All-new 8 is earning its autobahn-storming stripes…in Italy

If you’re getting back into the business of making a big, plush, swift mega-coupe for the first time in decades, like BMW is with the new 8 Series, then you better be damn sure it can handle 150mph+ autobahn commuting as imperiously as, say, a Mercedes S-Class coupe. Or an Aston Martin DB11.

So, welcome to BMW’s, er, official behind-the-scenes spy shots of its new 8 Series coupe undergoing rigorous high-speed testing at the Aprillia test track near Rome in Italy. Under the stripey tape is a production version of the shark-nosed styling we saw on the 8 Series concept, and under that is a bi-turbo V8 engine that’ll give the new 8 the performance to make the S500 and S63 quake. Aprillia’s 4km banked high-speed oval is where the car’s ability to cover continents in a bound is being sussed out.

Or, as BMW Germanically puts it: “The acceleration, braking and steering behaviour of the new sports car are analysed on circuits, slalom courses and different road surfaces. The highly demanding test programme facilitates the targeted harmonisation of all drive and suspension systems. The new BMW 8 Series has shown that it offers maximum agility and precision in highly dynamics situations.”

Likewise, the car is also able to meet the highest demands in terms of supremacy and comfort.” This apparently creates a “fascinatingly sporty driving experience.” Ja.

BMW is also obsessively pushing the angle that the 8 Series is being developed alongside not just an M8 range-topper, but the new M8 GTE which will race at Le Mans later this year. We’re told to expect huge amounts of road car/racecar crossover, but regretfully, it’s unlikely the M8 will have a wing you can land small aircraft on, and racing harnesses in its leather-smothered cockpit. Still, we can dream. That’d give the 8 Series one heck of a USP…

Reckon the 8 Series is going to a looker when we finally see one without its war paint on?

Performance version of BMW’s new 8 Series - the M8 - revealed in ‘Gran Coupe’ guise

It’s called the ‘BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe’, which is a bit of a mouthful, and also sounds a bit like something an imaginary two-door grandmother might drive. But despite the weird images it conjours in your head, what we have here is the performance version of BMW’s new 8 Series, the M8, in ‘Gran Coupe’ guise. Meaning that, like the standard 8, it’s not a coupe, but a swoopy four-door. Got that?

First up, a quick bit of backstory. We’re due the new 8 Series very soon, a big four-door coupe-looking thing set to indirectly replace the 6 Series, take on the likes of Mercedes’ S-Class Coupe and move BMW’s range a little bit more upmarket. That means even the cheapest cars - which won’t actually be ‘cheap’, obviously - will get double wishbones at the front and multi-link rear suspension with rear-steer, a choice of rear-wheel drive or xDrive AWD and air suspension, leather made from tiger nipples and Svarovski crystal windscreens. Though the latter pair might not make production. More likely is a range of engines starting with a base 840i (3.0-litre six-pot turbo petrol), 850i (4.4-litre V8 turbo petrol), 840e (the same hybrid drivetrain as the 740e), right up to an 860i (possibly badged ‘M860i’ and with the same 6.6-litre V12 turbo from the 760iLe).

But the big V12 won’t be the sporty one. Nope, that will come with this, the M8. Now, the car you see here, resplendent in ‘Salève Vert’ slightly bichromic paintwork is officially a ‘Concept’, but as is the way with BMW Concept cars, it’s not far off the real thing. It’ll lose some of the tricky lighting signatures and rifled exhaust finishers, and the stance is probably going to be a bit more road-friendly, but this is the fast 8 in all but final detail.

What’s likely? Well it seems fairly obvious that the M8 will simply adopt a version of the drivetrain from the mighty M5. That means a 4.4-litre V8 with two turbos, north of 600bhp, an eight-speed auto with paddleshift (not DSG, but the M5 is better for that) and the same switchable M xDrive that does such effective duty in the big saloon. It will not be slow. As the President of BMW’s M Division, Frank van Meel, explained a couple of months ago: “The conception and development of the standard BMW 8 Series and the M model run in parallel. The future BMW M8 will build on the genes of the 8 Series and augment its DNA with added track ability and generous extra portions of dynamic sharpness, precision and agility.”

