[i8A911]

Hi all - Recently traded in a 2012.5 991.1 C2S for a 2015 i8 and have a few questions:

1. Do the mirrors fold in upon long-pressing the lock button? I read about this somewhere but it doesn't appear to work on the car.

2. Is there a way to keep the 'Hold Charge' box checked instead of having to manually do it every time in iDrive under Auto eDrive? Trying to avoid relying solely on the ICE when the charge runs out when I'm on longer trips and the regen isn't powerful enough. I did realize that when I switch to Sport it tends to generate some e-miles back.

3. What do people have on as winter tires? I looked on TireRack and they appear to only suggest 215s all around, instead of the staggered 215s/245s setup. I could find the same Blizzaks LM on both OEM sizes, just curious why it doesn't show up in the recommended list. I read somewhere that it has something to do with BMW's recommendation in Europe, but not sure if folks in the US are running staggered winter setups.

4. With the 911, I'm used to the community where people tend to make the slightest cosmetic mods to the car, and was wondering what are some of the more common ones that people make on the i8 (apart from the usual wrap/trim colors/wheels)?

TIA!

[Birdland]

On your no3.. It is down to back in 2014 the mixed sett was not available. It’s now possible to get 215 and 245 as a sett but Bmw has for some reason not changed. I ha my new Roadster delivered wit a extra sett staggered on the original 516 Bi-color rims(very expensive).

[Ionicsilveri8]

On your no1: I can do this on my car which is 2016 but I think it’s because I have Comfort Access as an option. You may be able to code it - others will know?

On your no2: I’ve set my Hold Charge onto one of the Smart buttons on the dash - you can use them for anything (mostly), not just radio stations. I’ve set it to number 1 so you can just toggle it on or off by pressing this button. Much easier!

On your no4: I like it as it is!!

[Leto1701]

Originally Posted by Ionicsilveri8

On your no1: I can do this on my car which is 2016 but I think it’s because I have Comfort Access as an option. You may be able to code it - others will know?

On your no2: I’ve set my Hold Charge onto one of the Smart buttons on the dash - you can use them for anything (mostly), not just radio stations. I’ve set it to number 1 so you can just toggle it on or off by pressing this button. Much easier!

On your no4: I like it as it is!!

Confirm all points.

On 3) I drive stock BMW 215s everywhere in the winter. Not a problem because the car does anyway not know power oversteer but heavily understeers on wet roads in FWD and is fine on any road with AWD. To get oversteer you need to up the front dimensions.

[arijaycomet]

Welcome to the forums! I’m on my 3rd BMW i8 (first was a lease take over from a friend, liked it so much I bought a 2nd one — and now onto third—)

Here are some answers to your questions —

RE #1
Go here:
https://bimmercode.app/
You can use this app to recode the car for various features (ie: comfort access mirror folding as you talked about here, or which splash screen shows up when the car boots on, etc). You will need a cheap $20-50 OBD2 dongle from Amazon. There is a list on the link above of which ones work— its pretty easy and straight forward!

RE #2
As others have noted, I’m not aware of any way to code it into this but you can use the 1-2-3...-8 buttons for anything. For example I have #7 on mine to jump to see my TPMS data (with the app above, you can even turn on “temps” to show up on the TPMS page, not just PSI/pressure!). I have #6 as the jump to the page that shows “Hold Charge” — so that will help shortcut you and make life faster/easier— but, regretfully, it will be a “every time you start the car” requirement for user input, sorry!

RE #3
I’m in the snow belt (Cleveland, Ohio) so feel your query on snow tires. On my second i8 ... I went to Tire Rack’s web site and bought the Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 tires from them in the OE sizes on the factory wheels. That worked adequately, Even with the wider rear tires. But, I’m not a huge fan of that brand/model of snow tire, TBH—

— This time around I scored a used set of factory wheels where a local guy had four “square” Wheels (read: four front wheels, all the same width)— my setup as follows:

OEM Turbine Styling 625 Wheels (Forged)
Two (2x) @ Part # 36-11-6-862-895
Two (2x) @ Part # 36-11-6-862-896
20x7,5 ET40 (Two RIGHT, Two LEFT Wheels)
Bridgestone Blizzak 215/45-20 Tires (4x)

When it comes to snow tires, narrow is better — and Blizzak is my favorite. So that is what is on the car right now. That said he paid over $4k new wheels/tires/TPMS so this was not a cheap option. Car handles great, I prefer this setup mostly because Blizzak, but the narrow rear works nicely to slice through the snow, too. I’d def do this setup again if I had to!

RE #4
VORSTEINER makes some nice stuff for the car but it is not particularly cheap. Because of the i8 being so limited in volume, and most owners not doing major mods, there is not a whole heck of a lot of stuff for the car. AC Schnitzer also made/makes a few i8 parts to spunk up the car, but not many. My prior (i8 #2) had the VORSTIENER rear wing, and even that was close to $1k for something small/subtle. There are options out there but not many, and not cheap.

Enjoy the car!!
And welcome to the forums.

[i8A911]

Thanks all for the info! On the bimmercode app, do I need the full version to code?

[patsgarageonline]

Originally Posted by i8A911

Thanks all for the info! On the bimmercode app, do I need the full version to code?

You'll need to purchase the full version in order to code the vehicle. I recently updated my 2015 to fold/unfold mirrors upon locking/unlocking, changed the amount the right mirror dipped in reverse, added rear daytime running lights, turned off the seat belt reminder gong, and lowered the volume on the speaker that chirps when you lock/unlock. I created a video on this to show all the steps:

[patsgarageonline]

Originally Posted by i8A911

Hi all - Recently traded in a 2012.5 991.1 C2S for a 2015 i8 and have a few questions:

1. Do the mirrors fold in upon long-pressing the lock button? I read about this somewhere but it doesn't appear to work on the car.

2. Is there a way to keep the 'Hold Charge' box checked instead of having to manually do it every time in iDrive under Auto eDrive? Trying to avoid relying solely on the ICE when the charge runs out when I'm on longer trips and the regen isn't powerful enough. I did realize that when I switch to Sport it tends to generate some e-miles back.

3. What do people have on as winter tires? I looked on TireRack and they appear to only suggest 215s all around, instead of the staggered 215s/245s setup. I could find the same Blizzaks LM on both OEM sizes, just curious why it doesn't show up in the recommended list. I read somewhere that it has something to do with BMW's recommendation in Europe, but not sure if folks in the US are running staggered winter setups.

TIA!

I posted too quick. I recently did a video on setting Hold State of Charge to a pre-set hot key to make it quicker than having to drill into the iDrive menus. I don't know of a way to force the car to stay in Hold State of Charge.

I changed the stock tires to Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Dry/Wet/Snow tires and absolutely love them. Pros: No more understeer, better feedback. Cons: I can hear the road more on some surfaces, the tires flat spot if the car sits 24 hours but goes away after 2 miles. Video review: