[sdsurf86]

Hi all, I am a fairly new i8 owner, in San Diego, I'll cut to the chase; I had noticed engine coolant hemorrhaging out of my car like a cut artery. 2 hours post pickup from having my oil changed at a bmw service center (the coincidence is uncanny right?) Well i brought it in to a bmw service center and they're quoting me 2k just for labor. I've had this car less than a year, and I know they come with their fair share of problems due to the seemingly self sabotaging BMW did to its customers by using inferior parts with short shelf lives.

I was wondering if you guys have any suggestions? Is the service center the best option or will i find better options at a smaller shop (if they even work on them)

or....

Is this even worth the trouble and should i just cut my losses and get rid of it?

Before you ask, no, warranties are no longer being offered on this car (guess that was a sign huh?) its a 2015, 44k miles, no other issues.

Thank you guys....

[Jjoynt]

I would certainly get another estimate by an independent shop. Considering that you're in San Diego, BMW specialized shops definitely have seen their fair share of i8s I would assume.

What did BMW say when the issue happened two hours after an oil change?

[sdsurf86]

Thank you for your input my friend! And yes I did heed your advice, some local shops gave me as high of a price quote as $3k! Luckily I found a place nearby that got very high yelp reviews and quoted me $1,600 parts, labor, and 24k mile warranty.

[dhurng]

truth be told i have had the simplest problems happening to the 2019 already. And not only does the dealership quote ridiculous numbers but they also take forever because apparently parts for this car need to come from Germany and take 2 weeks minimum...I had a door trim that was loose since December, just got it finalized last week in March lol.

Many shops up here (NorCal) have avoided doing intensive labor work probably since they don't like working with the hybrid system.

anyways I would almost go about saying to cut the losses especially if this has happened to you < 1 year ownership :/

[ChiTownM]

Did they tell you what is broken? Maybe ask them for some goodwill where BMW picks up some of the cost.

Also be aware that even the dealer prices are negotiable. I have used BMWCCA discount on everything that I had to pay for.

Not sure how much you would get for the car, they are just not hot and only us enthusiast actually get the car.

[sdsurf86]

The conclusion....

Firstly I want to thank everyone who took time out of their busy days to help me out 🙏 all of you had great advice, secondly I found a shop here in San Diego called "select German automotive" and they deal exclusively with bmw Mercedes and Audi. They quoted me $1690 for everything parts and labor, all in all it took 7 days. When I dropped it off the guy told me he forgot to tack on the additional cost of bleeding it and depressurization, and that would be an extra $400. I was obviously upset and with minimal fuss they not only wiped it away but gave me 10% off for checking in on Yelp. The final verdict was a cracked radiator they determined neither owner nor manufacturer were at fault for. Just what happens to an 8 year old i8. They also cleared up several additional items bmw felt I was in dire need of. They bled the system and I'm picking up Justin Beemer tonight. Needless to say they've gained a loyal customer.

[tommyb13662]

Any pics of the crack. To me, That is rather concerning. Most radiators don't fail in 8 years. Some of my cars have had 30+year old radiators...

[ChiTownM]

Where was the crack, any further insights?

[stressdoc]

I had a similar experience w my 2019 i8. Coolant leak after an oil change. BMW looked into it, ordered complete replacement of coolant system and a new engine after diagnosing electrolysis. All on their dime. Repairs dragged on over 3 months so I requested and received a year extension of the warranty. Everything works great; in effect I have a new car as far as basic mechanics. I am concerned that the rate of coolant system failures is high on the i8, but don't have any solid explanations for why.

[Swiss tone]

I have just posted a new thread as I’ve got a front coolant leak also. Mine is 8 years old with only 29k miles and always garages so strange but will see what the garage finds first.
My friend funny enough has also had a new rad as his had cracked on an inlet.

[sdsurf86]

Well guys it got so much worse after my "conclusion" post, I ended up having the radiator replaced but they didn't know how to bleed the coolant line properly they signed off on the car and gave it back to me, and In driving home I got the same warning engine overheat. I pulled over and charge the vehicle and use the electric engine to get back to the radiator shop. They drained and replaced the coolant system several times, yet still got the same overheating message. Finally I threw in the towel and had it shipped to BMW of Escondido. The customer service I received there was top-notch, until it wasn't. Brace yourselves for a long story......

Was submitted to BMW of Escondido in March 2023 and I made it clear to them I was only interested in a coolant flush because I was convinced that that's what was wrong with this at this point. They did but it took them several weeks to do because they had to call in the specialist technician who works with i8. the bleeding was done several times but still the result was the same then they came back and told me it was most likely due to the temperature sensors so they replace those but still no working result. During this time they had given me courtesy vehicles but were frequently swapping them out due to diagnostics or me having them too long, so they sent me an enterprise rental car which they were going to pay for. They came back with another explanation that it was the dampners but the part they needed no longer exists so BMW headquarters in Germany agreed to make the part for me and do it for free, but it would take a few months. At this point it was now May, the car had been inoperable since March. July came and the dampners were here finally and being installed they said i could pick up my car the next day, so the next day i got all ready it was about to go down to Escondido when I got a call that it still didn't work, and they were going to run some more tests.