All we know for sure is that it’ll look … different. Obviously there will be the usual ‘M’ upgrades like larger, CFRP-lipped (carbon fibre re-inforced plastic) air intakes, side-strakes, wheels and sports exhaust, as well as the usual BMW CFRP roof, but the M8 also manages to look pretty hardcore. Domagoj Dukec, Vice President of Design at BMW M says the car is “designed to stir things up, to polarise – it should move you emotionally…” Which it does. It echoes some of the brilliantly bonkers aspects of the M8 GTE race car, and is certainly no worse for that.

Long bonnet, long wheelbase, a kicked up window graphic and tail and some evil headlights framing an oversized BMW kidney grille - this is not going to be a car for shrinking violets. And once you get past the gold accents and crackers shade of paintwork, there are some really rather sharp-looking feature lines. If this is what BMW thinks the future of luxury performance looks like… it might not be a bad thing.

The BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe illustrates the meaning behind the letter “M” at BMW in impressive style: it stands for “more”, more of everything. As well as dynamic excellence, the BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe embodies a new facet of luxury for the BMW brand – ultra-sporty, extrovert and polarising.

Munich. The BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe illustrates the meaning behind the letter “M” at BMW in impressive style: it stands for “more”, more of everything. As well as dynamic excellence, the BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe embodies a new facet of luxury for the BMW brand – ultra-sporty, extrovert and polarising.

“The BMW 8 Series will take over as the new flagship model of the BMW line-up and, as such, combines unsurpassed sportiness and elegance,” says Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice President BMW Group Design. “The BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe offers a look ahead to the most exotic and alluring variant of the new BMW 8 Series.”

Symbol of a unique understanding of luxury.

The BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe is more than simply a luxury sports car with four doors. It symbolises a new and unique understanding of luxury. “The BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe is designed to stir things up, to polarise – it should move you emotionally,” explains Domagoj Dukec, Vice President Design BMW M and BMW i. “With this car we want to reach people who are looking for something special and who want to stand out from the crowd. Here, BMW M is unmistakably taking luxury out of its comfort zone.” Like the BMW Concept 8 Series before it, the BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe shows off BMW’s new design language, headlined by expressive surfacing that accentuates the car’s dynamism more vividly than before through its bodywork. A small number of precise character lines underline the graphic arrangement of the surfaces.

The front end: a promise of dynamic talent to quicken the pulse.

Low to the road and broad in stance, the eye-catching front end of the BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe delivers an immediate promise of an exceptional performance experience. The muscular surfaces and precise contours of the bonnet hint at the driving capability bubbling intently under the skin.

The face of the new BMW 8 Series is evident in the new Concept’s front-end graphic. The contours of the radiator grille kidneys broaden as they descend towards the road, emphasising the car’s low centre of gravity. As on early BMW coupes, the kidney elements are linked by an unbroken grille surround, creating a large single element. The headlights are positioned slightly higher than the kidneys and give them the impression of sitting lower, which further emphasizes the car’s closeness to the asphalt. In contrast, the gold-coloured kidney surround brings an added air of exclusivity to the front end. Within the headlights, the lighting technology familiar from the M8 GTE endurance racer provides a dynamic, hexagonal interpretation of BMW’s signature four-eyed front end, distilling elements of modern-day motor sport and luxurious quality into its inner details. Meanwhile, brawny air intakes in carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) guide the air to where it is required.

The side – elegance meets powerful precision.

Even when viewed from a distance, the proportions of the BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe radiate the car’s dynamic character. A long wheelbase, long bonnet, flowing roofline and short tail create an elegantly sporty coupe silhouette. The emotionally rich surfacing reaches a climax in the car’s shoulders around the C-pillars, north of the rear wheels. Here, the roof flows into the rear by means of elegantly sculpted fins. Lower down, the muscular flared wheel arches offer a visual expression of the power working through the rear axle. The smooth transitions between surfaces exude a certain sensuousness, while the heavy tapering of the car’s shoulders combines with a wide track to bring extra definition and athleticism. Being every inch the BMW M car, the BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe has a roof made from CFRP – which lowers the car’s centre of gravity both visually and physically – and aerodynamically optimised exterior mirrors.

