From AMS:
New BMW 8 Series (G15, 2018) (M850i xDrive)
All-wheel sports coupe attacks luxury class
From November, the new 8 Series coupe is available at the dealers. It replaces the 6 Series, the two-door sports coupe is the start, followed by four-door, M8 and convertible, some next year. We were already able to sit in the two-door M850i xDrive.
Engines: Also with diesel
Suspension: Complete new development
Seat sample: Interior with a tight rear and a large trunk
Price and conclusion
Part of BMW's "Strategy Number One Next" is an offensive in the luxury class, where competitor Mercedes has been making good money with S-Class derivatives for some time. For example, BMW will soon be using the large SUV to fish customers, a segment in which Mercedes will be represented later with the Maybach SUV.
A counterpart to the S-Class coupe and convertible versions of Mercedes should be the new 8 Series. However, the 8-series to be a sports car in contrast to the limousine-like Swabians. And where there are "ultimately only two types on the market: The lap time variant such as the Mercedes AMG GT and the Porsche 911 or the GT such as the Aston Martin DB11. The 8 Series is a sporty GT, most comparable to the DB11. But the price plays in a completely different league, "said Markus Flasch, project manager of the 8 Series.
GT also means that the 8-series should be sportier than the 6-series. Visually, this works especially well in the studio vehicle, a M850i xDrive, great: The long hood opens at 8er in a shallow "sharknose" (shark nose), shall mean, headlights and kidney tend to back rather than forward. The roof of the comparatively short Greenhouse falls off quickly and is retracted to the rear much like the concept car. The strong rear looks less extreme and flat than in the study, almost a little jagged, but powerful and crisp. The many air intake openings and the efforts to reduce output result in a rather average cW value of 0.33 for the M-Performance variant.
© Fabrian Krichbauer / BMW
The Zweitrüer is 4.85 meters around 5 inches shorter than the 6 Series. The wheelbase is 2.82 meters. Long hood and short, fast sloping roof characterize the sidelines.
To be more sporty also includes that 8er despite its larger series number is slightly shorter than the 6 Series. With 4.85 meters in length he lacks about 5 inches to quasi-predecessor. In addition, the 8 Series with just under 1.35 meters is about three inches shallower than the 6 Series. A DB11, however, is a good 11 centimeters shorter and almost seven centimeters flatter.
Engines: Also with diesel
BMW has further developed the well-known 4.4-liter with the two twin-scroll superchargers in the V of the eight cylinders for use in the M850i, including crankcase, turbocharger, gasoline direct injection, cooling system and ignition and engine electronics, without the engine weight change. That brought over the predecessor engine 68 hp more power. Power 530 hp between 5,500 and 6,000 rpm and a maximum torque of 750 Nm between 1,800 and 4,600 rpm. In combination with the all-wheel drive of the M5 to accelerate the new M850i in 3.7 seconds from zero to 100 km / h. A flap exhaust, whose characteristics can be changed with the driving modes, should provide a very appealing soundscape.
To launch the market, there is also the BMW 840d xDrive - yes, a diesel. The competitors have not in the program and you would not have expected the current discussion, perhaps in the 8er not necessarily. But the 3.0-liter six-cylinder naturally fulfills the Euro 6d Temp emission standard thanks to SCR-Kat and is comparatively economical: While the M850i will need ten to 10.5 liters per 100 kilometers, the 840d is content with 5.9 to 6.2 liters (all values determined according to WLTP, but calculated back to NEDC). The less extreme aerodynamics and the apparently lower need for cooling air also ensure a significantly better cd value of 0.29. Together with 68 liters of tank capacity, the diesel could become a true long-haul GT. Its 320 hp and its maximum torque of 680 Nm from 1.
© Fabrian Krichbauer / BMW
The V8 with its two twin-scroll loaders in the hot V can be regarded as a further development of the engine from the M550i or as tame version of the M5 engine.
Later follow as further variants of the M8 (Fall 2019) with more than 600 hp and a 840i with the six-cylinder turbo, about 340 hp and without four-wheel drive. That should then be the only 8er, which weighs less than 1,800 kilograms (M850i: 1,890 kg, 840d: 1,830 kg). There will not be a handset of the six-cylinder model: All engines are to have only with the 8-speed automatic transmission from ZF.
Here's the driving report from camouflaged pilot series M850i.
At the front of the new 8 Series, the bonnet, which reaches far up in relation, stands out. Inside, the height of the windshield is therefore scarce. Who sets the driver's seat so that he can guess the end of the long hood, has not much space above the head and the upper edge of the disc in view. For the specially developed for the 8er, according to Markus Flasch particularly lightweight and sporty contoured seats are very comfortable and give the feeling of good lateral support. The headrests integrated in the back support the neck nicely. The adjustment areas are lush, to fold down the backrest for access to the rear you pull on a leather loop placed high up.
