[F30Andy]

M8's are few and far between in the UK at the moment.

I have posted this in another section of this forum but thought I would share here too:


One of the advantages of being a corporate customer and ordering loads of cars is that you get phone calls from your dealer which go along the lines of..........

"Hi Andy, I got some exclusive shit for you. You interested?"

"What you got for me blood?"

"I got something where your name has to be Jermey Clarkson, Mat Watson, Chris Harris etc to get hold of right now, but I can let you have it for a couple of hours.
Its a press car which we are looking after for BMW and i'm not supposed to let you take it unaccompanied but because I have had a good year partly because of your company I have persuaded the dealer principal to let you be the first member of the public that our dealership allows to drive it."

"You have my full attention now, what do you have for me?"

"I got the M8 Comp Pack if you fancy having a go."

"I'll be there in twenty mins, warm it up for me."


For those of you that are interested I have done a short review of what I thought of it.
Bear in mind I daily drive a F90 so will be using that as a comparison tool.

Exterior:
I know looks are a subjective thing but this car really does not do it for me from the outside.
I used to have a F06 and thought that was one of the prettiest cars BMW had ever made.
This should have been like an evolution of the old 6 series but in my eyes is not as sexy.

One thing I really did like was the wheels. I think they were the prettiest thing about the exterior of the car.



Interior
This part of the car did impress me.
You can tell the instant you get in the car that that this is the pinnacle of BMW build quality.
Nothing feels cheap and it most certainly feels a notch or two above the M5 on the inside.
The diamonds on the leather are another nice touch.
The seats are are of superior comfort to those in the F90.

Although I didn't get into the back of the car, whilst flooring the car my phone flew from resting on the armrest onto the floor in the back of the car. I was sitting in my usual driving position and at a set of traffic lights tried reaching into the back to pick up my phone. My arm would not fit in the gap.
This is not a car that adults or even tall children can sit in the back of. The roofline in the back is also stupidly low.
For those of you that have had or been in a 6 series, this thing is smaller on the inside.


Infotainment System:
I do not like the new Idrive but am sure given daily use will become second nature.
If you think it takes ages to properly set up an ///M car this thing takes longer than any other out there.
It has options I have not seen in other ///M cars (some of which didn't seem to change anything no matter what setting they were on.)

The gesture control thing is something that has always gotten in the way and it continues to do so on this idrive.
I deactivated it as soon as possible.


Clocks / Dash:
My F90 has normal clocks, this one has the new one with way too much going on and not something that is easy to get used to.
In a nutshell I do not like it but am sure like the new idrive is something which I will (eventually have to) get used to.


Steering:
The feedback from the steering is different to the M5.
The steering feels much noticeably lighter and the feedback seems very precise.
The feedback on the M5 is laggy in comparison.

Suspension / Handling / Brakes:
This is by far and away the best handling BMW available today in my opinion.
In the right mode you will not notice it is Xdrive.
The ride can be uncomfortable in certain settings but boy does it make the M5 seem wobbly in comparison.
The balance of the car feels almost perfect and no matter how hard I pushed I could not feel any roll.
I don't think it would be the greatest as a daily driver, but when you want put your foot down and hold the road, this thing will go around bends like it is on train tracks.
When you want to deliberately make the back twitchy the car (in the correct mode) will allow you enough play to look like a hero but not so much that you end up back to front.

The brakes bite harder than on the F90 (in the correct mode) but i'll put that down to now being able to change the braking modes and the brakes only having covered 1k when I drove the car.

Driving Modes / Gearbox:
Basically the same as the M5 with the exception of being able to customise a few more options.


Sound:
Bottom line I was disappointed.
I have mastered how to get the M5 to pop and bang on demand.
No matter how hard I tried (and believe me I tried) this thing did not let off anywhere near the noise that the F90 does.
Yes the tone of the engine seems to be nicer in the cabin of this car than the F90 but I will put that down to acoustics.



The Engine:
Same as the M5.
Even the power delivery feels the same.
Enough Said.




In a nutshell:
Despite its complete and utter lack of suitableness for my situation I fell in love with the thing and was ready to get rid of my M5 for it until I heard the eye watering figures.
This thing will make an amazing second hand bargain in a few years and it is most certainly on my radar for a future project car.
Very grateful to my dealer for thinking of me and letting me have it for a couple of hours.

Hope the review gave you some idea about the car.

Andy

[Ehloo]

Thanks for the write up. Exactly what I was looking for. Going into the dealer to look at M850i, I know not the same car but as you mentioned those m8 numbers don’t make sense. I have been debating between a f90 m5 and this crazy idea came up about the 850. Let’s see how it feels

I will be trading my m4 in and still have my f85 X5m. The M5 kind fits the same bill as my X5m. I got a pretty aggressive offer on a 19 850 with around 16% off plus incentives so maybe that’s why I am intrigued

I enjoy every subtle detail about being in a M and have a feeling the 850 won’t be enough. If m8 get more aggresive on leases I might Consider

[Resjudicata]

I own the m850i and it's a more luxurious less sporty ride. but they have a grand coup 4 door m8 competition that I've driven and it's WAY bigger inside, almost x5 SUV size inside 3" lower. if you're looking for everything the m8 has but bigger backseats, check out the Gran Coup 4 door.

[cfm56d7b]

One of the best write ups. Thank you. Will be scheduling M8GC test drive with your notes in my mind.

[brava09]

'I have mastered how to get the M5 to pop and bang on demand. '

How do you do this OP?