The Salève Vert paint finish, whose colour appears to change from green to greyish blue in different lights, creates a hugely effective surface composition and teams up with the gold-coloured window graphic, hallmark M gills, gold-coloured brakes, wheel rims and M twin exhaust tailpipes to give the car a head-turning, all-new look.

The rear packs an imposing presence.

The rear of the BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe oozes the dynamic élan and visual impact for which M is renowned, and the wide track and flared wheel arches hint at the car’s performance capability. Horizontal lines break up the rear end stylistically, allowing the area below the rear spoiler to catch more light and adding extra visual agility. At the outer edges, the slim, sculpted rear lights with black glass covers underscore the car’s wide stance on the road. Below them, the bumper picks up the front apron’s dynamic theme. The prominent diffuser and two sets of familiar M twin exhaust tailpipes together send out a clear message of absolute performance.

Looking ahead.

The striking exterior of the BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupe combines the core values of BMW M with elegance and luxury to create a new and captivating form, and reveals a new and exciting facet of BMW M. The new model sees the BMW Group looking ahead to the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe and BMW M8 Gran Coupe, which will be presented during the course of 2019 and round off the BMW 8 Series family.

Given the black bag treatment, I’m guessing this isn’t a normal review?
Quite right. BMW will unveil the 8 Series in June and start selling it in November this year, but before they do so, they need to sign off on the chassis and powertrain for it. And they asked for our help to do so.

Now we know what you’re thinking – these German development drives are normally at the Nürburgring, pounding the circuit for hours on end to extract a perfect lap-time that’s irrelevant to anyone who lives outside of Rhineland-Palatinate.

But not this time. The car has been around the ‘Ring, but now we’re in North Wales, with some epic roads at our disposal, so that BMW can finesse its latest sports car – the M850i coupe that sits right at the top of the BMW line-up.

So is this a coupe version of the 7 Series?
Not at all. Unlike the S-Class, where the top-line car morphs from saloon to coupe via luxurious limos, the 8 Series is not a coupe version of the 7. It’s its own thing. BMW was clear from the outset of the project that this is a completely different beast, a GT sports car that’s as happy crossing continents as it is screaming down a back-road. Albeit a sports car that will be available in three body styles – coupe (as driven here), cabriolet and gran coupe.

I assume it’s got a stonking engine to do that job?
Correct. It’s based on the previous V8 but has been heavily breathed on by BMW.

To that end, there are new turbos, a new ignition system (running at a whopping 350 bar pressure – normal is about 150 bar), new crank, new bearings, new pistons, new graphite coating on the cylinder surface … oh, and a next generation ZF, eight-speed ‘box.

All of which means this 4.4-litre V8 produces 523bhp and 553lb ft, the latter from just 1,800rpm. Those with a head for numbers will know that this is 67bhp and 74lb ft more than the previous V8.

Being a pre-prod drive, there aren’t any performance figures available yet, but it feels like it should be hovering around the four second mark for 0-62mph. That’s on the button with key rivals like the Mercedes SL and Bentley Conti GT.

Out on the road, it’s certainly plenty punchy enough. Plant your foot from any speed and it’s almost alarming how easily the 850i will fire you forwards, with a brilliant V8 roar as the accompanying soundtrack. Five stars to BMW for the latter – finally realising that a decent engine note goes a long way to transforming a car’s character. It can even pop and bang on downshifts, a la AMG, and all the better for it.

There’s minimal lag from the twin-turbo set-up and, thanks to faster and more aggressive shifts on the ZF ‘box, this feels like an angrier BMW than you’d expect. That’s especially true if you drop the car into Sport or Sport Plus.

Oh dear – do we really need those buttons in a GT car?
100 per cent yes. At least in the case of the 850i.

But bear with me for a tick, as I need to explain what they do first. There are adjustable dampers on the 8 Series (using two valves to stiffen or relax), the steering rack gets tweaked to add more weight and make it more direct, the four-wheel steering is altered, the gear changes are sharpened up, exhaust baffles are opened – basically, the car becomes more shouty and aggressive.

