BMW 8 Series Review & Prices

The BMW 8 Series is a sumptuous grand tourer with a luxurious interior, four seats and a surprising turn of speed. Go for a range-topping M850i model, and this BMW has the pace to take on the likes of the likes of the V8 Aston Martin DB11, the Bentley Continental GT and the Lexus LC.

The BMW 8 Series’ interior might not have the same pizzaz as these more expensive rivals, but you still get an extremely sumptuous cabin with lashings of posh Merino leather and huge slabs of brushed metal. The tall centre console comes with a few too many fiddly buttons, but above it you’ll find a vast touchscreen infotainment display that’s one of the best around.

It’s far easier to use than the clunky last-generation Mercedes system you get in the Aston Martin DB11 and it comes with some of the coolest graphics you’ll see this side of a Lamborghini – most noticeably on the standard digital driver’s display.

Thankfully, the BMW 8 Series is more practical than a Lamborghini – and most other large coupes for that matter. There’s ample space in the front for very tall drivers to stretch out and you even get a pair of back seats as standard. Sure, these will be a very tight squeeze for adults but kids will have plenty of space to get comfy.

There’s space in the boot for a couple of medium suitcases and you can even fold the back seats down to carry long luggage, too. This isn’t a car you’ll want to take to the tip, however – more likely you’ll be blasting down the autobahn or storming up a mountain pass on your way to the ski chalet.

Speaking of which, driving the BMW 8 Series for long distances is an absolute doddle. The standard adaptive suspension does an excellent job ironing out potholes and even the most raucous M850i V8 model emits merely a whisper in eighth gear at motorway speeds.

Turn onto a twisty back road, put it in Sport mode and hit the throttle and this relaxing grand tourer transforms into a surprisingly lithe sports car faster than you can say ‘hold on in the back!’. The 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 produces a whopping 523hp which – combined with a grippy four-wheel-drive system – rockets the 8 Series from 0-62mph at a rate that’d make some supercars blush.

The standard eight-speed automatic gearbox is one of the best in the business, too – shifting quickly and smoothly, no matter which of the driving modes you choose. Stick it in Sport and it’ll even sense when you’re entering a corner and prime the gearbox to deliver lightning-fast downshifts as soon as you hit the brakes.

Go one step further into Sport+ mode and the standard adaptive suspension becomes firmer to make the four-wheel-drive M850i as squat and purposeful as possible. You can even get the car with an active anti-roll system that uses electric motors to physically lean the car into a corner as soon as you turn the steering wheel.

Thankfully, BMW’s considered more than just what makes a car great fun to drive on a country road. The BMW 8 Series comes with four-wheel steering to help make it as stable as possible on the motorway and more manoeuvrable than its large size would suggest around town.

That said, threading this imposing grand tourer through tight gaps in traffic is still a slightly nerve-wracking experience. Rear visibility is pretty poor and the small side windows don’t give you a particularly good view out.

You could level these criticisms at almost every slinky four-seat sports car on sale, however, and they quickly fade into the background when you consider the BMW 8 Series’ impressive breadth of abilities. It’s an excellent long-distance cruiser yet summons up some sports car skills when you fancy having fun on a deserted back road.

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The BMW 8 Series is a comfortable motorway cruiser which also feels sporty when you fancy taking the long way home. You do have to pay extra for its fancy suspension upgrades, though

In town

Despite its very large size, the BMW 8 Series is pretty easy to drive. Sure, the narrow windscreen and thick door pillars create a few sizeable blind spots at junctions, but the light steering means your arms won’t get tired if you have to thread the BMW 8 Series through tight city streets.

It’s surprisingly manoeuvrable too, thanks to a clever four-wheel-steering system which angles the rear wheels outwards to help you perform U-turns in tight spaces. Furthermore, the 8 Series' standard-fit adaptive suspension system does a good job at ironing out bumps in the road around town.

On the motorway

That same suspension system also makes the BMW 8 Series very comfortable when you're driving on the motorway. Combine that with the quiet cabin, and the BMW is a very relaxing car to travel in for long periods.

It’s especially stress-free to cruise in if you pay extra for the Driving Assistant Professional pack. This comes with adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist features that work together to accelerate, brake and steer for you on motorways – providing you keep your hands on the steering wheel.

