SPY PICS: BMW M8

BMW has hit the Nurburgring with its all-new M8 super-coupe, which will also be available in 8 Series M Sport Package form, as evidenced by these new spy shots.

Like the M8 prototype revealed at the infamous German road circuit in May – two days after BMW revealed the Concept 8 Series on which it’s based — the M8 development car spotted here wears quad exhaust outlets, bigger brakes, larger air intakes and more aggressive styling than its donor model.

Word is that both the 8 Series and M8 will be built on the same CLAR platform as the 5 and 7 Series BMWs, and the latter will incorporate the same M xDrive all-wheel drive system and twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 from the next M5 super-sedan.

Speculation is that the M8 will wield more than the 460kW or so expected to be produced by the new M5.

The spy photos follow confirmation from BMW M division president Frank van Meel that an M8 was in the pipeline virtually right from the beginning.

“The conception and development of the standard BMW 8 Series and the M model run in parallel,” he said at the M8 prototype reveal.

“Our challenge as engineers was actually to ensure that the standard car wasn’t too sporty for its customers, because we wanted the M8 to feel like a proper step up.

“We certainly want to make a statement with this car. It will sit at the very top of our model range, and for now we have no confirmed plans for any series production model above it.”

With this in mind, it’s reasonable to expect BMW will price the M8 with reference to the $415,000 Mercedes-AMG S 63 Coupe -- well above the circa-$300K M6 Coupe and Convertible, and the i8 hybrid super-coupe.

The mainstream 8 Series line-up, meantime, should line up with the standard S-Class Coupe range, which currently opens with the $326K S 500.

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.

The M8 will make its first appearance in M8 GTE endurance racing guise at the Daytona 24-hour in January, before it forms the basis of BMW’s factory return to the Le Mans 24-hour in 2018, for the first time in six years.

Therefore the M8 production model should be unveiled by the end of this year, at or following the reveal of the standard 8 Series at the Los Angeles show in late November.

Expect both cars on sale globally by the second half of next year, the 8 Series Convertible to follow in 2019 and the 8 Series Gran Coupe sedan to come in 2020.

Before then, BMW will use the Frankfurt show in September to stage world debuts of its new M5, X7, X3, 6 Series GT and facelifted i3.

As we’ve reported, while the 8 Series replaces the 6 Series Coupe, Convertible and Gran Coupe four-door, the 6 Series nameplate lives on via the new Audi A7-style 6 Series Gran Turismo, which in turns replaces the ungainly 5 Series GT by the end of this year.