don't care, but I think even if I was very rich, I would only want to spend a lot of money on vehicles that I know I could keep going indefinitely. This doesn't seem like one of those cars. From the video it seems if you look at it the wrong way, some critical little plastic bit will break and the car will be a sealed tomb forever, or until someone is willing to break a window that will cost thousands to replace. It seems like it is absurdity with no advantages. The MB 600 was an absurd car, but had its advantages...what does the i8 really bring to the table other than some "I'm being trendy and green!" mentality for the first dimwit lessee? Aside from electric motor instant speed, what does it really even offer in dynamics or quality? It seems like it's just a "green" disposable car with a fast 0-60 and chic nameplate, NOT engineering excellence.


The 600 was an engineering masterpiece and you need the GDP of a small country to maintain one, one of the most expensive car restorations ever was done at the Mercedes Classic Center on a 600.

Both cars had different engineering goals. The 600 was a cost is no object engineers playground where they were told to simply build the best sedan in the world, which they did. BMW was trying to scale down a Porsche 918 or The Ferrari The Ferrari into something more of an average person could afford. Its very new technology and as a result very expensive, hence why its used on $1m cars. I can assure you an I4 or a half price version is in the pipe lines. In that respect it was quite a large project with very lofty engineering goals, which they seem to have met.

IMHO the I8 competes with the Tesla, its a new car for a new world.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
I can assure you an I4 or a half price version is in the pipe lines.

Well, they do have an i3 which is 1/3rd the price, but it looks nothing like the i8.
smile.gif
 
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