BMW’s recently implemented modus operandi to pair their usual three tiers of four-door passenger cars - 3 Series, 5 Series - with sportier two-door versions that occupy the even number above it - 2 Series, 4 Series, 6 Series - has now reached the final likely permutation. A large luxury GT companion to the 7 Series flagship saloon called the 8 Series.
It’s eventual appearance as a full production model is all but confirmed now, but sources have told Autocar UK that BMW won’t wait long to roll out a rocketship high-performance version, the M8. That should follow closely behind the 8 Series’ tentative launch of late 2018 or 2019, at which time it will compete against the Bentley Continental GT and Mercedes-AMG S63.
BMW had previously use the 8 Series nameplate with the luxury GT from the 1990s powered by either a V8 or V12 engines. Despite its 10 year production run, efforts to spawn a mighty M8 based upon it ultimately fell flat due to cost concerns and an uncertain market. However, the closest it came was the 850csi - also tuned by the M Division - that extracted 280kW from its 5.4-litre V12.
Due to be resurrected nearly two decades after the final first-generation 8 Series ended, the provisional 2018 version is speculated to be powered by a 4.0-litre V8 engine borne from BMW’s B series of modular engines, boosted by twin-turbochargers to over 447kW and delivered to an xDrive all-wheel drive system. Some kind of electrification is also expected to be included to low-end power and overall efficiency.
And thanks to its construction that makes liberal use of carbon fibre and aluminium much like the i3 and i8, the next 8 Series should weigh significantly less than its proportions would suggest and enabling very rapid acceleration of “well under 4.0 sec” according to Autocar’s source.
Also reported by Autocar earlier this year is BMW’s plan to replace the existing two-door 6 Series with the similarly proportioned 8 Series. The future of the four-door 6 Series Gran Coupe, though, is a little more opaque.
BMW will be using their CLAR platform (Cluster Architecture) to build the 8 Series. Currently, the only car in their stable using those advanced underpinnings is the sixth generation 7 Series although future versions of the 2 Series, 3 Series and 5 Series will be adopting it.
In standard form, it is expected the 2018 8 Series will have its engine range start with BMW’s turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-six petrol and will also include various tunes of a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8. However, a range-topping version may see power coming from the N74 twin-turbo 6.6-litre V12 from the M760.
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