BMW i8 Coupe - Reliability & safety (2014-2021)
New technology hasn't been tried and tested, but the BMW i8 feels well put together
The BMW i8 was launched with plenty of new tech, which made predicting long-term reliability a little trickier than normal but in the years since then, there haven’t been reports of major problems. The car's battery comes with a long warranty and features a BMW TeleServices system, which tells you not only when the car needs servicing, but also when your local dealer has an available slot.
BMW i8 reliability
Due to the relatively small number of owners, the BMW i8 has yet to feature in our annual Driver Power customer satisfaction survey. As a brand, BMW finished in 27th place in the 2020 edition (a two place drop from 25th position in 2019), with 20.4% of owners experiencing one or more faults in the first year of ownership. However, as these results were made up largely of conventional petrol and diesel BMW owners, it would be wrong to expect i8 owners to share the same experience.
Although many of the i8’s parts are of cutting-edge design and construction, most of the interior switchgear used across BMW’s range and the 1.5-litre petrol engine is fitted to many MINI models and the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer MPV.
Safety
The BMW i8 should also be safe, although it's yet to be crash-tested by Euro NCAP. All BMW i8s come with bright LED headlights as standard, but if they're not hi-tech enough for you, BMW will fit laser headlights at extra cost. These are 10 times more powerful than conventional lights and their pure-white beam reaches up to 600 metres ahead of the car. The car also has a high-beam assistance system, which dips the lights when it detects a car coming in the opposite direction.
The i8 can also be fitted with a Driver Assistance package, which includes an automatic braking system. This can slow the car down if it senses an imminent impact, while the object detection system can sense a vehicle in your blind spot.