Where it’s clever though, is that it doesn’t dial everything up to 11 all the time. The car knows how you’re driving and will give you what you need, when you need it, all within pre-determined parameters of course: Sport Plus is always going to be stiffer than Comfort.

The end result is the total opposite of how I normally drive a car: dial everything into comfort and leave it there for evermore. But not here. The 8 Series feels so much better if you drop it into Sport Plus. Yes, the ride is stiffer, but not ruinously so. And the payback in the gearshift speeds and exhaust noise is well worth it. That’s where the character of this car lies, and that’s where it’s at its best.

Like many a large luxury car worth its salt, the 8 Series has benefitted from an electro-mechanical anti-roll bar (not standard fit here, mind), which allows it to be comfortable in a straight line and firms up for the corners. So despite wearing 20-inch wheels, the low speed ride is settled. Can this be a continent basher and back-road blaster? It certainly feels like it at this stage, and definitely far more so than some of the 1D offerings from BMW’s recent history.

Not that it’s perfect.

At this stage of the development, the odd mid-corner bump can unsettle the 850 when the chassis is loaded up.

I’d personally like more steering feel. It’s precise, but given that this is meant to be a sports car, it doesn’t give you all the nuances and clues that you’d get out of, say, a 911.

And if you are in Sport Plus, you need to switch to ‘manual’ gear changes, using the flappy paddles. Leave it in auto Sport Plus and everything gets a bit lurchy, with ratio changes when you don’t expect them.

But overall? It feels good.

Are there any other technological highlights?
It’s got four-wheel steering, called Integral Active Steering by BMW, four-wheel drive and active torque vectoring. All are standard systems and all make a big difference to how the car drives. Again, whack it into Sport Plus and the four-wheel steering becomes more aggressive, so the nose feels much quicker to react and dive into a corner.

The throttle mapping is also sharper. Now that might be an obvious change, but what surprised me was the result; the way the car was more adjustable with the throttle in Sport Plus. I don’t mean world drift champion, but more that steering and throttle were more in harmony. So you could tweak the line through a corner with both. The car seemed to hug you closer and, all of a sudden, BMW’s claims of it being a sports car start to ring truer.

The way the computer adjusts the car to how you’re driving is mighty clever, making the dampers react every 2.5 milliseconds. So much so that it feels like there’s another person in the car, constantly tweaking things, reading you and the road to sense how you want to attack, or not, the next corner.

So, roll on the actual launch then?
Very much so. Although one thing I’m intrigued by, and excuse the practical hat for a second – rear seat space. We drove a coupe and there was zilch. Quite how BMW is going to fashion a Gran Coupe out of that is anyone’s guess.

But the rest of it? A promising car.

I have a thing for road cars turned race cars. They’re like the ultimate form of what you see in dealerships and on the street. They’re like as good as the basic car design can be. And that’s what makes this BMW M8 GTEinteresting. Inside every 8 Series road car we can expect to see soon lives this version that sounds like a V8 falling down a flight of stairs.

Let’s take a listen to the M8 GTE testing at Monza, thanks to the wonderful race car testing cataloger 19Bozzy92. The M8 GTE uses BMW’s twin-turbo V8 running a flat-plane crank, and it sounds like there’s some good kind of anti-lag going.

It sounds sick in the same way that the Ford GT does. It’s always burning extra gas to keep the turbos spooled up, or at least that’s how it sounds.

Listen to how much louder and stranger it is than its rival Aston Martin Vantage GTE, which uses a Mercedes twin-turbo V8. The Merc engine sounds like an air pump and not much else.

But then also listen to how thundering the best of the naturally-aspirated modern V8s sound. This is a Corvette C7.R, the high standard for V8 race car noise.

At the track, you feel the Corvettes go by. Even on video you get a sense of how much more dramatic they are.

But then, no turbo clatter. A trade off for sure.

A prototype of the soon-to-be-unveiled BMW 8 Series coupe was involved in a serious crash in Bavaria on Saturday, killing the passenger.

