What BMW Has Butterfly Doors?
Butterfly doors and a plug-in hybrid powertrain separate the 2020 BMW i8 from the pack—but is this bizarre sports car the only BMW with butterfly doors?
Written by R.E. Fulton
Reviewed by Jessica Barrett
The BMW i8, produced from 2014 to 2020, is the only BMW manufactured with butterfly doors. But if you don’t have the funds for this love-it-or-hate-it plug-in hybrid, you can also buy a kit to install butterfly doors or scissor doors on many other BMW models.
So you’re looking for a new BMW and you want it to really stand out from the crowd. Or maybe you’re just hoping to breathe some new life into your beloved Bimmer. Whether you’re looking for a new car or trying to modify an old one,
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4.7/5 rating on the App Store | Trusted by 5+ million customers and 7 million cars4.7/5 app rating | Trusted by 5M+ driversWhat BMW has butterfly doors?
The only BMW car that comes with butterfly doors is the BMW i8, a plug-in hybrid and aspiring supercar manufactured from 2014 to 2020. Although it’s out of production, the i8 remains one of the most unique BMWs you can buy.
2020 BMW i8 review
Is the 2020 BMW i8 the best BMW ever built? It’s hard to make an argument for that position—not with the ‘55 507 and the 3 Series of the ‘90s out there. But the i8 is indisputably among the most eye-catching, head-turning vehicles in BMW history.
It’s not just those all-important butterfly doors, which swoop dramatically up and out from the i8’s sleek carbon fiber body, that set the i8 apart from the crowd. It’s not even the i8’s 4.2-second zero-to-60 time or the adaptive “Laserlight” headlights.
The i8 isn’t just a really awesome sports car—it’s also a plug-in hybrid that stands up to the standards of the class with an EPA-rated 18 miles of all-electric range and 27 mpg in combined city/highway operation. Those stats are achieved by a stunning hybrid powertrain consisting of a 1.5-liter twin-turbo three-cylinder engine and an electric motor with a combined 369 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. Plugged into a standard household outlet, the i8 can recharge in just eight hours; with a Level 2 charger that time is shaved down to a mere three hours.
But the fuel savings that the plug-in powertrain offers might be the end of the i8’s practicality. No, performance isn’t bad—all-wheel drive is standard, and with a top speed of 155 mph the i8 can be pretty darn fun on the highway. But city driving is clumsy, the shifts between electric and gas-powered operation are anything but smooth, and now-standard tech and driving aids like adaptive cruise control, blind spot detection, and lane keeping assist are absent. Even Apple CarPlay is available only on a subscription basis, and the i8 doesn’t support Android Auto at all.
Let’s be real, though: nobody is buying a BMW i8 for practical reasons. You buy this car for the cool factor, for the Harman Kardon stereo, for the impossibly sexy carbon-fiber curves—and for those beautiful butterfly doors.
How much does a BMW i8 cost?
Since it was discontinued after the 2020 model year, you can’t buy a BMW i8 new. Pricing for used models will vary considerably based on your location and the condition of individual listings, as well as any modifications owners may have made to this unique car.
If you’re looking for a BMW i8 coupe, you’re likely looking at a purchase price between $63,000 and $108,000. The former is the typical listing price Kelley Blue Book found for the original 2014 coupe, while the latter is the average price of a 2020 model. For the soft-top i8 Roadster, introduced for the 2019 model year, pricing is a little higher, with an average list price of $118,000 for the 2020 model.
In other words, the i8 costs a tidy chunk of cash, even used. But the prices above are estimates based on New York listings—and you may be able to find a great deal elsewhere! Just be prepared to factor in some hefty
BMW i8 insurance costs
if you’re looking to buy. MORE: BMW car-buying guide
What are butterfly doors?
What exactly are butterfly doors—and which cars have them?
Butterfly doors, which are easily mixed up with scissor doors and even gull wing and suicide doors, are a type of car door associated with supercars and other high-performance models. They open up and out from the car’s body using hinges on the car’s A-pillar. You’re most likely to see them on supercars like the McLaren F1, the Enzo Ferrari, or the original ‘67 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, but
Toyota
once produced a mass-market hatchback coupe called the Sera that featured butterfly doors! Scissor doors, on the other hand, only open upwards, meaning that they take up a little less space than butterfly doors. Because they’re most famously associated with Lamborghinis, you might also know them as “Lambo doors.” You might also see them on some concept cars, like the Mazda Hakaze crossover convertible or the Volkswagen W12 Roadster.
Then there’s the roof-hinged gull wing door, which most people recognize from the legendary DeLorean of Back to the Future fame. But
Mercedes-Benz
also loves a gull wing door, as evidenced by the 300 SL in the 1950s and the C111 of the 1970s, and the Tesla Model X
is one of the few electric vehicles that utilizes gull-wing doors. Finally, let’s talk about suicide doors. These doors open from rear hinges rather than front hinges, and they’re standard on a lot of full-size pickups as well as the BMW i3 hatchback, the Honda Element crossover, and tons of Rolls-Royce models.
Lexus
, Nissan
, and Porsche
have all made use of suicide doors. Can you add butterfly doors to a BMW?
The i8 is the only BMW that comes standard with butterfly doors—but that doesn’t mean it’s the only BMW that can rock them. If you’ve already got a Bimmer that you’d like to see float like a butterfly, this is a modification you can make to your car.
All you need to add butterfly doors to a BMW is a custom vertical door kit.
Vertical Doors, Inc.
sells bolt-on hinge kits for certain BMW 3 Series, 5 Series, 6 Series and Z4 models. Or, if Lamborghini-style scissor doors would satisfy your need for door mods, you can purchase a vertical Lambo door kit for your BMW from CARiD
.Conversion kits like these will typically run you between $750 and $2,000—and if you don’t have the tools or confidence to install Lambo door hinges yourself, you’ll also need to factor in the cost of labor.
Keep in mind that major modifications to your car doors can affect both your warranty and your insurance coverage. Be sure to check with your insurance provider before making any modifications to your BMW to see if you will need to modify your insurance policy as well.
How to save on BMW insurance
If you do need to update your insurance to accommodate a stylish door mod—or if you’re just trying to save up for that sweet butterfly door kit—there’s an easy way to save on BMW insurance.
Download the
Jerry
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. Best of all, Jerry’s insurance agents are standing by to handle all the paperwork if you decide you’re ready to switch and save.On average, Jerry users save over $800 a year on auto insurance just by shopping in the app—and it just takes just 45 seconds to get quotes!
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