Saturday 3rd June 2017

BMW M8 confirmed

Not only will there be an M 8 Series for the first time, but it's going racing too!

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The Nurburgring 24-Hour was approached rather enthusiastically by BMW at the weekend: no fewer than nine manufacturer-supported customer teams entered, with a strong second place finish for the Rowe Racing team.

Pesumably this is the autobahn test route

More than that though, BMW used the race to show off its latest M Division product: the M8. While a very early look - the concept of the 8 Series was only shown last week - there's cause to be rather excited about this upcoming M flagship. See the bigger wheels, four chunky exhausts and prominent air intakes for a start; more than that though, we would expect the M8 to borrow technology from the latest M5. And when Autocar has already described the prototype of the saloon as "adjustable and entertaining but composed, precise, tractive and fast with it", then there's much to be encouraged by with the coupe.

BMW M boss Franciscus van Meel has described the M8 as enhancing the 8 Series experience with "added track ability and generous extra portions of dynamic sharpness, precision and agility." Watch out S63 AMG then, it would seem...

Can the big BMW deciM8 its rivals?

And they're going to race it. Seriously. Just in case it seemed that the M6 GT3 was not big and bad enough for the world's race circuits, there will be a an M8 GTE bringing BMW back to Le Mans. It will make its debut at Daytona next January, with BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt saying that "I can promise you that the BMW M8 GTE will look spectacular." Given the appearance of recent BMW racing models - think Z4 GT3 and M235i Racing, for example, we have no reason to doubt that.

This all sounds like very good news for fans of both BMW road cars and BMW motorsport, particularly as a car like an M8 feels like a more traditional style of BMW M model. In fact it was a model attempted 25 years ago, the original M8 prototype sadly not deemed viable in the cash-strapped early 90s. Its time has finally come!

[Sources: Autocar, BMWBlog]

 

[wjwren]

Shape reminds me of the 2004 645. Lovely.

[essayer]

I'm sure it will be epic

[David87]

[PhantomPH]

Expect a £140k price tag and depreciation like a stone.

[Vee12V]

Not sure why but I just can't get excited for this one.

[Henno196]

This needs to be special, to justify it from the new 6 series. Hopefully it'll be the V12 engine from the 7 series, if they do a 3 litre diesel version then it'll just be another big diesel coupe, like the 6 and 4 series.

[Swole]

S65 AMG Coupe rival, then.

I drove one of those and although it was almost the epitome of luxury inside, it just kind of felt dull to drive. There was little sense of speed despite the engine output and it kind of felt a little thrill-less after the C63S AMG I'd driven right before it which, together with being more nimble gave a better experience (for me).

That's Merc though, but I have also driven an M6 and it again was more or less a straight-line brute. I had less fun in that than the M4 prior. I'd go as far to say that on the road the C63/M4 are just as fast on a daily basis on mixed road, and more fun. They wouldn't keep up with the fast E Class/S Class AMGs or the M5/6/8's on a straight dual carriageway, mind.

[Vitorio]

Itll be interesting to see how this thing does in GTE, but i cant help but think itll be a big old lumpy buss compared to the other contenders

[Ninja59]

Henno196 said:

This needs to be special, to justify it from the new 6 series. Hopefully it'll be the V12 engine from the 7 series, if they do a 3 litre diesel version then it'll just be another big diesel coupe, like the 6 and 4 series.

What new 6 series? There is no 6 series replacement in its current form coming. The only 6 series will be the 5GT, which is going to be the 6GT. The Gran Coupe in 6 form (and possibly 4 series) is not being replaced either in the new 8 series line up it is only going to be coupe and cab.

It is not a V12 either, as it will be an uprated S63 engine, probably upping performance further than in the new F90 M5 although even that ultimately is still an uprated S63.

Edited by Ninja59 on Tuesday 30th May 12:38

[GTEYE]

Henno196 said:

This needs to be special, to justify it from the new 6 series. Hopefully it'll be the V12 engine from the 7 series, if they do a 3 litre diesel version then it'll just be another big diesel coupe, like the 6 and 4 series.

But this the new 6 Series...but now it has the badge to match the price tag.

Will still fall in value faster than brick off a cliff I expect...

[RumbleOfThunder]

Will be stonking I'm sure but what will be different from the M6? Why the difference?

- edit. It appears it will replace the 6 series if I'm getting the jist right.

Edited by RumbleOfThunder on Tuesday 30th May 12:49

[Ninja59]

GTEYE said:

But this the new 6 Series...but now it has the badge to match the price tag.

