If you saw a BMW i8 driving down the street today, you'd probably still think it arrived from the year 2040. Those swan-wing doors and that layered, aerodynamic "buttress" at the back look like something out of a Christopher Nolan movie. Honestly, it’s hard to believe how long it's actually been since this car first hit the pavement. People often get the dates mixed up because BMW teased us with concepts for years before anyone could actually buy one.
So, when did the bmw i8 come out? The short answer is June 2014. But like most things in the automotive world, the "real" birth happened much earlier in the halls of Munich.
The Concept Years: From Diesel to Destiny
Before the i8 was the i8, it was a wild idea called the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics. It made its world debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2009. Back then, it didn't even have a gasoline engine. It used a three-cylinder turbodiesel. Imagine that—a diesel supercar.
BMW spent the next few years realizing that diesel wasn't the vibe for a global halo car, so they switched to a 1.5-liter gasoline triple paired with an electric motor. By 2011, they showed off the "BMW i8 Concept," which looked about 90% like the car we eventually got. It was a massive gamble. No one was really doing plug-in hybrid sports cars yet, at least not at this price point.
Key Milestones in the i8 Launch
- September 2009: Vision EfficientDynamics concept revealed.
- February 2011: BMW officially launches the "i" sub-brand.
- September 2013: The final production version of the BMW i8 debuts in Frankfurt.
- April 2014: Series production officially kicks off at the Leipzig plant.
- June 2014: The first customers in Germany and Europe take delivery.
- August 2014: The i8 officially lands in the United States.
It’s worth noting that the first US delivery was actually quite a spectacle. It happened during the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, where a "Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Edition" sold for a whopping $825,000 at auction. For context, the regular sticker price was around $135,700.
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Why the i8 Release Mattered So Much
You have to remember what the world looked like in 2014. Tesla was still a niche player with the Model S. The "Holy Trinity" of hypercars (the LaFerrari, P1, and 918) were just hitting the scene with million-dollar price tags.
BMW basically tried to bring that "future of speed" tech down to a (slightly) more attainable level. They used a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) passenger cell. They used chemically hardened glass. They even offered laser headlights—the first production car in the world to do so.
The car was a rolling lab.
The Roadster and the Mid-Life Refresh
By 2017, the original i8 was starting to feel a tiny bit dated in the battery department. BMW waited until the 2018 model year to give us what we all actually wanted: the i8 Roadster.
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When the Roadster arrived in May 2018, it brought a significant "Life Cycle Impulse" (LCI) update for the Coupe too. They bumped the battery capacity from 7.1 kWh to 11.6 kWh. This didn't just help the range; it gave the electric motor more punch. Total system output climbed from 357 horsepower to 369. It wasn't a massive jump, but the car felt more "complete."
The End of the Road
All good things, right? BMW officially ended production of the i8 in June 2020. The final car—a Roadster in Portimao Blue—rolled off the line in Leipzig, marking the end of a six-year run.
In total, BMW built exactly 20,465 units. That makes it one of the most successful plug-in hybrid sports cars ever made, even if the "purists" never quite forgave it for having a three-cylinder engine.
Final Production Breakdown
- BMW i8 Coupe: 16,581 units
- BMW i8 Roadster: 3,884 units
If you're looking for the rarest version, keep an eye out for the LCI Coupe (2018-2020). Because most people who wanted the updated tech opted for the Roadster, the late-model Coupes are actually harder to find than the drop-tops.
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Should You Buy One Now?
If you're looking at a used i8 today, you're entering "modern classic" territory. Prices have stabilized, and honestly, nothing else on the road offers this much visual drama for the money.
If you're going to pull the trigger, aim for a 2019 or 2020 model. The bigger battery and the improved seats make a world of difference for daily driving. Just be prepared for the attention. You can't pump gas in an i8 without someone asking you "what is that?" or "when did this come out?"
Now you actually have the answer for them.
Practical Next Steps for Potential Buyers:
- Check the door struts: These are heavy doors, and the gas struts eventually lose their "oomph." If the door feels like it's trying to decapitate you, they need replacing.
- Verify the battery health: Use a BMW-specific OBDII reader to check the maximum capacity remaining on the high-voltage cells.
- Inspect the CFRP sills: People struggle to get in and out of these. Look for heavy scuffing or cracks on the carbon fiber door sills, as these are expensive to "pretty up" once damaged.