By now — half a decade after the car has ended production — you would think the Internet would’ve collectively made its mind up about the car. We’re talking, of course, about the achingly pretty, hybridized super-ish car, the BMW i8. But audiences are as divided as ever. There’s those who think the car should’ve been a full EV. Another subsection believes all-gas would’ve been the right way to do things — ideally swapping the little 1.5-liter engine in the back for a throaty V8 or roaring V12. Or, perhaps just a bigger engine, like a famous BMW straight six, would’ve done it. Well, it almost happened. Fact is, in a round about way, the BMW i8 began life with the glorious S85 V10 engine.
The BMW i8’s BMW M1 Beginnings
The BMW i8 is firmly rooted in the BMW M1 Hommage. In January 2008, BMW tasked a handful of designers to sketch what a modern interpretation of the M1 mid-engined sports car would look like. With the original’s 30-year anniversary nearing, it was as fitting a time as any. Designer Benoit Jacob had the winning design, and the M1 Hommage was to be built for the upcoming show at Villa d’Este. You may know it better as Concorso d’Eleganza. Which, it should be noted, was only eight weeks away at the time. The M1 Hommage — what would eventually become the i8 — was constructed from the beginning with the intention of being a running concept.
Notably, the car at Villa d’Este did not have any running gear. Moving on its own power was out of the question, of course. To that end, the designers weren’t even sure if the synthetic wood it was made from (Epowood) would make it through the cold nights and hot days of Italy in the spring. That didn’t chill the crowd’s reception of the M1 Hommage, though. They loved it. The next step was, of course, cramming an engine under the rear. And some suggest that the S85B50 was the plan the whole time.
What Happened to the V10 Powered i8?
In his book BMW By Design, Steve Saxty includes a mention of Jurgen Steinle. He was head of design engineering for the M1 Hommage. In this blurb, Saxty claims that Steinle “notes the importance of the model to be proportionality realistic and able to package human occupants and the S85B50.” Obviously, this never happened, and Saxty credits the financial crisis with much of the reason for the M1 Hommage’s reinvention as the i8. We agree, of course. With many nest eggs evaporating overnight and gas prices hurtling towards the moon, the V10 M1 Hommage simply never could’ve happened.
Now, importantly, BMW’s own webpages claim “a power unit was never envisaged” for the M1 Hommage. It was a “pure design study,” although they at least mention that V10s and V8s were certainly murmurs. In Saxty’s book — just one of three excellent BMW books he’s written — none other than Adrian van Hooydonk himself penned the foreword. In it, he says “At times, [Steve’s willingness to talk to any team member] also helped us rediscover some of our own design history.” Perhaps this was one such case.
