How Much to Rent an i8 Starts at $395, Then the Hold Matters

How much to rent an i8 depends on which listing you book. At the time of writing, the i8 listing pages show $395 or $595 a day. Each one is a white 2019 coupe with a black interior and 100 miles a day included. The real difference sits in the deposit hold and the rate for extra miles.

The doors go up outside a hotel on Prospect Street in La Jolla. They hinge out and then up, and the people waiting for their own cars stop talking. Nobody in that driveway can tell what you paid for the day. The doors, the carbon sills and the silent pull-away come with both prices.

The BMW i8 rental price per day at each listing

Every i8 listing sets its own rate, hold and mile rate. Here is what each page showed on the day this post went up.

• The white i8 based in San Diego costs $395 a day. It carries a $2,500 hold and bills $5 a mile past the allowance.
• The white i8 based in Los Angeles costs $595 a day. It carries a $1,000 hold and bills $4 a mile past the allowance.

The San Diego car also covers Orange County and the Inland Empire. The Los Angeles car covers the same two regions. So if you're staying in Orange County, either car can come to you.

Under the paint, nothing changes between them. A 1.5 liter turbo three-cylinder drives the rear wheels, and an electric motor drives the fronts. Together they make 369 horsepower and 420 lb-ft. The car reaches 60 in 4.2 seconds and tops out at 155 mph. Leave the valet stand on Rodeo Drive in Comfort mode and you pull away on electric power alone. You won't hear the engine until you push the gear lever left for Sport.

How much to rent an i8 once the hold is counted

The deposit is a hold on your card, not a charge. It's released after the car comes back in the condition it left. That makes the San Diego car the cheaper rental and the heavier hold at the same time. Its hold is $2,500, which is $1,500 more than the Los Angeles car asks for.

So the useful question is how much room your card has. Say a $2,500 hold would leave you short for the hotel and dinner. In that case the $595 car may be the easier booking. If the card has room, the $395 car saves you $200 every day. A larger deposit may also apply if you're under 25, so confirm the figure before you plan around it.

Either way, the moment at the door is identical. The doors rise, the cabin light comes on, and you step out over a wide carbon sill. The hold never shows up in that picture.

What the i8 rental deposit covers

The hold covers small things, like a curbed wheel. Your own insurance covers real damage, subject to your deductible. That's why the insurance check matters more than the hold does.

To rent, you need to be 18 or older with a valid driver's license. You also need full coverage insurance in your own name. Before the rental, we call your insurance carrier and talk to an agent on a recorded line. We're checking for non-owner vehicle coverage, meaning your policy also covers a car that isn't listed on your declarations page. It can't carry an exotic or high-value exclusion either. Unfortunately, this isn't a coverage you can buy for a weekend. It's in your policy already or it isn't.

Once the call is done, the car shows up looking like a concept sketch. It weighs about 3,450 lb because the passenger cell is carbon fiber. At parking lot speed the steering feels light and accurate.

The i8 rental cost over a weekend, a week or a month

The daily rate drops on its own as the rental gets longer. You don't have to ask for it. One or two days are at the full rate. Three to four days take 10% off, five to six take 15%, and seven to 13 take 20%. After that it's 30% off from 14 days, 40% from 21 days and 50% from 28 days.

Here is what that does to each i8 rate before delivery and extra miles.

• A 2 day weekend costs $790 on the $395 car and $1,190 on the $595 car.
• A 5 day rental costs $1,678.75 and $2,528.75.
• A 7 day rental costs $2,212 and $3,332.
• A 14 day rental costs $3,871 and $5,831.
• A 28 day rental costs $5,530 and $8,330.

The miles pool across the rental too. A 7 day booking includes 700 miles total, so a quiet Tuesday makes room for a long Saturday. That week gives you time to take the car to dinner in Newport Beach one night and leave it in a hotel garage the next. The delivery fee is quoted by address, so it isn't in these numbers.

Where the extra miles change the math

The San Diego car bills $5 a mile past the allowance, and the Los Angeles car bills $4. That gap rarely matters. The $395 car stays cheaper until you drive more than 200 extra miles in a single day.

Take a one day rental driven 150 miles. You'd pay for 50 extra miles. The San Diego car comes to $645 and the Los Angeles car comes to $795. If you know the trip will run long, say so at booking. We'll price the miles in ahead of time instead of billing them afterward.

The i8 also gives you about 18 miles on electric power before the engine joins in. That's enough for a silent exit from the hotel and a slow lap past the restaurants. The charge port works from a household outlet. The cluster stays blue while you're on electric power and turns orange when Sport wakes the engine.

What $395 to $1,295 rents instead of an i8

The Mercedes-AMG GT 63 matches the low i8 rate at $395 a day. The GT 63 listing in black over red is based in Orange County. It carries a $1,000 hold and bills $4 a mile. Its 4.0 liter twin-turbo V8 makes 577 horsepower and reaches 60 in 3.4 seconds. It has four doors and four real seats, so it's the pick when friends are coming along.

The Bentley Continental GTC matches the high i8 rate at $595 a day. The GTC listing in black over brown is based in the Inland Empire. It carries a $1,000 hold and bills $4 a mile. Its 6.0 liter W12 makes 552 horsepower and reaches 60 in 4.8 seconds. With the roof down, the stitching and the wood are what your passenger notices.

The Ferrari 488 Spider sits far above both at $1,295 a day. The 488 Spider listing in white over red is based in Los Angeles. It carries a $2,000 hold and bills $5 a mile. Its 3.9 liter twin-turbo V8 makes 661 horsepower and reaches 60 in 3.0 seconds. Its metal roof folds away and leaves the red cabin open to the street.

The i8 does something none of those three can do. It arrives without a sound and then opens upward. If you land at San Diego Airport, it can meet you at the curb and do exactly that.

The hold decides more than the rate

On an i8, the doors and the drivetrain don't change with the price. Choose the $395 car if your card can carry a $2,500 hold. Choose the $595 car if a $1,000 hold suits the trip better. Then tell us the route, because the miles are the last number that moves.