128 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | APRIL 2019
5 questions our new
8-series must answer
Expectation is sky-high, as is the list price: can BMW’s comeback big
coupe deliver? We’ve six months to find out. By Ben MillerBMW M850i
Month 1The story so far
Brand spanking new. We quite
liked it on the launch, then
placed it fourth (and last) in a
Giant Test. Is it really a flop?
+Petrol V8 stomp and sounds;
handsome (I think); feelgood
factor- M850i pricing starts at
£97,500; it weighs 1890kg; no
room for passengers’ legs
Price £99,525 (£108,405 as
tested) Performance 4395cc
twin-turbo V8, 523bhp, 3.7sec
0-62mph, 155mph Efficiency
26.2-26.9mpg (official), 20.9mpg
(tested), 224g/km C02 Energy
cost 19p per mile Miles this
month 3058 Total miles 30581
Is this car proof BMW’s got
its big-coupe mojo back?
Regardless of whether or not
it’s a fair question to ask, the 8-series
must – in a single car – undo
decades of underachievement.
That’s the ball we’re keenest to see
the 8-series smash out of the park.
In the beginning there was the
CSL Batmobile, a car so evocative
(thank the countless race wins and
spectacular paint jobs, not least
Alexander Calder’s art car) that
BMW’s yet to better it as a single-car
manifestation of all it stands for.
Then there was the ’80s 8-series,
for a whole generation (tellingly, a
generation then too young to drive)
a knee-weakening confection of
wedge silhouette and pop-up lights.
And now, after too long trying to
get really excited about a couple of
generations of lacklustre 6-series,
the 8 is back, excitedly twinnedwith its GTE endurance-racer sister
in BMW’s propaganda, and due in
range-topping M8 guise at the end
of the year. Priced as a flagship, can
the M850i drive and feel like one?2
Surely weighing in at
1890kg is a problem?
Whether you’re glancing
at the 850i’s spec sheet or heading
out for your first few miles behind
the wheel, the sheer weight of the
thing is hard to ignore. Yes it’s big
(4851mm from end to end) and
four-wheel drive, but a kerbweight
of 1890kg is pretty astonishing
when you consider that the body
claims aluminium and carbonfibre
in its construction, and that the
barely-any-less-roomy-in-the-back-
Porsche 911 is some 500kg lighter.
Given the BMW is unlikely to
lose weight over the duration of our
loan, the best we can hope for is thatit’s a car no worse off for
being a bit porky. Perhaps the
engine’s so outrageously gifted,
everywhere, and the suspension
so adept, that the weight simply
won’t matter. Perhaps it’ll even
work in the car’s favour, helping
it smooth out rough tarmac. Or
perhaps we’ll be endlessly frustrated
by its dim-witted responses and
debilitating thirst.3
Is a 4.4-litre petrol V8 a
good idea in 2019?
The 311bhp £76,270
840d has huge appeal, as much for
being £20k more affordable than
the 850i as for its promise of far
less painful running costs. (BMW
reckons on 39.2-40.4mpg combined
for the diesel, versus 26.2-26.9mpg
for the petrol V8). But, buoyed by
a new credit card, the first joyous
whispers of spring and the truthWe’ve opted for
the Super Size
Me M850i: an
outrageous 4.4
litres of twin-
turbo petrol V8
decadenceHello
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