BMW locks in M8

BMW has trademarked the M8 moniker as it prepares a top-end thump to its upcoming large coupe contender.

Based on the same architecture as the all-new 7 Series limousine (rather than the i8 super-hybrid's carbon tub, as previously believed), the M8 will be built off the new 8 Series – pictured here in spy shots taken last month when both cars arrive in 2019.

Running an all-new 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 that will also power the next M5 and X5 M, the M8 will run to 100km/h in considerably less than four seconds in its all-wheel drive guise, though a lighter, cheaper rear-drive version will also be available.

That powerhouse 450kW V8 won’t be the biggest engine in the range, though, with BMW also registering the 860, 850, 840, 830 and 825 badges, indicating the 8 Series lineup will also come with 6.6-litre V12, a 4.0-litre V8, a 3.0-litre straight-six and inline 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo power.

The 8 Series will take some of its design cues from the lavish BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe pictured here -- an elegant twin-turbo V12-powered concept designed exclusively for the 2013 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in Italy.

There will also be a hybrid, named the 840e and running the same powertrain as the 740e iPerformance.

Codenamed G16, the 8 Series will take over from the 6 Series, production of which is due to end at BMW’s flagship Dingolfing early in 2018.

But the 8 Series won’t directly replace the 6 Series, with BMW instead choosing to straddle the 6 Series’ segment, with the 8 Series above it and a Z4-replacing joint-venture car below it.

That car, tentatively dubbed the Z5, has been developed together with the next Toyota Supra and will be built by Magna in Austria.

Though BMW is coy on the details, the 8 Series is known to share the Cluster Architecture that sits beneath the 7 Series, so you can safely assume it will blend aluminium, high-strength steel, carbon-fibre and magnesium into its core structure.

BMW plans both coupe and convertible versions of all variants of the 8 Series, with the soft-top following the coupe on to market within a year.

More than five metres long, the four-seat 8 Series retains BMW’s preferred frameless doors behind an elongated bonnet and in front of powerful rear haunches.