[vreihen16]

FWIW, I have read a handful of reports that the early i3's also suffered from grenading/fragging AC compressors. In one case, BMW offered the owner something like $2,500 as compensation for an essentially totaled car.

i3 owners are putting stone guard screens in their lower air intakes, to keep the condenser from getting punctured by stones and road debris. Cheap insurance if it also works for the i8, even if there is no direct correlation between stone hits on the condenser and compressor shrapnel.....