BMW M8: concept of 600bhp model will be shown at Geneva

BMW M8 takes to the Nürburgring
BMW will reveal a concept for its M8 at the Geneva motor show
Hot 8 Series was confirmed last year when an endurance-racing GTE variant was revealed for Daytona 24 Hours

BMW will reveal a concept version of its M8 performance car at the Geneva motor show in March, previewing the look and styling of its 600bhp range-topper.

According to BMW Blog, the car will be a BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupé and offer a clear glimpse of the future production model's design. It will wear M-designed body panels that express the added muscle housed beneath its lengthy bonnet.

BMW 8 Series: official development car pictures released

Autocar understands that BMW's Geneva reveal will foreshadow a summer launch for the production 8 Series, which is due on roads in November. The M version is due next year.

The high-performance M8, which spawned a racing car that has already competed in this year's Daytona 24 Hours, will sit above the regular 8 Series and use BMW's twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8 engine. It will produce around 600bhp, placing it above the latest 592bhp M5 and giving it more firepower than the Mercedes-AMG S 63 Coupé, which has 577bhp.

Our spy photographers have captured both hard and soft-top versions testing in public, showing the large air intakes, quad exhausts and more aggressive styling of the M model to illustrate the added potency compared with the rest of the range.

M division president Frank van Meel said of the new line-up: “The conception and development of the standard BMW 8 Series and the M model run in parallel. The future BMW M8 will build on the genes of the 8 Series and augment its DNA with added track ability and generous extra portions of dynamic sharpness, precision and agility. It all flows into a driving experience that bears the familiar BMW M hallmarks and satisfies our customers’ most exacting requirements.”

“We have been involved with the wider 8 Series project from the very beginning," van Meel told Autocar. "Our challenge as engineers was actually to ensure that the standard car wasn’t too sporty for its customers, because we wanted the M8 to feel like a proper step up. Also, because not all 8 Series customers want an M car.”

Insiders suggest the 8 Series and M8 will use the same platform as both the 7 Series and 5 Series, and that the M car will share much of the drivetrain of the four-wheel-drive M5.

“For now, I can’t confirm that,” van Meel said of the speculations, “except to say that we have watched the luxury sports coupé market closely and we see lots of four-wheel-drive cars within it already. We have also already proven that our M xDrive four-wheel drive system doesn’t adversely affect the handling purity of the new M5. There’s nothing to fear from four-wheel drive.

“We certainly want to make a statement with this car. It will sit at the very top of our model range and, for now, we have no confirmed plans for any series production model above it, so we understand it must have a specification suiting its position in our hierarchy.”

The M8 GTE racing car will next compete as part of a factory BMW effort in this year's Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race, marking the brand's first factory effort there in six years.

The M8 will carry a heavy premium over the standard 8 Series, so a starting price surpassing that of even the i8 supercar is certain; the Mercedes-AMG S63 Coupé kicks off at around £131,000, so the M8 should remain competitive with its Stuttgart rival.

Additional reporting by Matt Saunders and Sam Sheehan

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