I have to laugh at some of the comments on here slating it. Why not do a limited edition? Quite normal to drive a few more sales. They perfected that on the Subaru Impreza, WR1....RB320....P1 etc etc with a nice little number badge.
Dated engineering? are you kidding, yes things will always move on at a fast pace but these are people probably still driving around in 'old' style engineered cars that just have facelifts and a tweek of power. Soon you will only be able to buy electric in the UK! lol
What BMW have done is a refreshing change from the mundane 'safe' mass produced crud and it was a brand new development.
I am all for peoples contructive comments and yes, manufacturers don't always get it right but look at the iconic cars of old like the countach, testerossa etc, absolutely horrible to drive but the styling was to die for back in the day and still command high prices now!!
Price is always linked to what people are prepared to pay and not many cars have a carbon fibre lightweight tub do they. Yes to a degree, you are paying for some of the development. The success is that it is more useable than other similar exotica offered today that are even more expensive aka Honda NSX.
It is M4 performace without the daily running cost and beats the R8 V8 in a drag race (ok not the V10). My last two cars were V8's and with heavy front end 'lumps', the mid engined i8 feels more balanced and so much better to drive. Who called it slow?
People pay a lot of money to drive exotica with the hope of being in an exclusive club. It's comforting to think that they won't drop to 5K like an old M3 so the 'chav brigade' can get their hands on them to do burnouts. Non constructive comments are usually from people who couldn't afford one anyway so it's just easier to slate it under the jealosy hat to 'big up' what they can afford
