While exterior changes to the Coupe are subtle with mostly new alloy wheel designs, Coupe badging on the C-pillar and an assortment of colours, the new Roadster features an electrically folding roof BMW claims can be lowered or raised in 15 seconds at speeds up to 50 km/h.
Incorporating aluminium in its construction and storing in a specifically designed vertical recess in a Z-shape to take up as little boot space as possible, the Roadster ticks the scales at the 60 kg more than the Coupe with a claimed weight of 1595 kg, meaning boot space of some 88-litres.
The biggest change for both models though is a new battery pack and slight revisions to the 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine. While the petrol mill continues to punch out 170 kW and 320 Nm of torque, a new 11.6-kWh lithium ion battery pack replaces the old 7.1-kWh unit for a nine kilowatt jump in power to 105 kW with torque unchanged at 250 Nm.
This means a combined system output of 275 kW, translating to a limited top speed of 250 km/h, and 0-100 km/h in 4.4 seconds for the Coupe and 4.6 seconds for the Roadster. According to BMW, the new battery provides an all electric range at up to 120 km/h for the Coupe of 55 km and 53 km for the Roadster.
As before, a six-speed Steptronic gearbox sends the three-pot's power to the rear wheels, while the electric motors' grunt in send to the front wheels via a two-speed automatic 'box, in effect resulting in the i8 being all-wheel drive.
Unlike its exterior, changes to the interior include new seats, updated trim pieces, the Professional Navigation system displayed on a 8.8-inch screen and a model specific Heads-Up Display. Sales are due to commence in May next year with BMW South Africa yet to confirm final pricing and the exact launch date.
