New BMW 8 Series test



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FIn the end, a new car that does not need a doctorate to find out. The BMW 8 Series is a big sexy coupe. End of.

It's also a sequel. Back in the late '80s, BMW launched the original super coupe, an over-engineered super-protruding coupe, which propelled the "ultimate driving machine" into a new intoxicating territory. This car was abandoned in 1999 after selling just over 30,000 units; a noble failure, you could call it.


The new brand is positioned in a similar territory and aims to place BMW further in the automotive hierarchy, turning to more luxurious brands, such as Aston Martin or Bentley. The monolithic, and frankly questionable, X7 SUV search is a part of this mission, but the new 8 series is getting closer to one of the GQThe favorite areas and one of the most historic: the big old school GT. The kind of car you would use to leave Mayfair one night on a whim, and that would go to Monaco the next morning (assuming the private jet is repaired).

It is a seductive vanity, although superficial, which also weighs on the aesthetics of the car. BMW has recently had problems with this and there is no excuse for spoiling a big coupe. This is the kind of shape that form car designers dream of creating. Most of the time, the 8 Series is the most beautiful BMW, but it remains imposing and grand rather than truly elegant or clever.


The traditional double-kidney grille grows with each new model, and a lot of things go on underneath. The sides of the body have a fluidity that varies depending on how the light captures them, but the raised shoulder line is fantastic and the sculptural atmosphere of the rear of the car is undermined by a bumper / rear diffuser overloaded. -up.

The roof has a clever double bubble section and can be specified in carbon fiber, a material that also appears in the 8 Series structure alongside aluminum, steel and magnesium. Still, it still weighs 1,900 kg, with the 523-hp V8 engine, although it's less than major competitors like the Bentley Continental GT, the Mercedes S560 or the Porsche Panamera.


A 3.0 liter diesel engine is also available. Its autonomy and long legs make it the obvious complement to the car's mandate, even if uninformed politicians decide to kill it as a viable fuel. An even more powerful M8 waits behind the scenes, with an aristocratic-looking convertible and a four-door incarnation.

Only the 4.4 liter bi-turbo V8 was available for testing; cue a string section made up of the world's smallest violins. BMW 's powertrain control is well established and, although it misleads a little bit here by amplifying induction noise in sports mode via the car' s superb audio system, it is still a matter of course. an extremely satisfying engine to have at your disposal. He is also quietly and quietly discreet at low speed, offering only clues about his potential. But when you come out, it's a monumentalally impressive high performance car.


As it should be in the firmament of BMW, the M850i ​​Xdrive has almost everything BMW has in the technological arsenal: it is all wheel drive, has an active rear axle, custom suspension settings and a Adaptive depreciation. Our car is also equipped with an active anti-rolling system and, when you browse through the different modes (basically, tweaking all the software and a multimillion dollar algorithm), the 8 Series becomes more and more interactive .

You never feel smaller than on the road and the direction (also active) is not as lively as it should be. But then, you realize that you are traveling rather faster than you thought (0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds gives you an idea, if not all), and it's obvious that this is one of those cars that pushes the real world This is a highly desirable quality. It goes up and stops well too. And on the rapid sweeps and altitude changes characteristic of the Estoril circuit in the Algarve, the 8 Series remains impressive. Its engine and gearbox are world class and an electronic differential allows you to locate and operate the most extroverted elements of the car, if that is your liking.


Inside, BMW is once again releasing all its technological power. The real battle for the hearts and minds of consumers is not real: you can buy a coupe of 530 hp, £ 100,000; it's in inner and inner connectivity. In fact, most of the Series 8 technologies must be filtered in the new Series 3, including the most intuitive voice recognition to date. Elsewhere, the M850i ​​comes with the new generation of 7 inch iDrive touch screen, whose displays and configuration can be fully customized by the driver. The main instruments are now fully digital, which makes them better than they work in practice. Good job, there is an excellent head-up display: you can not read what's going on in the main cabin. There is a hard drive, access to cloud storage and God knows what else; Like the latest Mercedes system, the sheer scale of what has been achieved far exceeds its usability. Great seats, though. In addition, the optional gear selector, start button and crystal crystal iDrive selector have an extraordinarily special appearance and feel.

The peculiarity is actually in the heart of a car like this. In all respects, the 8 Series is a car designed with rigor and passion, whose old concept is covered with some of the most convincing new technologies currently available. That a £ 100,000 BMW – and the rest, if you wander in the list of options – is a pretty big enough large tourism facing seemingly larger rivals, that's a moot point. There are certainly a lot of ultimate things about it that play better than understated, even if it's more appealing in the long run.


For more, visit: bmw.co.uk

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