BMW reveals i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition ahead of Pebble Beach

Mon, 11 Aug 2014

If you want to be among the first owners in the United States of the new BMW i8, the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance will be the place to be next Saturday. That's where Gooding & Company will auction off this one-of-a-kind hybrid supercar.

The BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition was previously slated to be the very first i8 in North America, but has now apparently been downgraded to the guarantee of being among the firsts. In any event, it packs a series of special touches to make it unique. For starters, it's decked out in matte grey with unique brown leather upholstery, blue accents and Pure Impulse Tera World trim, with BMW i8 logos embossed into the headrests, special treat plates and the signatures of several key BMW personnel on the rear parcel shelf.

Pending government approval, it's set to be the first vehicle in the US fitted with laser headlights, and comes equipped with a special key, Louis Vuitton luggage and a "professional edition" BMW Charging Station. Scope out all the details in the press release below and take a closer look in the gallery above.

ONE-OF-A-KIND BMW I8 CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE EDITION TO BE AUCTIONED DURING PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE WEEKEND

- BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition to be sold at Pebble Beach Auctions presented by Gooding & Company with proceeds benefitting the Pebble Beach Company Foundation and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
- Sale to include complete set of Louis Vuitton luggage tailored for the BMW i8

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – August 8, 2014... In celebration of the US arrival of the BMW i8, the world's most innovative sports car, a one-of-a-kind 2014 BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition will be auctioned during the weekend of the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, ahead of the official fall sale date. The i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition will be distinguished by a unique paint scheme and interior treatment as well as other features that will make it unlike any other BMW i8 in the world. The BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition will be sold by Gooding & Company, the official auction house of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, during the annual Pebble Beach Auctions at Pebble Beach on Saturday, August 16. Proceeds of the sale will go to the Pebble Beach Company Foundation and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

The 2014 BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition will feature BMW Individual Frozen Grey Metallic exterior paint. The unique interior will boast Dalbergia Brown leather upholstery, which is tanned using dye derived from plant extracts. The upholstery is accented with stitching in BMW i Blue. The Pure Impulse Tera World interior includes other trim accents in BMW i Blue, including the seat belts, as well as having "BMW i8" embossed into the front headrests. A number of US firsts will be included with this special edition including laser headlights, pending government approval, a BMW i8 Display key as well as the first BMW Charging Station, professional edition.

Other touches will further mark this BMW i8 as truly one-of-a-kind. The words "Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Edition" will be laser etched into the door sills and a plaque on the rear parcel shelf contains the signatures of senior BMW executives who played key roles in the development of the i8, including:
- Ian Robertson – BMW Group Board Member – BMW Sales and Marketing

- Herbert Diess – BMW Group Board Member – Development
- Adrian von Hooydonk – Head of Design – BMW Group
- Benoit Jacob – Head of Design – BMW i
- Ulrich Kranz– Head of BMW i
- Carsten Breitfeld – Project Manager – BMW i8

The car will be sold at the Pebble Beach Auctions presented by Gooding & Company on Saturday, August 16 at the Pebble Beach Special Events area. It is schedule to cross the auction block at approximately 8:45pm PDT. The sale will include a complete set of the Louis Vuitton luggage, tailored exclusively for the BMW i8.

For information about bidding or to watch a live stream of the auction, please visit www.goodingco.com.

The BMW i8 is arguably the most innovative sports car on the road today. The plug-in hybrid all-wheel drive powertrain combines an electric motor to drive the front wheels and a powerful and efficient 1.5-liter BMW TwinPower Turbo three-cylinder gasoline engine driving the rear wheels. The BMW i8 is capable of driving on pure electric power at speeds up to 75 mph for approximately 20 miles, producing zero tailpipe emissions. When the gasoline engine joins forces with the electric motor, together they are capacity of propelling the i8 for 0-60 mph in 4.2 seconds and to a top speed of 155 miles per hour. Thanks in part to its passenger cell constructed out of lightweight carbon fiber reinforced plastic, The BMW i8 will deliver fuel efficiency normally associated with the stingiest subcompact. The lithium-ion battery pack that powers the electric motor can be charged from any 240-volt level 2 charging station as well as a conventional 110-volt outlet.

The BMW i8 is the world's first series-produced vehicle to be made available with innovative laser headlights as an option. These generate a pure-white, extremely bright light that is pleasant to the eye by carefully converting the beams emitted by tiny laser diodes using a fluorescent phosphorous material inside the headlight. The laser diodes are ten times smaller than conventional light-emitting diodes, helping to save space in the headlight unit and also to reduce weight. The BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition will be the first car in the US to have this technology, pending government approval. If necessary these headlights will be retrofit subsequent to delivery. It will also be the first BMW in the US to offer an innovative display key which features an integrated LCD touch screen.

The 2014 BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition will not only offer the winning bidder the chance to own one of the first BMW i8s in the US, but also to own a truly one-of-a-kind example of the world's most innovative sports car.

BMW Group In America

BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, a strategic design consultancy in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group's global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all X5 and X3 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 and X4 Sports Activity Coupes. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 339 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 139 BMW motorcycle retailers, 120 MINI passenger car dealers, and 35 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group's sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

By Noah Joseph