[P.K.]

The little hard working 3 cyl engine in our i8s is almost always called upon when more power is needed and thus is asked for high power at low RPM right from start-up. This is the worst case scenario for Low Speed Pre-Ignition. We cannot hear it over the engine sound piped into the cabin. Has anyone had any issues with engine damage? I assume this is a warranty issue for now but down the road maybe not and this would be a major repair. Anyone doing their own oil changes because they are not within a reasonable distance of the free ones, needs to be absolutely sure to use the correct oil with the BMW specified anti-knock additive. As milage accumulates, more deposits from high levels of EGR and PCV condensates accumulate in the intake. This can in turn effect MAP readings and thus counteract the riching up to counteract knock. Can we assume that BMW is aware of this effect and has tuned the anti-knock strategy to compensate. A number of manufacturers have service bulletins regarding the regular cleaning of throttle bodies and ducting. Even if there were a simple way to turn off the engine sound, this kind of knock is hard to pick out - even for Batman. My current solution is to run in "sport" mode for the first 5 minutes of driving- this at least gets the juices moving a bit before the on demand mode is selected.

[Coastali8]

I have been doing my own oil changes at every 5000 miles.
If you search the Mini Cooper forms they seem to have issues with turbo charger bearing failures. They recommend frequent oil changes.
I have been using BMW recommended oil Ravenol 5w/30.
It’s a really easy job and very inexpensive for parts. And my closest BMW dealer is about 1 1/2 hours away.
Never heard any knocking or pinging from my little ICE. But I have been doing the same thing you mentioned by running in sport for the first few miles of every drive to get things oiled up and warmed up.

[jcpca356]

this is great advice as i plan to keep my i8 long term. THANKS!

[MichaelJohn]

I also try to run in sport a few minutes at sedate speeds to get the engine warm enough before pushing it. I wish there were a temperature gauge for the internal combustion engine so we could actually know what's going on. It's annoying that BMW feels that we don't need one. I am sure that little three banger warms up quickly but I am old school and I really miss a gauge. My E92 M3 had a little red line on the tachometer that would move up as the engine warmed to let you know the recommended maximum RPM. That was a clever and useful feature.

[Marc45]

I just take it to the dealer and make sure the car is under warranty.

I wish there were a temperature gauge for the internal combustion engine so we could actually know what's going on.

Get an OBDII dongle like Veepeak and there are apps that will show all sorts of car temp parameters.

[P.K.]

I too am a long term owner. The i8 may not be the fastest out there but it is stating the right thing in my opinion- This is BMW saying -we aren't beating you super cars but we are right behind and doing it with 1.5 litres, and I can do my daily chores on battery alone! The horsepower race is full on, I think that philosophically they are racing in the wrong direction.
My dealer is a ferry and a drive away and near impossible to do a round trip in a day.
The 5000 mile change - is that including electric mode? All my vehicles get an annual oil change- kind of their Xmas present. The recommended oil for my 2016 is 0w/20 - I know BMW did make a spec change and now require the longlife 14FE+ to replace the longlife 04. I wonder if this is to partially address the issue of LSPI? Many have wondered why no engine temp gauge - I only assume that the ECU is in charge of the warm up- It would be an easy software upgrade to at least give us the same amber warm up points on the tach like the earlier performance engines.- Just a thought.

[MichaelJohn]

Originally Posted by P.K.

The 5000 mile change - is that including electric mode?

That is a very good question. I do a lot of local errands without burning a drop of gasoline so the internal combustion engine never even starts up. Along with a temperature gauge, I would like a run-time gauge for the ICE like many boats have. I’ll bet that nearly half of my miles are electric only. I will never come close to the recommended mileage intervals for oil changes, especially since the odometer reading doesn’t indicate the true ICE mileage. The only reason for me to change the oil is degradation from time and not from usage. On that note, i’m not completely convinced that modern oils break down that much over time.

[Coastali8]

I don’t use my i8 as a daily driver so when I fire it up I’m usually traveling 50 to 100 miles or more for a pleasure drive. I figure that if I’m running in comfort mode most of the time and the ICE will be running about 80% of the trip. Also I put about 5000 miles a year on the car so it all averages out to the recommended annual oil change. It’s only 4 liters of oil and a $15 filter and about 30 minutes of my day about once a year. Oil is way cheaper than engines and turbo chargers. Also as an added note, if you are using your car as a daily driver with short run times on the ICE the oil may not be getting up to temperature to burn out the moisture and contamination that short drives will induce. Oil works best when warm and short drives mean that the engine is always starting when cold which induces the most wear. The engine also runs a little richer when cold to aid combustion which can cause more carbon and contamination of the oil. All the more reason for frequent oil changes.
I think the reason BMW and a lot of other auto manufacturers extend the oil change interval out to such long durations is because they want the car to seem environmentally friendly by not using a lot of oil. Just my opinion.

[Spinner6996]

Anyone care to do a DIY thread on the oil change?....or direct me to a resourse?

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by Marc45

I just take it to the dealer and make sure the car is under warranty.

Get an OBDII dongle like Veepeak and there are apps that will show all sorts of car temp parameters.

