BMW

YouTuber installs iconic engine in BMW i8

The BMW i8 has always looked like a supercar with its futuristic design, but its performance has never quite matched that aesthetic. In its latest iteration, the 1.5-liter plug-in hybrid developed a total of 360 horsepower.

YouTuber Trevor Elam has corrected what many consider BMW’s biggest mistake, replacing the hybrid drivetrain with the legendary B58 3.0-liter inline-six.

It remains to be seen how Trevor will fit an engine twice as long as the original in the i8 — especially since he’s not putting it behind the cabin but up front where the front electric motor once lived — but if he gets it to work, it will be a rowdy drive, with the inline-six coming from a crashed 2017 M340i xDrive that was capable of around 700 wheel horsepower. For the record, the original powertrain was only rated for a combined total of 369 hp, so Trevor will need to use the transmission and possibly even the drive shafts and hubs of his donor car to put that power down. He’s already conceded that custom subframes will be necessary, with these designed to allow the transmission and transfer case of the swapped power unit to fit where the high-voltage battery did.

There’s also the issue of tuning, and we presume the 3 Series will have to donate its ECU to the build. Additional effort may also be required in the bodywork department, since the i8’s famously skinny original wheels may need upgrading, and that could cause clearance issues with the carbon fiber monocoque. At this point, it seems simpler to body-swap the i8 onto a 2 Series, but perhaps Trevor thinks that’s too easy.

The project is still in its early stages, and Elam’s first video shows him removing the original powertrain from the i8. The process involves removing the battery to make room for the transmission tunnel and designing an entirely new subframe to accommodate the new engine and transmission.

The inline-six will be mounted up front, where the electric motor used to be. The engine comes from the 2017 BMW 340i xDrive and in production developed 326 horsepower and 450 Nm. However, the plan is to upgrade it to deliver as much as 700 horsepower.

It is not yet known how the installation of a significantly different engine will affect the weight distribution and handling of the car, but it seems that the original hybrid architecture offers enough space for the necessary mechanical changes. Many hope that the project will not encounter insurmountable obstacles, because an i8 with a real inline six-cylinder engine would be the dream come true for many enthusiasts.

When the BMW i8 was introduced more than a decade ago, many considered it a real car with the wrong powertrain. The manufacturer, along with the i3, tried to create excitement around hybrid technology with a futuristic design and advanced materials. Yet all fans have wanted from the elegant coupé was a true BMW high-performance engine – and it seems that this could finally be achieved, albeit in a unique version.

Autonews