BMW i8

[Alfred_B]

The other day there was a BMW i8 parked at the grocery store. I would have never thought that this car would look so awesome in person.

$147k -- 50% more expensive than a Tesla but much a much better looking vehicle. Will it look gimmicky in 30 years or will it be a classic like a Delorean.

 

[supton]

IMO the Tesla looks better.

 

[440Magnum]

The i8 looks like a cartoonist's vision of an exotic car. Its the same symptom in a different expression as the weird styling of the Nissan Leaf, Toyota Prius, first-gen Honda Insight, and other hybrid or electric cars that are given screwball styling just to scream, "look, I'm electric! I'm green!" That's not what I want. The Tesla looks like a REAL car that just happens to be electric, and that's much more appealing to me. In the same way, a Ford Fusion hybrid or Toyota Camry hybrid are a thousand times more appealing than a goofy Prius.

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted By: supton
IMO the Tesla looks better.


Although subjective, I prefer the looks of the Tesla too but wouldn't complain about either.

 

[SatinSilver]

Wow, at that price I'd rather have an Acura NSX. Not that I'm a huge fan of that car either. I thought the i8 was around $100k.

Two of them at the local dealer, $135k and $150k. The car has a 1.3 liter 3 cyl engine plus of course the electric motors.

 

[HTSS_TR]

The picture doesn't do justice for the i8, in person it looks much better not quite as good as the best of Ferrari but it does look better than most other super car.

Tesla Model S is a sedan and i8 is more like a super car, they are different classes.

 

[SLCraig]

I think the Model S looks incredible personally. It's so clean looking. The i8 not so much. BMW hasn't made much I've desired since the E46 M3. (And many awesome earlier models)

 

[Johnny2Bad]

It's beginning to happen, but not at the pace I would prefer, where the EV models stop already with the gimmicky styling. It will not age well, trust me. Like, what's with the world's ugliest wheels on these things? Tesla definitely gets it right, as does GM with the ELR.

Speaking of which, I'd be plopping my money down on the Cadillac ELR, superb luxury and available at huge discounts, since sales are a flop and dealers with inventory are seriously motivated. You, your wife, and your kid at College could probably all be driving one and get enough change back to pay for that year of College, for the price of the Bimmer.

 

[Quattro Pete]

It's a great looking car with a somewhat futuristic but still tasteful interior. However, for the money, I think I'd rather have an R8.

 

[RhondaHonda]

I agree the I8 looks better in person than in the photos. The dealers were marking them up $10k-50k and getting it when they first came out. The market softened for them and then they were stuck with a bunch of inventory at some dealers. I think they thought it was going to be the next Z8 but I'm not so sure. I'd get an R8 over the I8 too.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
The picture doesn't do justice for the i8, in person it looks much better .


Appearance is all very subjective, but it actually strikes me the opposite. I first saw one in person, and then saw pictures later. The pictures hide some of the more cartoonish aspects of the car and make it look more "normal."

But that's just me. If I were more a fan of exotics in the first place then I'd probably like it more, but low-slung exotics have never been my thing. The only true exotic someone could hypothetically give me and that I wouldn't promptly trade for two Hellcats and a CTS-V would be a '64 Lamborghini Miura... and that one's probably worth three Hellcats, a Mustang, a Viper, and a CTS-V.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Nobody can compete with Italian exotic car, styling wise.

 

[Win]

BMW has not made a stylish car in decades. Including ^^^^^ that one.

 

[RooflessVW]

Originally Posted By: Win
BMW has not made a stylish car in decades. Including ^^^^^ that one.


LOL...

 

[Jetronic]

Sadly, I must agree... styling went to the backburner for bmw. Z3 was at least an attempt, albeit a marmite one.

 

[DoubleWasp]

BMW has been recovering from the Bangle era. Those were some really ugly cars. The styling perfection achieved in the E38 and E39 pretty much never came back. Bangle-butts, "samurai" styling, and raised hoods for European regulations that require a hood to be high enough over the engine to be able to help absorb the impact of a man made airborne by a frontal impact have made plenty of challenges for BMW.

 

[440Magnum]

BMW has at best had "inoffensive" 3-box styling, at worst had Bangle "eyebrow and butt" styling. There's never been a BMW that was exactly attractive. Well, maybe some of the 1950s era cars, but certainly nothing since the 2002 got popular and the BMW 3-box look took hold.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
BMW has at best had "inoffensive" 3-box styling, at worst had Bangle "eyebrow and butt" styling. There's never been a BMW that was exactly attractive. Well, maybe some of the 1950s era cars, but certainly nothing since the 2002 got popular and the BMW 3-box look took hold.



????

Really? I thought the E39 was gorgeous

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
BMW has at best had "inoffensive" 3-box styling, at worst had Bangle "eyebrow and butt" styling. There's never been a BMW that was exactly attractive. Well, maybe some of the 1950s era cars, but certainly nothing since the 2002 got popular and the BMW 3-box look took hold.



????

Really? I thought the E39 was gorgeous

This? If so, I'd say that its certainly an attractive car, but I see nothing distinctive about it. To me it looks like a fairly generic Hondyota, but how it *drives* is another story. Maybe I shouldn't have said they never had anything "attractive," more like "never had anything particularly distinctive in a good way." Lord knows the Bangle-butt 7-series is "distinctive" but not in a good way...

 

[Quattro Pete]

I liked the early 90s 8 series...