Regardless of the headaches imposed by an engine failure, warranties expire. Brainless warranties are no substitute for a better design. (If it is so required...)

I don't want to have to fire up my phone every time I drive my car. A temp gauge would be a more complete solution. Plus - you can't keep stuff in the OBD port or your vehicle alarm will not allow you to lock your car. (Ask me how I know).

It would be so much easier if BMW just made this info available. I understand they want to provide a vehicle which CAN operate in pure EV mode (even for such limited distances), but it sure sounds like a "warm up" mode would be nice.

Maybe once the EV range falls to 1 mile or so (when operating in EV mode) the engine should start up in neutral and idle for a minute or so before it is actually called on to take over...

[Marc45]

Originally Posted by evanevery

Regardless of the headaches imposed by an engine failure, warranties expire. Brainless warranties are no substitute for a better design. (If it is so required...)

I don't want to have to fire up my phone every time I drive my car. A temp gauge would be a more complete solution. Plus - you can't keep stuff in the OBD port or your vehicle alarm will not allow you to lock your car. (Ask me how I know).

It would be so much easier if BMW just made this info available. I understand they want to provide a vehicle which CAN operate in pure EV mode (even for such limited distances), but it sure sounds like a "warm up" mode would be nice.

Maybe once the EV range falls to 1 mile or so (when operating in EV mode) the engine should start up in neutral and idle for a minute or so before it is actually called on to take over...

Are you asking for solutions or just complaining?

[JasH]

Originally Posted by P.K.

run in "sport" mode for the first 5 minutes of driving- this at least gets the juices moving a bit before the on demand mode is selected.

No idea whether you are right about the knock, but I've always done this anyway.

It's logical to get the engine lubricated and up to temperature before it's driven hard.

What I always do is engage my quick select "maintain battery charge" option when I leave home. This engages the ICE. Better than sport mode for this purpose.

I ensure the ICE runs for about 10 minutes before it is pushed hard

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by Marc45

Are you asking for solutions or just complaining?

"Complaining"? I never "asked for any solutions", I always transition the car from EV to SPORT for a bit before the engine is needed. I have my "solution", but that doesn't mean there couldn't be a design improvement... I've even made a suggestion how that might be implemented...

Requiring the use of a smart phone to get engine temps is NOT a proper solution. If the info is important it should be displayed by the vehicle.

Relying on a warranty to repair your vehicle is NOT a proper solution. If the vehicle has a design shortcoming it should be resolved BEFORE it results in a failure.

I expect, the addition of engine temp indication could easily be resolved in a software update.

It was specifically suggested (during my delivery at the Welt) that I switch the car into sport mode a bit BEFORE I got on the highway when departing an urban area in EV mode (to warm the engine and get oil circulating). Sounds like this is a known "thing" and there might be room for a smarter solution if the impending transition can be anticipated...

[evanevery]

Originally Posted by JasH

What I always do is engage my quick select "maintain battery charge" option when I leave home. This engages the ICE. Better than sport mode for this purpose.

Where are you finding this option?

[NGR]

Originally Posted by evanevery

Where are you finding this option?

Go into the auto-Edrive menu in settings and look for the 'maintain battery charge' option (it's a checkbox)
This tells the car to use the ice rather than battery although it will still switch off the ice when stationary or moving slowly. The net result is your ice will fire up and run far more often - useful for warmup as well as not depleting the battery.

You can add the checkbox on/off to one of the soft buttons to make it easier to toggle without digging through the menus.


I usually just use sport mode, shifting manually at lower revs to get her warmed up but battery maintain mode is easier if you want to stay in auto.

We have discussed before, but if you don't drive for some time (in my case and local temps it's usually > 10 days), the ice fires up when you hit the start button to get the oil circulating. It doesn't in my opinion replace the need to warm up yourself but obviously an attempt to mitigate engine wear to some extent. This happened to me a few days ago and, as a sidenote, I noticed the auto trans go into reverse for the first time ever! Normally I'm going backwards on electric and assume the auto trans is in usually in neutral.

[MGRMLN]

Originally Posted by NGR

Go into the auto-Edrive menu in settings and look for the 'maintain battery charge' option (it's a checkbox)
This tells the car to use the ice rather than battery although it will still switch off the ice when stationary or moving slowly. The net result is your ice will fire up and run far more often - useful for warmup as well as not depleting the battery.

You can add the checkbox on/off to one of the soft buttons to make it easier to toggle without digging through the menus.


I usually just use sport mode, shifting manually at lower revs to get her warmed up but battery maintain mode is easier if you want to stay in auto.

We have discussed before, but if you don't drive for some time (in my case and local temps it's usually > 10 days), the ice fires up when you hit the start button to get the oil circulating. It doesn't in my opinion replace the need to warm up yourself but obviously an attempt to mitigate engine wear to some extent. This happened to me a few days ago and, as a sidenote, I noticed the auto trans go into reverse for the first time ever! Normally I'm going backwards on electric and assume the auto trans is in usually in neutral.

I programmed the “hold state of charge” option to my #8 programmable button. There fore it’s always available at a button press to warm up the engine 😁