Quote:
Originally Posted by patsgarageonline
Thanks for sharing the video.
I wish I had more data points.
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BMW sold 20,000 i8s, so I expect if it's widespread then it will become known. I also own an E92 M3, which have rod bearing issues. The number of cars affected is, as far as the m3post site can determine, about or less than 1%; but if a failure happens then it grenades the engine at a cost of $10-15K. Unlike here, there's a small cottage industry around making oversized bearings for better oil flow (although there have been a few main bearing failures).
I guess if enough i8s have this failure, then BMW will be forced to do something about it. But, as we saw with the M3 rod bearing failures, if the number of failures is low AND the time to failure is long (over 4-5 years), then BMW may sit on their corporate hands.
From what Pat described in his video about the part that's failing, it seems to be a matter of when, and not if; so perhaps BMW will move on this.
It would be a shame to have such a great car ruined by a small detail and not uncommon for manufacturers to sit back too. Remember the 996 Porsche 911 intermediate bearing shaft failure; the Ferrari F355 bronze valve guides or headers; or even the C63 corroding head bolts (although I think Benz eventually came to the party).
Anyway - keeping tabs on this thread to try to ascertain data points. I wonder if we will ever know?