BMW 8 Series Coupe revealed

It’s out with the old and in with the view as the all-new BMW 8 Series Coupe replaces the little loved 6 Series at the top of the Bavarian brand’s style tree.

The new 8 Series moves BMW’s grand-touring coupe scene upmarket and has clear links to the two-door Concept 8 Series revealed last year.

Due to be launched officially in November, the 8 Series Coupe will eventually sit alongside the 8 Series four-door sedan that was shown at the Geneva motor show in March.

Its arrival will leave the Gran Coupe and Gran Turismo as the only remaining 6 Series models in the line-up as BMW pushes towards a higher-profit model mix and a reduced focus on volume at the bottom end of its range.

The 8 Series’ mechanical package is based on the architecture of the 7 Series limousine, with BMW planning to move the price point up to north of the limousine and beneath the entry-level Rolls-Royce, the Wraith.

While the concept car ran a twin-turbo, 6.6-litre V12, that won’t be one of the four-seat coupe’s two launch engines.

It will instead initially arrive with either a 390kW 4.4-litre twin-turbo petrol V8 for the M850i xDrive, or a 235kW 3.0-litre twin-turbo diesel straight six for the 840d xDrive.

Both versions will use variable all-wheel drive and BMW’s ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission, but only the M850i is claimed to hit 100km/h in 3.7 seconds.

While both launch cars run the same gear ratios, with direct drive in sixth gear and two overdriven cogs above that, the faster car uses a slightly shorter final-drive ratio.

It is believed the 8 Series Coupe range will eventually include the V12, plus a 40i-badged straight-six turbo-petrol model and a plug-in hybrid variant as well.

The V8 is a big step forward from the 650i’s version, with another 50kW of power from the same capacity and at the same weight, and it serves up more performance in an all wheel-drive package.

The two hot-vee twin-scroll turbochargers are new and join forces with a new 350-bar, multi-hole direct fuel injection system and a thermal engine shield blanket.

Other technical highlights include variable valve timing and lift on both the inlet and exhaust sides of the cylinders and a flap-controlled exhaust system.

Down deep in the V8, there is a new crankcase, plus new pistons, new conrods, new main-bearing shells, new cylinder-head gaskets and a new chain drive, and a particulate filter to ensure it meets WLPT real-world driving emissions regulations.

Its 750Nm of torque arrives at only 1800rpm and hangs on in a plateau until 4600rpm, while its power peak hits at 5500rpm and stays on station until 6000.

It’s limited to 250km/h when every fibre of its powertrain wants to kick on beyond 300km/h, even with an 1890kg dry weight.

The engine is fractionally oversquare, with an 89mm bore diameter and an 88.3mm stroke length, hinting at enthusiastic rev hunting from the 4395cc V8.

Meanwhile, the folks at the oil-squashing department of BMW have squeezed out a 2993cc inline six-cylinder diesel capable of hurling the 840d xDrive to 100km/h in 4.9 seconds.

Its power peak arrives at 4400rpm, but the all-critical 650Nm of torque hits at 1750rpm and stays on the crankshaft until 2250rpm.

BMW claims the M850i will hit between 10 and 10.5L/100km on the NEDC cycle (depending on whether the stock 245/35 R20 front and 275/30 R20 rear tyres are chosen, or the larger 21-inch units).

It claims a CO2 figure of between 228 and 240g/km, draining a 68-litre fuel tank.

The diesel returns between 5.9 and 6.2L/100km on the NEDC (again, depending on whether drivers plump for the stock 245/45 R18 front and 274/40 R18 rear rubber or choose to upscale it). Its CO2/km emissions rate at between 154 and 164g.km.

Unusually, the diesel is lighter than the V8 petrol motor (at 1830kg), though the M850i uses another two cylinders and beefed up suspension and braking systems.

Like the M5, the M850i carries an electronically controlled rear differential lock that effectively stops the rear wheels from compensating for their speed differentials and acts like a locked diff. This promises to deliver strong corner power-down, just like the current M5.

The M850i is actually shorter than the outgoing F13 6 Series by 44mm, shrinking to 4851mm, and its wheelbase is also shorter, pulling in from 2855mm to 2822mm. It’s also 1902mm wide but just 1346mm high, with 420 litres of luggage capacity.

Both models share the same basic suspension layout of a four-link double-wishbone set-up at the front and a five-link rear-end, active electromechanical steering and four-piston front brake callipers.

Inside, the 8 Series cars run BMW’s iDrive 7.0 operating system, with a 10.25-inch infotainment screen, digital instrument cluster and touch control to deliver faster access to menu items.

It retains the iDrive scroller for people who prefer the tactile touch, though it also offers gesture control, steering-wheel buttons or voice control to operate its functions.

The more expensive Live Cockpit Professional finally brings in a fully digital 12.3-inch instrument cluster and a larger full-colour head-up display with improved graphics.

It’s now capable of over-the-air software updates, and can receive hazard warnings from other connected BMW vehicles. It also integrates Microsoft Office 365 and Skype For Business, while drivers can start the engine from outside the car on its digital key.

The sleek 8 Series bodyshell starts with the thinnest full-LED headlights BMW has ever made (laser lights are an option) and finishes with LED tail-lights.

The double-bubble roof is (for the first time in a full-line BMW core brand model) made from carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) to reduce weight and lower the centre of gravity.

It won’t be the first 8 Series on BMW’s books, with BMW building 31,063 versions of the original E31 8 Series from 1989 to 1999.

Like the new concept car, the E31 8 Series was conceived not as a successor to the then-outgoing E24 6 Series Coupe, but to open up an entirely different market segment further upstream.

BMW has quietly slipped the 8 Series onto the 6 Series’ Dingolfing production slots, bumping the third-generation 6 Series Coupe into retirement after a seven-year production run.