The disguise has come off the greenhouse.
Little by little, day by the day, the camouflage is beginning to peel off as BMW is eager to show more of the 8 Series’ production metal. In this case, it’s actually more glass as the greenhouse is completely exposed in these new spy shots depicting not one, not two, but three different prototypes. Of the three test vehicles, the two that had blue brake calipers and the bigger exhaust tips were most likely the recently announced M850i xDrive.
Set to be positioned right underneath the fully fledged M8, this hot M Performance model was previewed on April 25 by a similar prototype dipped in camo from front to rear. Since then, the quarter glass has lost the disguise while everything else has remained pretty much the same, right down to the design of the alloy wheels.
Underneath that long and imposing hood sits a new version of BMW’s V8 with 523 horsepower (390 kilowatts) and a peak torque of 553 pound-feet (750 Newton-meters) from 1,800 rpm. Should that not be enough, the M8 will up the power ante to at least 600 hp or the full 617 hp to match the M5 Competition launched yesterday. Considering it’s placed at the top of the company’s hierarchy, we won’t be too surprised if the M8 will have even more power.
Getting back to the prototypes at hand, these appear to feature slightly less camo on the taillights, which will be extending on the trunk lid to emphasize the coupe’s width. Overall, the exterior design will remain faithful to the concept, and we can all agree that’s a good thing.
The cat is out of the bag as far as the interior is concerned, having been leaked almost in full just a few days ago. Not as exciting as the concept’s cabin, the production-ready 8 Series Coupe will usher in BMW’s new digital instrument cluster and the latest iDrive.
Following the coupe’s unveiling on June 15 at Le Mans, BMW will then gear up to roll launch the cabriolet. The two-door models will eventually be joined by a more practical 8 Series Gran Coupe previewed earlier this year in Geneva by a sporty M8 concept.
Photos: CarPix