The BMW i8 Is Finally Getting The Engine Swap It Deserves

A YouTuber is attempting to fit a B58 3.0-liter straight-six engine inside the coupe.

BMW i8 Engine Swap

Photo by: Trevor Elam / YouTube

Anthony Alaniz

By: Anthony Alaniz

Feb 25, at 1:00pm ET

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The Breakdown:

A YouTuber wants to put a B58 turbocharged 3.0-liter straight-six engine in the BMW i8.
The sleek coupe came from the factory with a rear-mounted 1.5-liter hybrid powertrain with the electric motor in the front.
The project requires designing new subframes to accommodate the new powertrain.

The BMW i8 looked like a supercar, but it never really had the performance cred to back up those looks. It had a turbocharged 1.5-liter plug-in hybrid powertrain that made a combined 360 horsepower in its final model year. Now, YouTuber Trevor Elam is fixing BMW’s biggest mistake by swapping out the hybrid for a B58 3.0-liter straight-six engine.

The project is just getting started, with Elam’s first video covering the removal of the i8’s original powertrain. This includes removing the battery to create a transmission tunnel in the space between the seats and designing new subframes for the vehicle.

The straight-six engine will go in the front, where BMW had placed the electric motor. The engine is from a 2017 BMW 340i xDrive and should sit mostly behind the front wheels. The turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six made 320 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque in the sedan, but the plan is to tune it to 700 horsepower.

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It’s unclear how the inline-six will affect the car’s weight distribution and handling, but the hybrid powertrain provides plenty of room to make the necessary hardware modifications. We hope the project doesn’t encounter too many unforeseen obstacles because we would love to see the i8 with a proper straight-six engine.

Motor1's Take: The BMW i8 was the right car with the wrong powertrain when it went on sale over a decade ago. The automaker attempted to use the futuristic design and high-end construction materials to drum up excitement for hybrid powertrains, along with the i3, but all everyone wanted from the sleek coupe was a proper high-performance BMW powertrain—and now we might finally get that.

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