This year’s Essen Motor Show sure brought the big guns to Germany. Plenty of world debuts happened and some manufacturers even chose to bring official cars to the event, but what Manhart Racing did overshadowed everything else.
The tuner brought the world’s first tuned BMW i8 to the show and the crowd was stunned. We’ve seen various renderings of the plug-in hybrid sports car being thrown around on the internet lately but this is the real deal.
Their take on the i8 is called MHi8 in their typical style and, unfortunately, didn’t have its internals meddled with. That means it’s still making the stock 362 HP and 570 Nm (420 lb-ft) of torque. On the visual front, however, things are changed by quite a lot.
The usual i Blue trims were removed and painted in Manhart’s usual gold trademark color. The wheels were also replaced by their own Concave ONE model that measure 21x8.5 inches up front and 21x9.5 inches round the back, wrapped in Continental Sport tires.
As good as it looks, the best news is that Manhart is now officially working on a tuning kit for the 1.5-liter 3-cylinder turbocharged engine BMW put into the i8, which is now making 231 HP. We’re absolutely curious how much power will they get out of it.
The Manhart MH4 550
As the name says, another world debut for Manhart was their take on the M4. The MH4 550 came prepared with the company’s latest findings in ECU tuning and was taken up to 550 HP and 820 Nm (605 lb-ft) of torque from the stock 431 HP and 550 Nm (406 lb-ft). That is simply mind blowing.
The car was teased before but now we get to see exactly what Manhart proposes in both tech details and aero parts for the exterior. The MH4 has a new exhaust system as well, that includes catless downpipes and a bigger diameter for the pipes (2x90 mm), new KW Clubsport springs and M5 brake calipers and discs for the front axle.
On the outside, only a BMW Performance front splitter was installed, along with an Akrapovic rear diffuser and a golden wrap with distinguishing black stripes.
The M235i with 430 HP: Manhart MH2 400 WB
The third world debut was a monstrous M235i that ... well it looked almost completely different from a stock one. The Manhart MH2 400 WB has roughly the same power as an M4.
Since the two cars use a similar powertrain made up of a 3-liter 6-cylinder mill, it was only natural that someone, at some point, reached similar power numbers.
The 2 Series now has 430 HP and 592 Nm (437 lb-ft) of torque thanks to a couple of add-ons that include a new exhaust and ECU tune. The top speed also increased to above 300 km/h (186 mph) according to the tuner.
KW Clubsport dampers and new Manhart 6-piston calipers help keep the power in check while a new body kit channels the air more efficiently around the car. Inside, the BMW Performance parts are noticeable along with an AWRON gauge, Recaro Seats and Schroth 4-point seat belts.
To top everything off, the rear differential was replaced with a Manhart creation that has a lock ratio of up to 100 percent. This is the closest we’ll get to the M2 until the car is officially launched by BMW.
UPDATE: We added two live videos from the Essen Motor Show floor, showing you the MHi8 and the MH2 400WB. They are truly unique cars at the moment, as the tuner didn't get any more orders for more hardcore versions.
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