World premiere of the new generation of BMW 8 Series

On June 15, local time in France, the night before the start of the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans, BMW's new generation 8 Series made its world premiere in the town of Le Mans, and it will also be officially launched worldwide in November this year. The new car will serve as BMW's future flagship sports car, competing with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class coupe. In the future, BMW will also build the 8 Series Convertible, 8 Series Gran Coupe, and the M Family flagship that BMW fans have been waiting for for nearly 30 years - the BMW M8 - based on the car.

Model description.

As BMW's flagship sports car, the new generation BMW 8 Series adopts a more subversive design language, with a low, streamlined body revealing the unique temperament of a large GT car.

The double-kidney grille has evolved into a one-piece design under the new design language, which is also reflected in the M Competition model and has a slimmer shape with a front-facing camera in the center.

As a sporty product, the front bar of the new generation 8 Series reveals an aggressive shape with larger air intake openings on both sides, which not only brings better heat dissipation but also enhances the aerodynamic effect. The angel eyes inside the headlight cluster consist of a combination of LED daytime running lights and LED headlights, but of course, you can also opt for the more advanced laser headlights (option pictured above).

Side view, as a large GT sports car this must be the most beautiful view of the whole car. The long front overhang and short rear overhang shape, with the curved rear design, look very elegant, while the side of the harsh waistline design, but also shows its birth and sporting nature. The new double five-spoke wheel design is also very stylish, and the design of the wheel arches also creates a sense of power. In terms of body dimensions, the car has a length of 4843 mm, a width of 1902 mm, a height of 1341 mm, and a wheelbase of 2822 mm.

The rear design, the overall design of the new car and the concept car as one, the overall muscular sense is very strong, the tail light group using LED light belt design, which will also become the future design ideas of BMW, the two sides of the rear wheel brake vents with bilateral two-out exhaust layout, making the new car looks very murderous.

To further enhance performance, the official also provides many carbon fiber components, including carbon fiber roof, vents, exterior mirror shells, rear spoiler, and rear diffuser, to further reduce body weight and center of gravity.

As the flagship sports car, the new generation of the 8 Series has changed the previous BMW family's interior design thinking, and the overall style derived from the concept car looks more luxurious. The new generation of in-car infotainment system - iDrive version 7.0 - will be the first to be equipped on the car, including a full LCD instrument panel that can present different styles, and a separate LCD screen embedded in the center console and can be customized. In addition, the screen can be operated by four modes: knob, touch, voice, and gesture.

Below the center console screen is the air conditioning control area, and BMW has adopted the traditional physical button design. In addition, the car is equipped with the latest BMW Crystal electronic shift lever, which is very newly similar to that used in the BMW M5. As a GT-type sports car, the 2+2 seating layout is a must, where the front seats are designed with very strong wrapping sports seats and wrapped in high-grade leather, which looks more design-oriented.

Powering the new 8 Series M850i xDrive is a 4.4T V8 gasoline engine with maximum power and peak torque of 530 hp and 750 Nm respectively. The drivetrain is matched with an 8-speed manual transmission and equipped with xDrive four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering, and a key-optimized rear differential and suspension system with an optional active roll suppression system. The car accelerates from 0-100km/h in 3.7 seconds and can reach a top speed of 250km/h.

The new 8 Series 840d xDrive is powered by a 3.0T L6 diesel engine. The maximum power and peak torques are 320 hp and 680 Nm respectively, and the transmission system is also matched with an 8-four manual transmission. The car accelerates from 0-100km/h in 4.9 seconds and has a top speed of 250km/h.

Model history.

The 8 Series is not the first time BMW launched, the first generation of the BMW 8 Series prototype was born in 1987, and then in 1989 to achieve mass production, its code name is E31, this is also following the discontinuation of the BMW M1, BMW to build the largest size of the sports car models, and equipped with V8 and V12 engines, which in that year has surpassed the Mercedes 560 SEC still using 5.6L V8 engine. flat front end The flat front end, straight high waistline design, and very contemporary flip lights made it a sci-fi classic of the 1990s.

However, due to its high positioning and the use of the most advanced automotive technology at the time, the price of the first generation of the 8 Series was too high, and the oil crisis and financial crisis led to the first generation of the BMW 8 Series with high expectations did not meet sales expectations, and even the M8 developed by BMW's M division was stillborn. Its successor was the BMW 6 Series revived by Chris Bangor in 2004.

The 6 Series, which was also designed as a GT-type sports car, was initially not well received due to its "Bangor rear end" shape, but BMW was determined to further develop it to preserve the tradition of large GT sports cars and gave birth to the BMW M6. The biggest feature of this generation of 6 Series also lies in the launch of the four-door 6 Series GranCoupe which received unanimous praise.

With Mercedes-Benz recapturing the large GT sports car market through the current S-Class coupe, the BMW 6 Series has been unable to compete with it from the brand as well as level, and the BMW 8 Series was reintroduced and launched as a concept car for the first time in 2017, its arrival indicates that the BMW brand is about to challenge higher-level products.

Competitors.

From the perspective of the new generation 8 Series in production, its subversive design language makes the car reach the level of the S-Class coupe and Lexus LC two large GT sports cars in terms of creating a sense of luxury, while the power level of the three is almost equal, and the future BMW will also build a more powerful M8 based on the new generation 8 Series, so if we say who is the most direct competitor of the new generation 8 Series, needless to say, it must be Mercedes-Benz However, the 8 Series is a sports-oriented model at heart, followed by luxury and comfort, which is the biggest difference between it and the S-Class coupe.

Editor's Comment.

After nearly 20 years, the return of the BMW 8 Series represents the BMW brand's gesture toward a higher level of power. If the mere return does not shake powerful rivals, and breaking the traditional design to create a more luxurious body with technological connotations is more strength that the BMW 8 Series comes up with, it can be said that the BMW 8 Series is the trump card in the hands of the BMW brand, but BMW's trump card may not be the only one, the next 8 Series Convertible, 8 Series Gran Coupe, M8, BMW is holding a group of "8 Series family" combination of cards, whether the opponents at the card table are ready for it? We look forward to the final ending.