BMW i8 Roadster costs £125,000 in the UK

The BMW i8 Roaster – the open-top take on BMW’s hybrid supercar – is finally going on sale in the UK, with prices starting from £124,735.

Last year, at the Los Angeles Motor Show, BMW finally revealed the i8 Roadster, five years after the world was introduced to the i8 with a Roadster concept.

It’s arrival also saw a bit of a tweak for the i8 Coupe, but the big news was the i8 Roadster, and BMW’s promise it would be on sale in early 2018.

We’re not entirely sure almost August counts as early 2018, but the BMW i8 Roadster is now on sale in the UK, and it’ll cost you £124,735. Almost the priciest car you can buy from BMW.

For that amount of money you’d expect something special, and the i8 as a Roadster does look good, although, despite BMW’s tweaks, we can’t help but feel the i8 seems a bit ‘yesterday’.

BMW has tweaked the plug-in hybrid powertrain in the i8 to deliver more power, with the 1.5 litre petrol engine still delivering 228bhp and 236lb/ft of torque, but the electric motor at the front getting an additional 12 horses for a total of 141bhp and the same 184lb/ft of torque. 

That maximum of 369bhp and 420lb/ft of torque is enough to get the i8 Roadster to 62mph in 4.6 seconds, and the battery pack increases to a not huge 11.6kWh, with BMW promising an EV range of 33 miles. Not that there’s a cat in hell’s chance in the real world.

The i8 Roadster loses its back seats, gets a trick new folding roof, a very long engine cover and a bit of a makeover for the interior.

If the BMW i8 Roadster floats your boat, you can now pop off to your local BMW dealer with the 125 large and place your order.