There aren’t exactly many gaps left in the increasingly crowded car market, yet BMW reckons it’s found one with the new 8 Series.
It’s a matter of nuance: the 8 Series isn’t the only sporty two-door coupé on the market, but by aiming to make a sports car that rivals the Porsche 911 yet offers the luxury of an S-Class coupé, the Bavarian firm thinks it has found a niche to begin its attack on the high-end premium market.
The BMW 8 Series is back – and it’s coming for Porsche
It certainly looks the part: in the metal, and in M850i guise, it is stunning.
The question will be the dynamic focus. Autocar drove a prototype M850i recently, with our initial impressions that, while neither as sharp as a 911 nor as luxurious as the S63 Coupé, it has a broader range of skills than either.
Q&A: Sarah Lessmann, 8 Series global product manager
But are there ultra-luxury buyers looking for a broad range of skills, rather than either a pure performance or luxury car?
We’ll need to drive a finished 8 Series to fully judge it, of course, but indications are the M850i could be something special. The question could be whether the gap in the market it’s aiming for is big enough.
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An excellent and very
An excellent and very interesting article, I would like to see more of such a quality material
Has rivals
the only three cars I can think of that are in the space as this is the Nissan GT-R, Lexus LC500 & Porsche 911.
i would also count the Bentley contential GT, but that has got a lot more expensive.
Have they found a gap? No...
Both fast and luxurious...so that would be a direct competitor to a Lexus LC500, Bentley Continental, Aston DB11, Jag F-Type, Maserati Granturismo, Merc S Class Coupé and probably a load more I haven't thought of.
If that's what we call a gap I'd hate to see the author of this one trying to park anywhere near my car.
All that said, the car looks reasonably nice. Good to see a BMW with an interior that isn't unbearably awful for once. I drove a 5 series and a 1 series (both fairly new) a few weeks back and I'm still trying to gouge the black plastic off my retinas. Just a shame all the German digital dashboards look identical...I'm sure it's very functional but if that was anyone's priority they'd buy a Honda Accord, not a flashy German sports car that's probably lying about its emissions and won't be especially reliable. There's a reason the Accord has been discontinued in the UK.