On a twisty road

f you’d rather do the driving yourself, you won’t be disappointed when you switch off the BMW 8 Series’ electronic chauffeur and head onto some twisty country roads. Put it into Sport or Sport+ mode and the adaptive suspension becomes firmer, the steering weightier and the throttle response sharper – all of which help the BMW 8 Series feel more agile than its generous proportions would have you believe.

Pick an M850i model with the optional Adaptive M suspension and the BMW 8 Series feels even more nimble and sure-footed thanks to some clever mechanical trickery that physically leans the car’s body into bends at speed. Overall, the BMW 8 Series feels much sportier than the rather sedate Mercedes S-Class Coupe and Lexus LC pairing on a windy country road, yet doesn’t compromise on comfort when you just want to settle into a quiet cruise.

The BMW 8 Series is no practical family hauler, but its boot is bigger than those in most slinky two-door sports cars

Practicality

The BMW 8 Series is a vast car, but you’ll only find four seats inside. In the front, there’s plenty of leg- and headroom for you to get comfortable – even if you’re very tall – and the seats come with loads of electric adjustment as standard to help you find a comfortable seating position and get a good view out.

You won’t have any trouble storing a few odds and ends in the BMW 8 Series’ cabin. The glovebox is reasonably roomy and you get a fairly large storage bin under the central armrest. Fold up a flap in front of the gear lever and you’ll find a pair of cupholders and a tray for your phone with a built-in wireless charger.

Unfortunately, the door bins – while very long – are too narrow to accommodate anything wider than a 500ml bottle and passengers in the back don’t get a folding armrest or any cupholders.

Space in the back seats

Space in the back is pretty poor – even for a low-slung sports car. There’s space for two kids but even small adults will start to feel pretty claustrophobic after a few minutes in the back.

You can fit a pair of child seats in the back, but lifting the seat through the narrow gap between the BMW 8 Series’ front seat and the door pillar feels like squeezing a tank through a multi-storey car park. At least the Isofix anchor points are easy to locate behind a set of removable plastic covers, but leaning in to strap in a child requires the flexibility of a gymnast.

Boot space

The BMW 8 Series isn’t particularly adept at carrying passengers, but it claws back some points with its impressively roomy boot – for a two-door sports car, at least. You’ll be able to squeeze in 420 litres of luggage, that’s around 5% more than in a Mercedes S-Class Coupe and more than double what you can fit in the Lexus LC’s boot.

There’s quite a large lip by the BMW 8 Series’ boot opening which makes lifting in heavy luggage rather tricky, but once you’ve dealt with this you’ll find there’s space for a set of golf clubs or a few large suitcases.

The BMW 8 Series’ interior looks great, feels very plush and comes with loads of high-tech features, but it isn’t as eye-catching as the cabins you get in more expensive alternatives

The BMW 8 Series’ interior does a great job of looking sporty and feeling luxurious. Every surface – from the soft leather-trimmed dashboard to the brushed metal trims on the centre console – feels just as solid as in the uber-posh 7 Series. The knurled stainless steel finish on the centre console feels particularly lovely and the crystal-effect gear knob is a nice change from the rather amorphous plastic blob you get in most other BMWs.

Every BMW 8 Series comes with a pair of huge digital displays. One sits on top of the dashboard and controls the car’s sat-nav and media-streaming features while the other takes the place of conventional analogue dials in front of the steering wheel.

The former is a 10.25-inch touchscreen with some of the sharpest graphics of any in-car display. It’s bright enough to read in almost direct sunlight and the mostly colourful icons are easy to read with a quick glance.

Some of the BMW 8 Series’ menus feel a little more complicated than those in the likes of the Mercedes S-Class but you can always use the handy rotary controller and shortcut buttons down on the centre console to quickly jump from one feature to another if you get a little lost.

You can also use voice control to program the standard satellite navigation without taking your hands off the steering wheel. This works reasonably well but you can use the touchscreen to enter an address using a conventional on-screen keyboard if you prefer. It calculates directions quickly and the screen responds without any irritating lag if you swipe to pan across the map to check out the route ahead.

It’s possible to use the 12.3-inch digital driver’s display to show a large widescreen sat-nav display – perfect if your passenger insists on fiddling with the central screen – or you can have it show a set of cool vertical speedometer and rev-counter gauges which look like they belong in a sci-fi jet plane.

Unfortunately, while Apple CarPlay comes as standard, you can’t get the BMW 8 Series with Android Auto smartphone mirroring. At least the former works well and lets you make calls, use your preferred navigation apps and play music through the car’s infotainment system.