It seems as if I can’t stop talking about the BMW 8 Series lately, especially as it pertains to it being an excellent grand touring car. However, this time I’m not the one bringing it up, I promise. Instead, I pass the blame to Mat Watson from Carwow, who recently put out this video about how the BMW 8 Series is the “Ultimate GT Car”.
In this video, Watson takes his long-term BMW 840d on a very long journey from London to Geneva. It was actually a few weeks ago when he did this, as it was for the Geneva Motor Show. When he arrived in Geneva, though, he dropped his 840d off to BMW and received a new car — a BMW M850i. So he swapped one 8 Series for another one. A much more powerful one.
The main difference between both cars is obviously under the hood. The BMW 840d uses a 3.0 liter turbocharged I6 diesel while the BMW M850i uses a 4.4 liter twin-turbo V8. So the latter of which is clearly more powerful. It’s also much thirstier. On the way up to Geneva, the diesel-powered 8 Series averaged over 40 mpg, which is damn good for a big heavy GT car. What did the BMW M850i average on the way back? 27.3 mpg. So quite a bit worse. However, the M850i’s much more powerful V8 did make it more fun and more exciting. It also sounds a lot better.
More importantly, though, both of the 8 Series’ proved to be excellent GT cars. They’re comfortable, quite and refined. The 8er is equal parts luxury and equal parts fun. That’s why it’s a GT car and not a full-on sports car. So much hundreds of miles in one sitting isn’t a chore at all. In fact, it’s actually enjoyable. So long as you don’t scrape your wheels on the Euro Tunnel Train.
Grand Touring is an unknown pleasure to the “flyover country” generation.