The next few days I heard nothing and then they came back at me with "the engine was cooked during the overheating initially sustained" way back when this problem first started. They stated "we weren't sure this was the issue until we were able to get all the way into the engine and do these other (extremely costly)repairs along the way" I then let my head fall down with the weight of gravity as the realization dawned on me of the current situation. "the engine was cooked" didnt make sense because, and I quote delightful Pat from Pats garage who was also a very big help during this time and I thank him greatly for his knowledge and candor with me, but it didnt make sense because the car still drove. but also because the fact that if this had truly been the issue from the beginning if the engine truly was cooked it wouldn't have been able to be driven at all furthermore there's one simple $30 test on Amazon that could have answered this question the day started happening, but this product isn't BMW certified they don't endorse it nor use it, so the customer pays thousands of dollars for BMW's reluctance. Furthermore, that free part that they were making for me in Germany? Well they decided to charge me for that, and the rental too. All of this dawned on me that I was doomed from the beginning, and I knew it. I knew the day I dropped my car off I would never see it again, but because I trusted the manufacturer and I went along with what the "certified experts" were telling me, the same people who had to Google how to open the hood.
During the middle of all of this I lost my job so being slammed with costly repair bills and rental car bills and now being out a car and living in the most expensive city in America, my bank account bled like a sliced artery. BMW Of Escondido told me that they could replace the engine with that of a mini Cooper since it was basically the same thing but it would cost a total of $30,000. And with that I gave a call to the bank and told them to repossess a nonworking vehicle and I would no longer be able to make the payments.

So there you have it, from the moment I saw that "low coolant level" message emerge on the dash I knew what it meant. The car that I owned less than a year, my dream car, car that I poured days if not weeks of my blood and sweat doing customization work on or cosmetic or coding modifications on. My dream car that finally made me feel accomplished and solid was taken away. I had it for 10 months. Because of all this I lost my luxury two bedroom two bath condo in downtown San Diego, had to move to LA and soon to be Phoenix Arizona, and looking into filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy. Why am I telling you all this? I post this in hopes that someone else whos facing the decision to take their car to BMW mechanics, or sees that "engine coolant low" message pop-up so that they might take into account everything that happened to me to seek out other avenues for diagnosis and repair of the vehicle. This year has been about a lot of loss for me, but it's getting better finally and I even aim to acquire another i8 one day, but the next one I'll be doing differently. I'm a specialized cardiac critical care travel nurse, I help people for a living and I believe in making this world a better place, because there's enough evil people contributing in it already. I realize this may seem stupid to some of you, but this car was a gift to myself after I had lost the love of my life. It was a self indulgence reminder and a testament to not only myself but to the world of what I could achieve. During the pandemic I worked non-stop traveling to different cities, helping people. I took the money that I earned by caring for people dying of an unnecessary disease proliferated from lies and paranoia. The money earned lying to family members saying that their loved ones went in peace because the truth would have tormented them. I had nothing handed to me and I have worked hard for everything that I used to have in my entire life, from growing up being bullied and psychologically tormented by a unstable family life to being violated on another level by the corruption of people I trusted. I viewed this car as an achievement, I viewed it reparations. I may have been going home alone from the club every night, but at least I was driving home in that. BMW took that away from me, with their incompetence, cowardice, and reluctance to pay the price for a technicians ignorance, they cost me more than they will ever know.

But there is a silver lining in this cloudy story, and that is what I focus on now, I leave this story and extremely personal details as a cautionary tale to those that may be in the same situation or have not had the "low engine coolant level" warning arise yet. Be wise, be patient, do your research, and be smart, just because the companies logo is on the car doesnt mean they know what they're doing and certainly do not have your best intentions at heart.

Hopefully someday soon I will be able to post again here, once I get another i8, but for now I graciously bow out of this threat and group. R.I.P Justin Beemer - Taken before your time -

[Swiss tone]

Sorry to hear all your troubles, hope you get back on your feet soon.
Mine goes in tonight due to ‘top up coolant’ issue.
Mine is def a leak and think I need a new radiator. Weird with such low mileage.
I know the garage has replaced one before as my friend has had the same thing so much be a weak point on the rad (assuming it is the rad!?).
I will mention that seems like a procedure to replace the coolant after what you said. Cheers

[Coastali8]

Sorry to hear about your experience.
Moral to the story….. don’t take an extremely complicated hybrid car to a local radiator shop and expect them to know how to repair and bleed the cooling system. Bleeding the i8 cooling system is notoriously difficult and a multi step procedure that must be performed exactly according to BMW specifications for a successful outcome.

Any car can develop a coolant leak. It’s nothing that the i8 is more prone to than any other vehicle.

You bought a $150k car. Educate yourself and don’t cheap out on maintenance and repairs.

And don’t continue to drive just because the car “still drives” when it is warning you something is wrong.
Put a shirt on.

[stressdoc]

Ouch. My experience was different, as noted above. Same problem, took it back to dealer. Diagnosed as coolant problem, engine damaged. Complete coolant and engine replacement covered under warranty. Two years later everything working perfectly.