Will still fall in value faster than brick off a cliff I expect...

Really? I know of no one who ordered a 6 series new that paid anywhere near list, even despite being in a twilight area the 6 has been more heavily discounted then many other models in the BMW range (and equally one of the slowest selling). What many at least at where I got my 6 can understand is trying to sell the 5GT as a 6GT and no Gran Coupe replacement on the horizon.

The depreciation as an owner is not really that bad in reality as most of it is being solely judged on the cars silly list price. Heck, even now the 6 series cab is more on list than the a base 7 series.

[99dndd]

Looking forward to seeing the racing version in the WEC. That GTE Pro class is something worth watching!

[MikeGoodwin]

Look forward to the cross platform engine from the BMW M5/M6 along with the same chassis, then the release of 3 or 4 different variants such as the soft top, the GT, the estate, the coupe, then the release of 4 wheel drive variants and the SUV release called the XM8, but HK took that name so they will call it the X9 or something.

[Henno196]

Ninja59 said:

What new 6 series? There is no 6 series replacement in its current form coming. The only 6 series will be the 5GT, which is going to be the 6GT. The Gran Coupe in 6 form (and possibly 4 series) is not being replaced either in the new 8 series line up it is only going to be coupe and cab.

It is not a V12 either, as it will be an uprated S63 engine, probably upping performance further than in the new F90 M5 although even that ultimately is still an uprated S63.

Edited by Ninja59 on Tuesday 30th May 12:38

I was unaware there was no new 6 series, that makes sense that this fills that slot i suppose.

[GTEYE]

Ninja59 said:

GTEYE said:

But this the new 6 Series...but now it has the badge to match the price tag.

Will still fall in value faster than brick off a cliff I expect...

Really? I know of no one who ordered a 6 series new that paid anywhere near list, even despite being in a twilight area the 6 has been more heavily discounted then many other models in the BMW range (and equally one of the slowest selling). What many at least at where I got my 6 can understand is trying to sell the 5GT as a 6GT and no Gran Coupe replacement on the horizon.

The depreciation as an owner is not really that bad in reality as most of it is being solely judged on the cars silly list price. Heck, even now the 6 series cab is more on list than the a base 7 series.

But even the heavy discounts from new doesn't change that - year old ones are still shedding value at an alarming rate.

A quick search on Autotrader: 640d M Sport 2016/16 - less than 6k miles, and £36k from a BMW main dealer.

Now I'm sure you're looking at nearly £75k list for a new one with some extras, so unless BMW are discounting by £40k, which I really doubt, I'd say they are continuing to shed value pretty quickly....

[AMGJocky]

Where is my excited face..? Nope, can't find it.

[clonmult]

PhantomPH said:

Expect a £140k price tag and depreciation like a stone.

As long as it doesn't depreciate like the Z8 .... which strikes me as being unlikely. I was absolutely floored by the pricing of the Z8.

Wonder if BMW will let you spec it with the B&W camo colour scheme?

[PhantomPH]

clonmult said:

PhantomPH said:

Expect a £140k price tag and depreciation like a stone.

As long as it doesn't depreciate like the Z8 .... which strikes me as being unlikely. I was absolutely floored by the pricing of the Z8.

Wonder if BMW will let you spec it with the B&W camo colour scheme?

Trying to figure out if you are being amusing or not....the Z8 was a 'limited' edition (c.5,800?) roadster that currently commands almost double it's original RRP. The M8 most certainly will not fit into this bracket.

IMO it's very much aligned with the S63 coupe and will perform as such in value terms.

[Ninja59]

GTEYE said:

But even the heavy discounts from new doesn't change that - year old ones are still shedding value at an alarming rate.

A quick search on Autotrader: 640d M Sport 2016/16 - less than 6k miles, and £36k from a BMW main dealer.

Now I'm sure you're looking at nearly £75k list for a new one with some extras, so unless BMW are discounting by £40k, which I really doubt, I'd say they are continuing to shed value pretty quickly....

Not for a coupe, which is about £5k cheaper on list than the Gran Coupe or Cab. Also the Coupe is the slowest of all the 6's to move so you could probably get 22-25% off list, do the M Sport Pack which covers a good percentage of cars options out there, at about £3k (20's, HUD, HK Audio and few other bits). The car will be high 40's/low 50's at most so loosing around £10k-£15k ish in a year which puts it amongst similar cars.

The Cab and Gran Coupe do keep the additional purchase price in many cases being easier to sell, but of course this is offset by the additional purchase price in many cases.