Being that it may be the most exciting model to come from Bavaria in a long time, we can’t get enough of the BMW 8 Series. It’s only the second generation of a model line that began in 1989. So it’s been a long time coming and we’re very excited. German publication Auto Bild recently sat down with BMW Chief of R&D, Klaus Fröhlich, to talk about the upcoming 8 Series and M8, so naturally we’re intrigued. Turns out, Fröhlich spilled some beans. Not too many, of course, but enough to excite the fanbase.
The first part of the interview that really stood out was the target BMW had for the 8 Series. According to Fröhlich, the BMW 8 Series will actually be more of a Mercedes-AMG GT competitor than a Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe competitor, as we originally thought. “The 8’s will be a real driving machine and comes from the race track to the road,” We still expect it to be more of a sporty GT car that an all-out sports car, but it’s fantastic to hear that BMW really wanted it to be proper driver’s car.
Fröhlich also spoke about some of the engines. There will be a suite of available engines but it doesn’t seem likely that any of them with have more than eight cylinders. There may be an M860i but it sounds as if the 6.6 liter V12 from the M760i would be too heavy. Fröhlich insisted that the 8 Series resist understeer and putting a monster V12 under hood isn’t a good way to do that. So expect twin-turbo V8s in both the top-end 8 Series and M8. There also doesn’t seem to be a plug-in hybrid model in the immediate future, as BMW doesn’t see a good balance between usable electric range, boost and weight. Hybrids are far too heavy for proper driver’s cars like the 8 Series is intended to be.
Auto Bild, from the talks with Fröhlich, seems to think that the base model BMW 840i, with the B58 3.0 liter I6, will cost around 100,000 Euros. While this is expensive, the idea is to make the 8 Series the absolute flagship of the brand. As for the BMW M8, it will likely cost upwards of 180,000 Euros, which is a lot of moneys.
We can’t get enough 8 Series at the moment, so this interview is nerd-out stuff. If you’re like us, check it out and get excited.
[Source: Auto Bild]