The driver was apparently able to walk away from the incident and no other vehicles were involved. Authorities say the vehicle was speeding at the time of the incident and the driver subsequently lost control, according to German-language source Bayrischer Rundfunk.

We’ve reached out to BMW for a statement and further details, and will update this story if the company provides further information.

It appears that the vehicle flipped multiple times, landing on its right side and blocking access to the passenger door. While the driver was able to climb out of the wreckage, you can see in the video that first responders had to cut through the roof of the mangled prototype to reach the trapped passenger.

The BMW 8 Series is nearing the end of the testing, with the final reveal slated for June 15th at Le Mans. Camouflaged prototypes have been running around for months already, and this may be the first to have crashed on public roads.

Of course it didn't take the internet long to dream up a BMW 8 Series shooting brake.

Last week at Le Mans, BMW brought back the beloved 8 Series for the first time in nearly 20 years, and we’ve been swooning over the gorgeous grand-tourer ever since. Somehow, it looks even better than the stunning concept shown last year. So far, the reborn BMW 8 Series has only been shown in coupe form, but inevitably it didn’t take long for the internet to redesign it to see how it looks in alternative body styles. We’ve already seen how the convertible 8 Series will look when it eventually joins the lineup.

A hot M8 and Gran Coupe is also coming. But what if the 8 Series was adapted into a shooting brake? From artist X-Tomi, this first render shows how a BMW 8 Series shooting brake would look from the side profile. Its wide stance and sloping roofline applies well to the shooting brake body style, although the rear appears to have been inspired by the 1 Series. While X-Tomi’s render only shows the profile, artist Rain Prisk Design has produced a separate design showing how the sporty shooting brake would look from the back. The result is probably going to be polarizing. In fact, it looks a lot like a Volvo with its taillights stretching up to the roof.

In this case, they seem to stretch all the way from one side to the other, though. It also sits much closer to the ground than the standard model. In reality, a BMW 8 Series shooting brake is unlikely to enter production since it’s become a niche segment thanks to the mass popularity of SUVs. That is, unless a wealthy client pays a coachbuilder to build a custom one. After all, the idea isn’t too farfetched considering you can now buy a custom Tesla Model S shooting brake.

We’ve finally welcomed the return of the BMW 8 Series, with attractive styling that isn’t quite as exciting as the classic model but still looks good. None of that will matter soon, as these patent renderings of an 8 Series Gran Coupe are going to ruin everything.

If people want a four-door version of the 8 Series, why not make the 7 Series... more attractive? This is a question BMW doesn’t want to bother answering, because those few shorter inches on the sloping roofline of their Gran Coupe models somehow translates into greater sales volume that is seemingly worth the addition overhead costs of creating the adjusted models.

The new 8 Series patent images, which Motor1 was seemingly the first to spot, show renderings for a Gran Coupe and a cabriolet of the recently revealed 8 Series Coupe. I love convertibles, so that’s good with me, and we’d already heard rumors of the Gran Coupe, but seeing it realized is even more troubling.

As my colleague Mack pointed out, the 6 Series Gran Coupe design was a great looking car, and the 4 Series Coupe isn’t all that bad. The issue with the latter is that it’s almost indistinguishable from a normal 3 Series sedan, and if one is some designer’s preferred look, why not just make that the original model?

Anyway, judging perhaps unfairly from just this one rendering, the 8 Series Gran Coupe does not look that great, with sloping body curves that accentuate a round rear end and push the car too far from its sports car roots. It makes the 8 Series less special.

Nowadays, I find myself asking why I should even be bothered by this. It doesn’t effect me in any meaningful way. I think maybe it’s just the nostalgia of seeing things I like derived into things I don’t like. There’s a movie about dinosaurs in theaters that does the same thing to great success.

It diminishes my enthusiasm. Then again, it pushes someone who can actually afford these things closer to a sale. Must be nice for that deranged individual.

M850i not enough? You'll have to wait for this full-fat M model.