© Fabrian Krichbauer / BMW
However, behind is too little space for adults. The Kneiraum would be enough with some good will, but the sloping roof costs too much headroom - with 1.84 meters body size that looks like this.
Rear is not so little space at first glance and actually the knee room was even enough for adults to about 1.80 meters in height - but not the head room. BMW wanted to let the silhouette with the fast sloping and heavily retracted roof sporty effect, so behind only children or persons can sit decently, which are smaller than 1.60 meters.
© Fabrian Krichbauer / BMW
A volume statement for the luggage compartment with folded backs remain guilty BMW, but according to 8-person project manager Markus Flasch fits a road bike in the trunk, without removing the wheels.
The boot, accessible through a rather small opening, offers enough space for 420 liters of luggage. From there, the backrests of the front seats can also be folded remotely, creating a flat but large cargo space. Markus Flach claims that a road bike would be so easy to take with 8-rear. If that's not enough, you have to wait until autumn 2018. Then comes the 8 Series Gran Coupe, which is supposed to stay close to the two-door, but of course offers more space. A large tailgate, however, will not get the Gran Coupe. "That would have cost too many compromises in stiffness or weight. We did not want to give up the flat roof line for the sake of construction alone, "says Markus Flasch
New instruments and modified operating concept
Who has stowed his racing bike in the coupe and behind the wheel takes place, whose eyes fall on the so-called Live Cockpit Professional (series). It includes a digital instrument cluster with a screen diagonal of 12.3 inches behind the steering wheel and a 10.25 inch control display above the center console. The redesigned graphic looks reduced and clear. Between the classic instrument cluster of tachometer and speedometer is now space for a navigation map detail.
The display of the main menu can now also be adjusted on the display in the middle. It can display up to ten pages, each containing two to four tiles with live content. Sporting gamers can, for example, display the lateral acceleration forces. The system can be operated by touching the control display via the familiar iDrive (with touch pad in the middle), via voice or (standard) gesture control and the steering wheel controls.
© Fabrian Krichbauer / BMW
The buttons around the iDrive controller and selector lever are redesigned. At BMW it sounds like this: "In addition to the gear selector switch and the iDrive controller, the center console also features the driving experience switch and the engine start / stop button in a newly designed functional island with active haptic." As an option, there are glass applications for gear selector, the iDrive controller, the start / stop button and the volume control of the audio system. Through the glass surface of the gear selector a lit "8" can be seen.
The new "Live Cockpit Professional" also includes a learning navigation system, a disk-based multimedia system including a 20 GB storage capacity as well as a Bluetooth and a WLAN interface. There are also two USB ports. The driver identifies the driver via the key, a BMW-owned digital key or by user selection in the control display in combination with a personal PIN.
In the car a SIM card with unlimited data volume is installed, so that the networking of the vehicle not only theory remains. Vehicle apps such as news, weather, office or online search, but also the intelligent emergency call, with which help is automatically requested in case of emergency, as well as regular updates for the maps of the navigation system should work as standard. Additional digital services such as concierge service and real-time traffic information can also be booked retrospectively (for a fee).
Conclusion
For the M850i xDrive, BMW will demand around 125,000 euros for the market launch in November. This is about 5,000 euros more than Porsche calls for the 911 Carrera 4S - which, however, has 110 hp less and takes about half a second longer for the sprint to 100. If you look at the Carrera 4 GTS for comparison, the BMW M850i xDrive is even 8,000 euros cheaper and still accelerates three-tenths faster. On the racetrack he should certainly have the disadvantage - but race track wins are indeed not the goal. The aforementioned Aston Martin DB11 with the 510-hp AMG V8 is anyway even without four-wheel drive about 60,000 euros more expensive.
Seen in this way the 8er is a bargain. Unless you look at the competition in-house: The M5 with 600 hp and four-wheel costs "only" about 118,000 euros.
The comparison to about 10 inches longer 5 Series is even less favorable in the parallel model. The 840d xDrive will cost about 100,000 euros, a 540d xDrive only 66,700 euros - there remains a lot of air for suspension extras. The diesel model with four-wheel also reveals the price increase: When the 640d xDrive 2012 was new, it cost around 82,000 euros.
The € 100,000 mark probably falls short of the 8s only as 840i sDrive. But finally - and we're back to the beginning - the new one should earn real money. And the comparison of coupes with the corresponding sedan has always been a dead-end race from a price-performance point of view and the 8-series is no exception: it offers less space and doors, but also a spectacular look, a lower center of gravity and a more committed chassis. And just because there are only a much more expensive competitors in the GTs, could pay the 8er on the outlined goal.
Neuer BMW 8er (G15, 2018) (M850i xDrive): Allrad-Sportcoupé greift Luxusklasse an
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