BMW’s M8 Gran Coupe is, along with the rest of the 8-Series range, about to drive off into the sunset, albeit so the German automaker can change it with a facelifted mannequin of the an identical issue. Which makes this a superb time to talk regarding the seven months I spent testing the outgoing mannequin for the UK’s Vehicle Journal.

In case you need a reminder, the M8 Gran Coupe takes the V8, all-wheel drive coronary coronary heart of the M5 sedan, and drops it into the additional soulful four-door 8-Series GC shell. That appeared like a reasonably fascinating prospect to us, and there was masses to like, nonetheless a few points we’d improve, too.

The M5 Wants It Was This Cool

I get it, stealthy is the BMW M5’s USP. Always has been. Nonetheless I sometimes uncover myself wishing it had a bit further Audi RS-style swagger about it. With its cool coupe roofline, frameless glass and muscular rear end, the M8 definitely delivers on attempting like a $100,000 automotive in the way in which by which the M5 doesn’t.

Moreover: Hardcore BMW M8 Spied, Is It A CSL Variant?

The one downside is, it’s actually a $130,000 automotive (£123,950 inside the UK), and technically our M8 value the equal of nearly $200,000 on account of it acquired right here loaded with the £20,000 ($28k) UK-market Ultimate Pack that options carbon brakes, carbon exterior trim, Bowers and Wilkins Howdy-Fi and totally different goodies. People sometimes commented at fuel stations and parking areas on how good it appeared, nonetheless most have been shocked to discover how much it cost.

It Seems to be like Biggest From the Once more

I do know this as a consequence of the entire a complete lot of photos I took of it, I seem to have solely taken two from the doorway. Ideas you, it has a pleasing face, nonetheless it’s rather a lot further fascinating from the rear-three quarter, when it looks like an infinite cat primed and in a position to explode into movement and every bit as dramatic as a Porsche 911.

Scratch That, It Seems to be like Biggest From In Proper right here

I just like the assemble top quality and logical construction of BMW interiors, nonetheless in primarily essentially the most half they’re considerably boring to check out. Not the M8’s, though. Our automotive acquired right here with inserting purple leather-based upholstery that made me give it some thought as some type of teutonic Bentley, and the illuminated M8 badges inside the seatbacks appeared good at night time time, as did the lit door audio system behind the trendy metal grilles.

The Alcantara headlining gives to the sense of luxurious, and the usual of provides all via was practically pretty much as good as you’d depend on from a BMW, apart from an annoyingly squeaky lid masking the phone charger.

iDrive Is Nonetheless A Increased Means Than A Pure Touchscreen

Did you ever experience the first ever iDrive in an early E65 7-series? Trying to select one among too many potential selections by nudging the scroll wheel with out getting the mistaken one was like collaborating in Hasbro’s Operation. Nonetheless that was 20 years prior to now. The facelifted M8 can have BMW’s latest version of iDrive as seen inside the iX and i4, nonetheless I nonetheless assume the combination of a wheel (useful for zooming in and out of maps and sustaining your eyes on the road) and touchscreen (for all of the items else) is considerably higher than a pure touchscreen system, significantly one with no haptic solutions.

It’s a shame that having acquired that bit so correct, BMW made the row of bodily buttons beneath the show display so tiny. Considerably, these for the temperature administration, which may be increased as a rotary dial anyway.

The Engine Is A Monster

I’ve however to drive the new M5 CS, which is able to get a 626 hp mannequin of the M8’s 4.4-liter V8, nonetheless it ought to be an absolute animal on account of even with ‘merely’ 617 hp, and 366 lb (166 kg) further weight to haul spherical, the M8 is a match for practically one thing you’ll come all through in precise website guests circumstances.

BMW quotes 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in 3.2 seconds, and the mid-range kick, when all 553 lb ft of torque is doing its most interesting to crash the horizon through the windscreen, is addictive. Makes an superior noise, too.

Selectable AWD Is A Reward For Half-Time Hooligans

Learning that the M8 acquired right here with every customizable driving mode buttons and configurable all-wheel drive setup was like seeing an advert in your phone for one factor you’d merely talked about in dialog to your girlfriend 5 minutes earlier. How did they know?

It’s my dream setup: a luxury-lined drift machine when the mood strikes and the road is deserted, and a protected, secure nonetheless nonetheless pleasant technique to cleanly deploy 617 hp inside the UK’s principally miserable local weather the rest of the time.

I had the M1 button configured to ship Sport steering, Sport throttle, all-wheel drive and DSC on after I wanted a bit of bit further focus than the default configuration, and the M2 toggle ready to supply me rear-wheel drive and nil driving aids as shortly as an opportunity for mischief acquired right here into view.

The M8 Is A Massive Vehicle

First, some context. I reside inside the UK, out inside the sticks. The roads in my part of the nation are slender and lined with 12 ft hedges. Not a pure habitat for a automotive as low and wide as the M8, though I was on a regular basis amazed how nimble it felt considering its 200.9-inch (5103 mm) measurement on roads the place you presumably can stretch its legs a bit of bit.

Nonetheless even on journeys to the city, parking was sometimes an issue. An M3 is definitely a better match for UK roads, though it’s most likely not downside the least bit inside the U.S., the place roads, parking heaps and drive-throughs are all designed with rather a lot bigger machines in ideas.

The M8 Is A Massive Vehicle With A Tiny Baggage Opening

One issue not giant about the M8 is the aperture through which it is a should to slip your baggage. The trunk amount is a reasonably small anyway, at 11 cu-ft inside the US model and 440 liters inside the UK, making it rather a lot a lot much less wise than M5. Nonetheless it may be rather a lot easier to make the most of what home it does have if BMW had made the 8-Sequence Gran Coupe a liftback like Audi’s A7 Sportback, or the model new 4-Series Gran Coupe.

Lockdowns Suck

I usually cowl spherical 2,000 miles month-to-month in test cars like this, nonetheless solely managed to put 5,000 on this one in seven months thank to lockdown pointers which each forbade non-essential journeys, or just meant I was doing further earn a living from home. It was pretty sad to see it on my driveway, nonetheless not being able to make full use of it and disappear on an journey. Though I would have been a sight further melancholy if I’d actually bought one and was watching weeds develop spherical it whereas it depreciated to the tune of $5,000 month-to-month. An Audi RS7 suffers a lot much less depreciation.

The Seven-Month Verdict

I cherished just about every one in all many 5,000 miles I spent with the M8, which managed to essentially really feel explicit after I dropped into the driving force’s seat for a journey home it would not matter what else I’d been driving that day. The reality that I found it a bit of bit giant for my native roads isn’t the automotive’s fault. Nonetheless the too-small dashboard buttons and lack of an accurate lift-up tailgate have been. That talked about, I’d take it over a Porsche Panamera or Audi RS7 every time for its combination of favor and playful coping with, and if I’d afford the extra cash, I’d take it over the too-straight M5, too.