Autocar

WHY THE ORIGINAL M8 GOT IT WRONG

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Back in the 1980s, BMW’S take on the phrase ‘luxury flagship’ translated into a super-sleek coupé with a V12 engine and pop-up headlights. First revealed at the 1989 Frankfurt motor show, the original E31 8 Series had all the makings of a supercar.

Underneath its wedgeshape­d body was a technical set-up fit for a 21st century car, with five-link rear suspension and a long list of electronic systems, including traction control and stability control, variable power steering and, from 1990, electronic damper control.

Even the base 840Ci came with a V8 making a then respectabl­e 282bhp. But the majority of sales were for the V12, the most potent of which had 365bhp. It eventually formed the basis for the unit used by the Mclaren F1.

The 8 Series should have been a sales success, but BMW sold just 31,000 units in 10 years on sale. This was partly down to timing — the launch came during a period of economic downturn through the late 1980s and early 1990s — but also due to the fact that it never really captured the imaginatio­n of drivers.

BMW offered the car with a six-speed manual gearbox, but more than 25,000 were ordered with a sluggish fourspeed auto. Running costs were also monumental­ly high, and the model was notoriousl­y unreliable.

Such were the car’s issues that BMW canned an attempt to develop an M8 performanc­e version early on. Only a one-off M8 prototype was ever produced, fitted with the 600bhp naturally aspirated 6.0-litre V12 engine from the Mclaren F1 supercar. Imagine what could have been.

 ??  ?? Original M8 appeared in 1989 and was sold with a 365bhp V12
Original M8 appeared in 1989 and was sold with a 365bhp V12

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