BMW M8 2023 Revivew | Goodwood Test

It’s been around for a few years now, but the existence of a proper 8 Series from BMW is still something we at GRR are very happy to see. A big GT car, capable of just about carrying four people and your luggage across the continent is surely a very good thing indeed.

But, while this isn’t the first time there’s been an 8 Series sitting atop the range from Bavaria, last time it lacked something. In the 1990s when the biggest coupe first existed, no one at BMW ever sanctioned an M division car. There was a prototype, but it dangled in front of us, before being snatched away by the recessions of the 1990s (thank god those never happened again hey?). But now we have an M-badged eight and, having previously driven it on some stunning roads in Spain, it’s time to challenge it on some of our own roads.

Now. What the road-going 8 Series can never be, is as achingly pretty as the original concept. That – which came out in 2017 – was a stunning, low-nosed, side-gouged and rear-sculpted work of art. It was also something that could never pass muster through modern safety regulations or the practicalities of production.

The real car has a higher nose, more intakes, fewer gouges from its side and slightly less obvious links to its predecessor. But that’s not to say it isn’t a very good looking car. The standard 8 Series is a lovely thing. The M8 puffs everything up a bit, but only a bit. There’s a deeper chin, bigger cheeks, massive great quad exhausts, an angrier rear bumper and a teeny tiny rear spoiler. There has been a mid-life refresh for the M8. That happened in the middle of last year. But if you can spot the changes, you’re better than we are.

Before you point out that our last drive in the M8 was before its mid-life refresh, we will pre-retort with the fact that nothing has changed mechanically with the biggest BMW coupe.

That means a twin-turbocharged V8 up front with 625PS (460kW) and a sprint to 62mph that’s completed in a pretty racey 3.2 seconds. That sprint is helped by the fact that the 4.4-litre engine’s 740Nm (555lb ft) torque figure is available from just 1,800rpm. Speed should be a meer spasm of your right foot away.

It remains true that the M8 doesn’t have the dynamic abilities developed into its smaller-numbered siblings. The xDrive four-wheel-drive system is still switchable between permanent all-wheel-drive, more rear-biased AWD and complete two-wheel-drive. But in the M8 it doesn’t allow quite as much backward aggression as you’ll find in, say, the M4 unless you force it into two-wheel-drive mode.

But, that’s not a bad thing. The M8 is a big car. It makes a 4 Series looks quite dainty in proportion – although its slim-nosed design helps to mask some of the bulk – and as such if it was blessed with the dynamics of the four it might all collapse eventually. Instead the M8 offers tempered aggression. A bit more firmness through its handling unless you really reallyprovoke it. The steering is weighty and the chassis responsive, but it’s more armoured toward keeping you slicing through the countryside rapidly than lairily angering the locals.

Big ol’ GT cars are made for big ol’ cruises. Even if you stick an M badge on the nose you’ll still spend most of your time eating up motorway miles from airport to meeting. Crucially, this is where the slightly more relaxed nature of the M8 over the other BMW M cars comes to the fore. The M8 is extremely comfortable at a cruise. The lack of S&M seats you find in other M products helps. But the damping in its cruising mode is set for smooth riding, even over the worst things the M25 can throw at you.

That V8 still lurks under the bonnet and the wonder of BMW’s M buttons is the ability to set the M8 so that it will escape from any trouble with the flick of a left thumb. The engine sounds OK – better in the convertible – but delivers that torque so low down to be almost instantaneous, perfection for necessarily quick lane changes.

This is still the old BMW interior and we’re quite happy about that fact. As mentioned it’s not been, er, blessed? with the new carbon bucket seats found in other M cars, which are part excellent and part torture device. Instead given some more traditional but still comfortable sports seats.

Infotainment and dash aren’t yet connected into a single mega-screen in the M8 and the previous generation iDrive works perfectly well either on the screen or through the traditional rotary dial.

The other high point of the M8’s interior is the lack of another thing found on another BMW. Gone is the frankly silly crystal gearstick found on the 8 Series.

Heated seats, sat-nav, automatic wipers, automatic headlights, electric seats, DAB radio, it’s all standard on the M8. The infotainment system is simple to use if you wish it to be, but is customisable to points at which it becomes slightly mind boggling. You could completely ruin your experience if you wanted (but don’t).

There’s also a bunch of pretty unnecessary additions. It’ll reverse on its own around obstacles (OK that might be useful) and has gesture control (definitely not), but being something a little bit older can now feel a little slow on the uptake when you ask the system for something. The Sat-Nav for example got very confused by a closed motorway. But the older, smaller screens feel less intrusive on a cruise than the new versions.

The M8 is a supremely capable cruising machine which, if you need to, can also become something a little more lairy. It does feel like the lairy side is forcing it at times into something it doesn’t truly want to do, but it will.

This is a car more about reaching its destination quickly, no matter what obstacles have been left in its way. It’s reasonably at home on a smooth Spanish mountain pass but happier on a pot-holed British motorway. It looks good, is a nice place to be and when you get off a plane late at night there are few coupes that you would rather toddle home in.