Yes, EVs are the reason BMW got rid of the “i” ending from its cars with internal combustion engines to make things clearer for customers. The “i” term will still be used in the company’s electric car models’ names, like the i4. BMW confirmed to Invoice Pricing that the upgrade will start with the new X3 M50 and then spread to the rest of the ICE range over time. BMW’s i’s are fed up. The new 2025 X3 M50, which replaces the X3 M40i, doesn’t have an “i” at the end of its name. More BMW cars with combustion engines will come after this one. Reports from BMW Blog were the first to confirm that the famous “i” letter would only show up as a prefix on the names of future electric vehicles. BMW’s public relations team has told Invoice Pricing that the change is coming soon. Körber says that we’ve always had “injection” at the end of the badge, even though our ideas about what a BMW i is have been different. It’s more than just electric, he says. We meant that when we said, “We’d like to keep ‘i’ as an asset and a signature to show you’re driving an electric car.” It was only natural that BMW started to experiment with fuel injection in airplanes. The 1963 1800ti is BMW’s first road car with an “i” at the end of the name. The “t” stands for travel, and the “i” stands for international. These cars did not have fuel injection. In the end, the “i” was meant to suggest that the Bimmer in question, like the 3.0CSi from 1971, had fuel injectors instead of carburetors. When the 2002 Tii came out in 1972, Kugelfischer’s 2.0L engine had mechanical fuel injection. Other brands had sold and offered electronic fuel injection before the 2002 Tii, but the public was more interested in it because it was such a fiercely small shoebox. When fuel injection was added to the E21 3-series, which only had the 320i and later the 318i, the “i” suffix came to stand for sportiness and a bit more technology under those Bavarian noses, BMW started calling their cars “330i” after a few years, mostly out of habit, if everything is fuel pumped, what’s the point of calling it out? When Porsche got the same question about its Turbo badge, it had to make a trim level in response. But BMW now uses “i” to refer to its electric cars, which date back ten years to the first i3. These cars may or may not have combustion range extenders. There are now a lot of different I models to choose from. The i3 was cutely odd, kind of like a modern Isetta, but an i4 or i5 is perfectly normal. Normal combustion vehicles, like the X3, are shown here. Even though BMW hasn’t said when the change will happen, it’s not the end of an age. When model numbers quit showing engine displacement, there were more whispers of disapproval, but those times are long gone. Change is the one thing that remains constant in today’s world. Of course, if you really like BMW, you might be sad that the ending is going away. After noting its passing, get in your classic 2002 Tii and drive out on those back roads, making sure to do everything right.
