Avid Marvel movie-goers who saw Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings may have noticed BMW’s logo plastered into almost every frame. While it is painfully obvious whenever Marvel Studios gets a contract with a car company, the result is always some impressive cars appearing on screen. Several times the blue and white Bavarian logo is center-fold in the latest MCU installment, and each time it’s attached to something interesting. Without giving away spoilers, here’s a few BMWs that appear in Shang-Chi.

I8: Shang-Chi’s brief but memorable hybrid

One of the cars indicating BMW’s new contract with Marvel is the i8. Although production halted in 2020, the i8 makes a brief (albeit hilarious) appearance in the latest Marvel film. Enthusiasts may remember its unique looks wrapped around a lackluster powertrain, under the umbrella of a massive price tag. It’s about as fast as an M3, getting to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds, makes 369 horsepower from its hybrid powertrain, and its interior was anything but practical. Indeed, the i8 worked better as a show car, hanging up on someone’s wall, but it’s unmistakable in its appearance. 

M8: insane performance

The M8 gets a bit more screen time in Shang-Chi, and deservedly so. This sports coupe comes with a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 that delivers 617 horsepower to all four wheels. Starting at $130,000, the M8 can hit 60 mph in a blistering 2.8 seconds. It completes the quarter-mile in 10.8 seconds right out of the box, but the car is so much more than that. With the steering aids off and power sent exclusively to the rear wheels, the car whips around corners with composed aggression, almost like a supervillain. It’s one scene in Shang-Chi should make BMW enthusiasts excited to drive one or buy one once that infamous BMW depreciation sets in.

iX3: the Shang-Chi electric BMW entry

The star automobile of the film is BMW’s iX3. Without giving too much away, this SUV appears to prove its worth. Even if it’s only driving through CGI environments, the car maximizes every second of its several minute-long advertisements with incredible acrobatic ability. 

The iX3 is BMW’s second all-electric vehicle, making 286 horsepower for the rear wheels which allows it to reach 60 mph in 6.8 seconds. Its range is 385 kilometers-not miles- because, tragically, the iX3 isn’t yet sold in the U.S. Perhaps the fact it appeared in an American-produced, mass-marketed film, offers a ray of hope it will soon decamp for stars-and-stripes-patterned pastures. 

What’s in store for the next Marvel film?

Audi previously held the burden of supplying Marvel movies with performance vehicles. Now it seems that task has shifted to BMW, and it’s just as exciting if not more so. Marvel movies sometimes showcase prototypes of cars to come, like Audi’s R8 e-Tron in Iron Man 3. The next film in the MCU is The Eternals, maybe we can see even more unique BMWs but we’ll have to wait for November to find out.