Bavaria's Best Kept Secret - BMW M8

The 8-series is a car I’ve always loved. In my eyes, it’s always been the last proper personal luxury car, despite not having a Cadillac/ Lincoln badge on the back. A huge, silky smooth, understressed V12 provided for effortless acceleration, and the seemingly endless array of luxuries allowing for comfort wherever you may be. All this in a car from nearly 30 years ago. Often, people see the top of the range 850CSi as a standard Beamer, when in actual fact, it’s an M-tuned vehicle.

The big BM bore a ‘WBS-‘ vin, as opposd to a standard WBA- one. The 380HP land-yacht was desdended from something very closely related yet astonishingly more powerful. WBS was the vin type for M-division vehicles, so there must have been something truly special at the top of the heap, knocking even the 850 off its throne?

There was. The E31 BMW M8 was a thing to behold. Its very existence was challenged by most, as it was hidden from the public for a good 16-17 years. Rumours spread, along with images of what seemed to be little more than an extensively modified 850i. These pictures turned out to be the real deal. Gone were the signature popup headlights (replaced with lighter units) and uninterrupted, sleek body lines. Huge air dams were built in to cool the rear brakes (and the differential, depending on who you believe). B-pillars and window frames were added to stiffen the car up and reduce the typical coupé chassis flex. An uprated version of the normal car’s S70 V12 was in place with a 6-speed manual transmission.

The huge powerplant was ripe for more than 550HP, an astonishing figure for today, let alone the 1990s. Had the car reached production (the prototype was nearly set for road use), there would have been nothing to compare it to. It would have been BMW’s ultimate flagship. No BMW was more powerful until the X5M, which arrived over 15 years after the M8 was originally thought up.

The main problem with the M8 was, as mentioned, the lack of comparison. The company couldn’t justify releasing such an expensive sports GT car to the public during a time of such economic instability. It would have been an absolute failure anyway. had they sold it to the masses. There was just no market for a V12 powered megacar such as this. The story is sad, as this groundbreaking piece of automotive wizardry had potential. Potential to become perhaps the greatest car of the decade, killed as a victim of the clock. What could have been the Ultimate Driving Machine, retired to a peaceful, underground chamber.