BMW aficionados know their favorite brand built an M8 prototype nearly 30 years ago, which never evolved to become a production model. As a matter of fact, the car was kept secret for many years before being unveiled to the public. Now, the Bavarians are putting the finishing touches on an M8 deep-pocketed people will actually be able to buy. Even better, the coupe will be joined sooner or later by a convertible and eventually by a four-door version to serve as a successor for the M6 Gran Coupe.

Seen here is the two-door flavor with the fixed roof while being pushed hard at the Nürburgring where it’s currently undergoing final testing. Set to be positioned atop the M850i, the crown jewel of the reborn 8 Series family will use an amped-up version of the biturbo 4.4-liter V8 expected to produce more than 600 horsepower. Considering the recently launched M5 Competition packs a mighty 617-hp punch, we won’t be too surprised if the M8 will top that. A possible M8 Competition could have even more.

There’s a pretty good chance the xDrive all-paw layout and the eight-speed automatic transmission will be adapted from the M5. An assortment of upgrades over the M850i is also in the works and BMW could shave off some fat here and there to bolster performance. Even if a diet is on the agenda, don’t expect the M8 to be a lightweight coupe considering the U.S.-spec M850i tips the scales at a rather hefty 4,478 pounds (2,031 kilograms).

BMW has already confirmed it will unveil the M8 later in 2018, so we might get to see it at the Paris Motor Show in October or even a couple of weeks sooner on the Internet. The other two 8 Series body styles we’ve mentioned earlier will also be blessed with the full-on M treatment.

M850I XDRIVE ENGINE

• 0-60 mph in 3.6 seconds
• New 4.4-liter V8 engine with M TwinPower Turbo technology
• 523 hp from 5,500 to 6,600 rpm
• 553 lb-ft peak torque from 1,800 to 4,600 rpm
• Intake ports optimized for higher flow
• Enlarged twin-scroll turbochargers
• Electric blow-off valves integrated into the compressor housing
• Redesigned air intake manifold and connection between air ducts for both cylinder banks ensures even pulsation during gas exchange, resulting in higher torque at lower engine speeds
• Fuel injectors maximum pressure increased from 2,900 psi to 5,076 psi
• New aluminium alloy increases engine block strength
• Wire- arc sprayed iron coating for the cylinder walls
• Reinforced, Grafal-coated pistons and optimized piston rings
• Viscous damper on the crankshaft minimizes torsional vibration
• Thermal shielding and the cooling circulation systems undergone extensive modification
• Upstream coolant radiator helps manage engine's temperature during extremely spirited driving

TRANSMISSION / XDRIVE

• Eight-speed Steptronic Sport transmission
• Weight reducing design
• Newly developed controller adapts shift parameters by networking with Navigation system (for example, controller avoids unnecessary gear shifts between two corners that follow in quick succession, or controller downshifts early when approaching an intersection to use engine braking to slow car)
• Wider gear ratio spread
• Optimized hydraulics control for sharper gear shifts
• New torsion dampers
• Shift paddles
• Launch Control
• Fully variable distribution of drive torque between the front and rear wheels
• All torque is directed to rear wheels in situations when all-wheel drive is not needed
• Electronically controlled rear differential

SUSPENSION

• Double-wishbone front axle / five-link rear axle
• Torsion struts on front axle / load-bearing strut on rear axle
• Independent rubber bearings and additional damping plates at rear axle
• Special wheel hubs and wishbones allow camber values on both axles to be raised as far as possible
• Adaptive M suspension standard on all 8 Series Coupe

ACTIVE ROLL STABILIZATION

• Active roll stabilization optional for M850i xDrive Coupe
• Electric swivel motors on the front and rear anti-roll bars reduce body movement
• Increases comfort when driving straight ahead by decoupling the anti-roll bar connection between wheels of an axle to counteract road imperfections

INTEGRAL ACTIVE STEERING

• Integral Active Steering standard
• Rear wheel steering up to 2.5 degrees
• Rear wheels steered in opposite direction of front wheels up to 45 mph (up to 55 mph in SPORT or SPORT+ modes)
• Rear wheels steered in same direction as front wheels above 45 mph (above 55 mph in SPORT or SPORT+ modes)

