Remember that awesome i8 key? It is reportedly less awesome now

"Battery Tender Unnecessary" (carac) 04/16/2014 at 23:09 • Filed to: None

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Back in October I posted !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! It looks significantly less impressive now.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

There has been scuttlebutt the past couple of months that a lot of the promise of the i8, at least in terms of features/content, is being rapidly cut back in scope to get the car onto market as soon as possible. All indications are the i8 is COMING IN HOT . We're talking levels of hot usually reserved for cutting edge tech launches (refer to articles about the event where Jobs unveiled the original iPhone), which is appropriate considering what they are trying to do. But this is unusual for a car launch.

BMW still maintains that i8's are scheduled to hit US shores and be in customer hands by July. Which seems a little optimistic because it is the middle of April and they don't have order guides and no US dealer has been given a build spot. That's 11 weeks until July. BMW dealers say it takes between 8-12 weeks to get a custom order from allocation to delivery and that's with mass production, volume cars. So they are cutting it CLOSE. German market and UK demo cars are supposed to start deliveries in June and there is some indication that order banks are starting to show cars for those countries. Strangely, those countries did have options guides earlier in the year that have since been pulled, features removed, and customers are being told things like laser headlights are only available on cars produced after Nov-14 and that things like the "Display Key" have been cut completely, at least for launch.

I guess it's appropriate that the i8, a car unlike any BMW has yet produced, would have a launch unlike any BMW yet produced. The absolute silence from BMW about things like options, pricing, and delivery dates since the initial announcement in September 2013 makes more sense when you start getting a glimpse of how "straight out of the oven" a car that's been in development for 3+ years appears to be. I've been hoping the lack of information and "mystery" surrounding the i8 was due to some grand marketing strategy...but it appears to be them staying quiet about a car that might need more time to "cook." If they do push it out the door in July without things like the display key and other features, I hope they take a page from McLaren and Tesla by offering free updates and upgrades to existing customers. Unless they come out and say those things are coming, but won't be available of early adopters...I might pass the first round to someone else and buy it after they get a chance to finish it. Which is really disappointing considering my excitement for the i8 is greater than any other car up to this point.

Of course, they could always pull an Apple and get the whole thing working as intended as it flies out the door. Everything I've written becoming rumor busted. I sincerely hope that's the case but time will tell...and there's not much of it left.

signintoburnerlol > Battery Tender Unnecessary 04/16/2014 at 22:14

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I know it's not politically correct, but only one word appeared in my head.

Gaaaaaaay.

Brian Silvestro > Battery Tender Unnecessary 04/16/2014 at 22:19

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Wow that's awful looking.

Also, you'll be lucky if you get it by the end of the year, it seems.

Victorious Secret > Battery Tender Unnecessary 04/16/2014 at 22:19

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That is the viagra dispenser, I take it?

Battery Tender Unnecessary > Brian Silvestro 04/16/2014 at 22:25

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I've been anticipating it for a month or two now. No company stays this silent if they have good news about a product. It's also why I decided to get rid of the Range Rover now (it's worth a lot more now than in 6-9 months) instead of banking on the i8 coming in July and trading. That said, maybe they pull a rabbit out of the hat or at least come out and say "all owners of the i8 will get the display key when it becomes available but until then here's an iPhone app that does the same thing."

For Sweden > Battery Tender Unnecessary 04/16/2014 at 22:27

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It looks like my Volvo key

I paid around $4000 for my Volvo

Also, it's a Volvo, not a BMW

I'll let you ponder that

Brian Silvestro > Battery Tender Unnecessary 04/16/2014 at 22:27

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I gotta say that was a genius move getting rid of the 'Rover, knowing how much they depreciate. The Fiesta ST should be enough new-car fun to hold you over, hopefully.

Battery Tender Unnecessary > Brian Silvestro 04/16/2014 at 22:29

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And I might just use it as my winter car when time comes. I've heard from a few guys up north that with winter tires the Focus and Fiesta ST murder snow.

Brian Silvestro > Battery Tender Unnecessary 04/16/2014 at 22:33

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Yeah I've read the forums, they seem to handle snow nicely (and be really fun for hooning around in)

jariten1781 > Battery Tender Unnecessary 04/16/2014 at 23:00

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Can confirm. The stock RE50s are hilariously bad in the snow though. I couldn't even get up my hill with very light accumulation. Popped it back in the garage and switched to the Miata on Eagle F1 GS-D3s which had no problem with the dusting. Put some Blizzaks on the FiST and it was unstoppable...had to use the front airdam to plow through ~6 inches on top of ice pack more than once and it didn't even flinch.

catkam623 misses his 944 > Battery Tender Unnecessary 04/16/2014 at 23:26

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I actually saw my first i8 today it was driving along pch calm as you please without the camouflage so July could be reasonable.

Garrett Davis > Battery Tender Unnecessary 04/17/2014 at 02:24

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Whyy the hell is it so wide? What's the purpose of that

Blue 300 > Battery Tender Unnecessary 04/17/2014 at 02:25

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Looks small. I'd take it over my humungous key fob.

willkinton247 > Battery Tender Unnecessary 04/18/2014 at 12:02

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And without them, HOLY CRAP THEY ARE TERRIBLE - source, my coworker bought a Focus ST, and he could not get up any hill on the summers the car came with. He was downright desperate to get some winters.

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > Battery Tender Unnecessary 04/18/2014 at 22:38

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A bit late on this topic, but I wonder what's up with BMW using odd symbols on their "keys"? on my father's E90, the "unlock" button is an arrow towards the top, while their "lock" button is the BMW emblem.