So I've have had my i8 for a little over two years now. It's my first big "exotic" and yes I use the word exotic loosely here but whatever. Over the years I've wondered if I should upgrade to an F430, an LP570-2 or even a newer NSX. Ultimately I find that nothing matches the performance per dollar of the i8 and I end up keeping it. I love this car. It gets so much hate for no reason. But I digress.
I've had a drivetrain whine since I got it. It would increase with speed, wouldn't increase in turns, and seemed to keep getting progressively louder. I had mis-matched tires on the car and assumed they were just wearing poorly. So last week I went out and put a new set of Pilot Sport 4S's on the car only to immediately notice that the noise wasn't at all better. Ooof. No big deal. I have an aftermarket warranty that came with the car and I haven't touched it in two years. I take the car to BMW and let them know what the issue is. That night they send me a video.
The tech goes over some basic stuff like tread depth and brake pad life and then moves on to my problem which he states is both rear wheel bearings which my warranty has approved for replacement. Cool! Then he just cavalierly says "and you've got some damage to the carbon fiber tub" at which point he pans to one side of the car to reveal a deep scratch (not great but whatever) and then to the other side of the car to reveal a two inch long CRACK. That's a problem.
For all the hate the i8 gets, people don't realize that it's built like a super car. It's passenger compartment is comprised of a carbon fiber reinforced plastic tub with a frame attached at either end to hold the front motor and rear engine. The tub is made up of several smaller pieces that are fitted together and then bonded at the factory. If you damage the tub in any area, no matter how small, the fix is to disassemble the car enough to access that portion, grind out the adhesive on the entire affected piece and then install a new one. Only a couple problems:
1. The parts are on eternal backorder.
2. You need to basically disassemble half the car to get to this part.
3. Nobody will touch the car.
That last one is especially weird. Most won't touch it because they aren't comfortable working on it or aren't certified in carbon fiber. Of the people that are comfortable working on it, most won't touch it because writing an estimate is basically a fools errand since they know it will total out the car and they won't get the work anyhow.
So I sit here with a car that is perfectly drivable, yet will likely end up being totaled because of damage in an area that arguably sees almost no load forces. And how did I manage to pull this off? Well as best I can tell, a speedbump. Last month I had the kids in the car and went over a speedbump in a parking lot. I didn't go over it fast. It was just steep and the i8 is low. The extra weight of the kids was enough for the center of the car to bottom out on the bump. It didn't feel bad. Just enough to let you know to be more careful next time. And that's it. That's what did me in.
I have agreed value insurance through Hagerty. If they total it I'm hoping they'll sell it back to me for a reasonable cost. Otherwise, the car is about to be completely torn down for a 2 inch crack.
I've had a drivetrain whine since I got it. It would increase with speed, wouldn't increase in turns, and seemed to keep getting progressively louder. I had mis-matched tires on the car and assumed they were just wearing poorly. So last week I went out and put a new set of Pilot Sport 4S's on the car only to immediately notice that the noise wasn't at all better. Ooof. No big deal. I have an aftermarket warranty that came with the car and I haven't touched it in two years. I take the car to BMW and let them know what the issue is. That night they send me a video.
The tech goes over some basic stuff like tread depth and brake pad life and then moves on to my problem which he states is both rear wheel bearings which my warranty has approved for replacement. Cool! Then he just cavalierly says "and you've got some damage to the carbon fiber tub" at which point he pans to one side of the car to reveal a deep scratch (not great but whatever) and then to the other side of the car to reveal a two inch long CRACK. That's a problem.
For all the hate the i8 gets, people don't realize that it's built like a super car. It's passenger compartment is comprised of a carbon fiber reinforced plastic tub with a frame attached at either end to hold the front motor and rear engine. The tub is made up of several smaller pieces that are fitted together and then bonded at the factory. If you damage the tub in any area, no matter how small, the fix is to disassemble the car enough to access that portion, grind out the adhesive on the entire affected piece and then install a new one. Only a couple problems:
1. The parts are on eternal backorder.
2. You need to basically disassemble half the car to get to this part.
3. Nobody will touch the car.
That last one is especially weird. Most won't touch it because they aren't comfortable working on it or aren't certified in carbon fiber. Of the people that are comfortable working on it, most won't touch it because writing an estimate is basically a fools errand since they know it will total out the car and they won't get the work anyhow.
So I sit here with a car that is perfectly drivable, yet will likely end up being totaled because of damage in an area that arguably sees almost no load forces. And how did I manage to pull this off? Well as best I can tell, a speedbump. Last month I had the kids in the car and went over a speedbump in a parking lot. I didn't go over it fast. It was just steep and the i8 is low. The extra weight of the kids was enough for the center of the car to bottom out on the bump. It didn't feel bad. Just enough to let you know to be more careful next time. And that's it. That's what did me in.
I have agreed value insurance through Hagerty. If they total it I'm hoping they'll sell it back to me for a reasonable cost. Otherwise, the car is about to be completely torn down for a 2 inch crack.