M SPORT BRAKES / WHEELS

• 4-piston fixed-caliper brakes front / Single-piston floating-caliper brakes rear
• Inner-vented brake discs and model-specific brake pads
• 20-inch M light-alloy wheels in Frozen Cerium Grey metallic with high gloss polished face
• 245/35R20 tires front and 275/30R20 tires rear

WEIGHT OPTIMIZATION / CONSTRUCTION / CFRP

• CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic): center tunnel, optional CFRP roof, other select body parts via optional Carbon Package
• Optional Carbon Package: CFRP air intake bars, exterior mirror caps, rear spoiler, rear diffuser
• Aluminum: front and rear supporting structures, roof, doors, hood, front firewall, front axle, wheel carriers, forged control arms
• Magnesium: passenger compartment bracing tube
• Lightweight steel: rear axle

AERODYNAMICS

• Almost fully covered underbody
• Active air flap control with adjustable kidney grille slats
• Air Curtains including Air Breathers
• Narrow exterior mirror bases mounted directly on the side window weather strips
• Double-bubble roof (also available in optional CFRP)

LIGHTING

• Standard Full LED headlights with BMW LaserLight technology
• All-LED L-Shaped rear lights

BMW DIGITAL KEY

• NFC technology allows 8 Series Coupe to be locked / unlocked from smartphone by holding it up to door handle
• Can be shared with up to five other people via BMW Connected App

INTERIOR

• Standard premium Merino Individual leather with extended leather
• Decorative contrast stitching
• Optional upgraded Climate seats for driver and front passenger
• Optional glass applications - gear selector, iDrive controller, start/stop button, volume button in glass and illuminated '8' visible through glass surface of the gear selector

M PERFORMANCE / M SPORT EXCLUSIVE FEATURES

• M leather steering wheel
• Anthracite BMW Individual headliner
• M pedals
• M driver’s footrest
• Apecial floor mats
• Illuminated door sills with M logo
• Instrument cluster displays M logo

TECHNOLOGY / DRIVING ASSISTANCE

• 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster
• 10.25-inch iDrive control display
• Standard Harman Kardon audio system with sixteen speakers
• Standard Head-Up Display (HUD) on all 8 Series Coupe with larger projection area and additional content
• Standard Cruise Control with braking function and Collision and Pedestrian Warning with City Braking function
• Standard Park Distance Control (PDC)
• Standard Parking Assistant (can now exit parallel parking spaces also) with Reversing Assistant
• Standard camera system with Rear, Top View, Panorama View and 3D View
• Standard Remote Software Upgrade (over the air updates)
• Newly designed function cluster (containing Start/Stop and Drive Mode buttons) with active haptic feedback
• Optional Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go function
• Optional Driving Assistant Professional includes Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go, Steering and Lane Control Assistant, Lane Keeping Assistant with Active Side Collision Protection
• Optional BMW Night Vision system

INTELLIGENT NETWORKING

• Transmission controller networks with navigation system to adapt shift parameters intelligently (for example, controller avoids unnecessary gear shifts between two corners that follow in quick succession, or controller downshifts early when approaching an intersection to use engine braking to slow car)
• Auto Start Stop adapts to driving situation based on navigation data and by use of cameras and radar sensors of the optional driver assistance systems to prevent inefficient engine shutdown – for example when stopping briefly at junctions with yield signs. The movement of vehicles ahead is registered in order to determine the ideal moment for stopping and starting the engine.
• Coasting function efficient enhanced. When traveling at speeds between 9 – 99 mph, powertrain is decoupled as soon as the driver lifts off the accelerator. The switch to this “sail” mode only takes place in driving situations in which it appears worthwhile and which doesn’t compromise comfort or performance. If the accelerator is released very suddenly for instance, the powertrain stays connected in order to use the engine’s drag torque to decelerate.

PREMIUM UPGRADE OPTIONS

• Climate seats for driver and front passenger
• Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System with 16-channel amplifier with 1,375 watts output, and 16 partly illuminated speakers
• Optional glass applications (gear selector, iDrive controller, start/stop button, volume button)

PRICING

• The 2019 BMW M850i xDrive Coupe is priced at $111,900 plus $995 Destination and Handling