A 661bhp BMW M850i Is Coming And God Bless The Tuning Industry

You’ve got to love the tuner mentality. While the rest of us read a new BMW M850i press release and admire the 523bhp and 553lb ft it has, a tuner says: “hold my beer…”

We can only assume that was the gist at German tuner G-Power, which has turned its attention to the BMW M850i. The company normally likes to wait for the full-fat M-division version of an engine to get hold of its strongest standard design before tuning the living daylights out of it. The N63 in the 850i, though, was apparently too tempting to ignore.

G-Power has only given a teaser as to what’s coming. Full specs and hardware upgrades will become clear down the line. For now, though, we know there are two tuning stages on the way.

‘Performance Software V1’ bumps the 4.4-litre twin-turbo engine from its standard – not insignificant – output to 612bhp and 627lb ft. That’s 20bhp and a frightening 170lb ft more than a McLaren 600LT, although with plenty more weight to push along.

Not content with that, G-Power is pushing a V2 option with new exhaust manifolds and catalytic converters for greater air flow. This top dog’s key vitals are 661bhp and 656lb ft. That said, the extra thrust released is much less significant compared to V1 vs standard, so the price-per-bhp ratio will be way worse if you go the whole hog.

There’s no rear-wheel drive option for the M850i so xDrive traction is guaranteed. With the standard car cracking the 0-62mph launch in 3.7 seconds, we can’t wait to see the figures for the G-Power car. The kits will be sold globally.