BMW i8 review: a used bargain that still costs money to own in Bahrain
MotorsSouq Editorial Team
Buy an i8 in Bahrain with your eyes open: it is theatre first and a car second, and the theatre is genuinely good — the doors, the ambient lighting, the way it goes almost silent on electric power through a sleeping neighbourhood. What it is not is a cheap thing to own once the warranty is gone. Insist on a full battery health check and a specialist pre-purchase inspection before any offer, and budget for the fact that BMW's Bahrain network is not set up to work on this car cheaply.
Pros
- Styling and scissor doors nothing else on Bahrain roads matches
- Near-silent, genuinely usable electric-only mode for short trips
- Smooth, quick rather than violent delivery of the combined 374 hp
- Heavily depreciated, so the used purchase price is low for what it is
Cons
- High-voltage battery and carbon-tub repairs require specialist BMW technicians not widely available locally
- Rear-seat and boot space are token at best
- Heavy depreciation cuts both ways: resale is weak if you need to sell
- Tyres and any bodywork are expensive, low-volume items in Bahrain
The i8 was never trying to be a Ferrari-beater in a straight line. It was BMW proving that a plug-in hybrid could be genuinely desirable, and a decade on the styling still stops traffic on Road No. 4 in a way few six-figure cars manage. The scissor doors are not a gimmick you tire of; they are the reason people still photograph it in Seef Mall's car park.
What it is like to drive here
On electric power alone the i8 is close to silent, which makes early-morning departures from a quiet neighbourhood genuinely pleasant. Ask for full power and the three-cylinder engine and electric motor combine for a system that is quick rather than violent — 0-100 km/h in the low four-second range, delivered smoothly because the electric motor fills in the turbo lag. It is a car that rewards a relaxed right foot more than a heavy one.
The ownership reality
This is where the i8 gets complicated. The high-voltage battery, the carbon-fibre tub repair procedures, and the general rarity of the car in Bahrain mean that anything beyond routine servicing has to go through a BMW-trained technician, and parts are not sitting on a shelf locally. A car that already depreciated more than almost any modern BMW is not a car you want a surprise five-figure repair bill on.
Buy one for what it actually is: a usable, low-running-cost daily for short trips around Manama, with an unusually striking design and genuinely low fuel bills if you plug it in every night. Do not buy one expecting Camry running costs the day the warranty lapses.