Just yesterday we were checking out the looks and sounds of the BMW 8 Series Coupe while out testing on the Nurburgring. The upcoming model made us all drool with its symphony of V8 sounds, but today it’s the turn of the Convertible model to do the same thing and we couldn’t be happier about it.
Just like its brother, the drop top model is also housing a V8 under the hood and the two are most likely using the same engine. The rumormill churns out that that the new 8 Series will come with a fresh 4-liter mill in the engine bay, but that’s been unsubstantiated reporting so far. Our sources confirmed that the N63 will live on in revised guise and it will be making about 500 HP in the 850i. Yes, so far it seems like the M Performance model will have to wait a bit.
Nevertheless, the engineers must’ve been given a lot more freedom to do as they please with the new car and the car’s sound is now worthy of the 8 Series badge, maybe even catching up to the AMG models in Mercedes’ line-up. As for the drop top, the new 8 Series Convertible will be sporting a textile roof, as you can see in the shots below. It will be following the same recipe as the outgoing 6 Series Convertible and use a similar solution for the retractable top.
Saving weight might be one of the reasons why BMW chose to go with a textile choice and on a car like the 8 Series those few pounds saved compared to a metallic top will make a difference. The officials have been hinting at the fact that the new 8 will be more agile and sporty than the outgoing 6er, so we’re in for a treat. According to our sources, the new 8 Series will drop next summer in the coupe form first, followed by the convertible a few months after. The Gran Coupe will arrive towards the end of 2019.
