Forget about the naming implications of BMW’s new 8 Series and relish what the M850i has to offer for enthusiasts needing some grown-up road manners.
Peculiarities in marketing do happen in the game of cars. And BMW is one of the several brands to have experienced it, not that they will concede outright.
Remember when the German luxury carmaker revived the 6 Series moniker for a range of cars in the noughties?
The Coupe derivative, for one, was actually a two-door version of the 5 Series. A Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe rival, theoretically speaking.
But rather than pricing the 6 Series to match, BMW pitched it high up near the 10 million baht level in entry-level form. With the exception of today’s Gran Turismo, the Coupe, Convertible and Gran Coupe have all bitten the dust.
But the trio is set to return again, with the Coupe taking the lead. No, it isn’t called the 6 Series anymore and has instead gained the 8 Series badging, last used in the nineties.
The new 8 Series Coupe is practically the same in size as the outgoing 6 Series Coupe. In fact, on-paper stats suggest that the 4,843mm-long Eight is a smidge shorter than the Six in length by 51mm. The 2,822mm wheelbase, as well, is shy by 33mm.
In essence, BMW’s biggest coupe has simply gained a new badge, one that might do a better job in justifying that lofty price position.
And don’t think for a moment that the 8 Series Coupe is a direct rival for the S-Class Coupe just because BMW’s naming strategy should suggest it being a two-door version of the 7 Series.
The Merc is a considerably larger coupe measuring 5,027mm in length. And with the smallest engine available being a V8, the S560 goes for a far higher 15 million baht.
Whatever reasons BMW is having with this marketing makeover, the latest 8 Series Coupe is still in a slightly confusing position. Which is why it’s best to measure it on its own, and why we’ve come to Portugal to find out what the 8 Series Coupe has to offer.
But rather than letting the international media get a hold of a full-blooded M8 – which is coming next year – BMW has chosen to serve the less brawny M850i from the M Performance division.
Due for Thai launch at the end of this year, the M850i is still a potent car whose 530hp is derived from a 4.4-litre twin-turbo driving all four wheels via ZF’s widely-used eight-speed torque-convertor automatic.
Driving the M850i flat out around the Estoril race track just outside Lisbon reveals its potency. The V8 revs freely throughout its engine speed range and offers immediate pickup of punch when powering out of corners. And when in Sport mode, the exhaust makes an intoxicating noise upon throttle lift-off.
Thanks to presence of xDrive all-wheel drive that has bias toward the rear wheels, the M850i feels reassuringly planted on the straight bits and balanced in fast corners. Like in many latest editions of M Performance Bimmers, the M850i feels clinical rather than intoxicating to drive overall.
Naturally, BMW has left some space for that pending M8 which should come with over 600hp and be around half-a-second quicker from 0-100kph than this warmed-up M850i. Mind, the M850i’s 3.7sec time is respectably fast already.
Out in the Portuguese countryside, the M850i feels easy to drive and associates itself with the previous 6 Series Coupe in size. Which is to say that the 8 Series Coupe isn’t exactly compact nor does it take up much space on the road. But the 8 Series Coupe does feel agile thanks to a precise, nicely weighted variable-ratio steering.
The ride is generally comfortable, although it probably isn’t as sophisticated as in the S-Class Coupe. At least the M850i seems to offer more rolling refinement than in a Porsche 911 or Maserati Gran Turismo, both of which are about to reach the end of their lifecycles in their current generation.
If there was one thing the 8 Series Coupe does better than those two aforementioned rivals, but not over the S-Class Coupe, is interior accommodation. Although the BMW’s rear seats (without proper head restraints) can’t be described as great to sit it, they’re comparatively more bearable for kids to be in. Adults will find both head and leg room lacking.
Like in the latest X5, the 8 Series Coupe inherits the seventh-generation infotainment screen that, along with the digital instrument panel and clustered central console, works well. It appears that BMW, Audi and Mercedes all have their distinctive way in offering tidied-up ergonomics.
And while the driving cockpit in the M850i is quite a nice place to spend time, the M-specific steering wheel has a rim quite thick to hold onto. You now begin to miss the previous iteration that’s still available in some other existing models.
Design-wise, the 8 Series Coupe looks quite cool especially with those thin head and tail lamps, adequately-sized kidney-grille and the gently pronounced hip lines on the rear wheel arches. A new trademark for M Performance cars is the rectangular exhaust pipes; four circular ones are the preserve of full-fat M Automobiles (like the M8).
So what’s to really like about the 8 Series Coupe, and M850i in this case? Well, it isn’t a genuine sports car nor an ultimate GT cruiser, although it leans toward the former.
And when there isn’t much to compare left or right with the M850i, it’s quite in a class of its own by offering big performance at a price (of some 13 million baht) others can’t match (911s and Masers with the same dose go for over 15 million baht).
At the end of the day, it’s probably best to describe this particular 8 Series Coupe as a gentleman’s sports car.
