Thoughts on the 8 Series?

[REKX]

So I have been looking at this car, and I feel like I would definitely consider it used in a few years time.

The media are saying it is a new car, but in reality it seems pretty obvious it is replacing the current 6. Same size, shape and engines as the current 6, many other similarities and even similar price to the current 6 - and especially as they have just stopped production of the 6.

S class coupe competitor it is certainly not, like the current 6 but like the current 6 it should be amazing. One thing BMW are saying they want sport and performance, this was never the intention of the 6. I hope the 8 continues this as being a smooth wafty ride, with smooth steering. I wouldn't want any firmer or sportier steering on this kind of car.

Will you guys be looking to get the 8?

And I have heard rumours the future 6 will be sporty and light and will target Porsche 911. BMW definitely has the technology to compete with a 911, so I am interested in that as well having previously owned a Porsche 911.

[Taheemr]

Originally Posted by REKX

Will you guys be looking to get the 8?

.

Not at those prices, wait till lease market is saturated & 0% that will not be too long. Last 6 was on 0% after a few weeks with huge contributions, i recall a brand new 640d with £4k in at £430p/m

[elvisisdog]

I'm interested in it, more so the gc. Just a bit disappointed with the proportions of it all after the concept coupe had a much nicer looking stance/proportions. It's like the engineers and bean counters till the little touches or of the body work that made it that little bit blander. Going from concept to production the wheels look smaller (or the car proportions different) with the front and rear wheel arches not looking as sharp. GC concept looks good.

Will wait till they depreciate a bit though. You can pick up new gc's for under 40k at the moment. Shame the dealers put rubbish specs on them.

[Flying Ace]

The new 8 IS the next generation 6. It's that simple. The largest GT coupe you can buy is now the new 8 and will only be a 8-series, and is the top model of the range. The 6er will now be a rebranded 5GT. There will be no 6 GC, 6 coupes, 6 convertibles or a M6 in the next generation, they will all be in the 8 series designation.

BMW started moving down this naming convention with the rebranding of the 2 and 4 series cars from the 1 and 3 series. Rebranding the 6 as the 8 is just the final step in the process of offering more products and variants of BMW's current 4 base models (1-, 3-, 5-, 8- series cars)

[brad850csi]

I'm guessing the standard discount off RRP will be bigger than the 6 by quite a bit. Ultimately it is just a 6 rebranded, in the same way the 4 Coupe is a rebranded 3 and the 6GT a rebranded 5GT.

I think BMW have the same issue that Merc did with the CL vs S class, the CL came after the S class and was more expensive, but they wanted to say the S class was the best car in the world....which you can't do if the CL is more expensive.

[elvisisdog]

There's a flaw in this 1-, 3-, 5-, 7- logic. There's no 6 in the model line up for coupe's. They've filled the 8 spot with what should have been the 6 replacement. All we can hope is that they create a new 6 that is light; agile and sporty. Can't see it on the horizon so looks like they'll have an even number series car missing from their line up.

I'm still amazed the 8 is as heavy as it is!

[murph914]

Originally Posted by elvisisdog

There's a flaw in this 1-, 3-, 5-, 7- logic. There's no 6 in the model line up for coupe's. They've filled the 8 spot with what should have been the 6 replacement. All we can hope is that they create a new 6 that is light; agile and sporty. Can't see it on the horizon so looks like they'll have an even number series car missing from their line up.

I'm still amazed the 8 is as heavy as it is!

The 8 is more of a 7 series 2 door than a 5 series 2 door. This confuses everything. BMW really wanted a 2 door as their halo so they pushed the 6 up a bit in "luxury" read weight.

I have some hope that maybe we will see the return of the 6 as a smaller 8, but one can't help but see how crowded the showrooms are with all the different models.

I was OK to accept 3 sedans 2 coupes and maybe an occasional roadster, but this is getting crazy.

I love my six, but with all the small issues it has plus the looming big issues it may have I am more inclined to go with something simpler like a Z or maybe even something from Detroit.

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by elvisisdog

There's a flaw in this 1-, 3-, 5-, 7- logic. There's no 6 in the model line up for coupe's. They've filled the 8 spot with what should have been the 6 replacement. All we can hope is that they create a new 6 that is light; agile and sporty. Can't see it on the horizon so looks like they'll have an even number series car missing from their line up.

I'm still amazed the 8 is as heavy as it is!

Originally Posted by murph914

The 8 is more of a 7 series 2 door than a 5 series 2 door. This confuses everything. BMW really wanted a 2 door as their halo so they pushed the 6 up a bit in "luxury" read weight.

I have some hope that maybe we will see the return of the 6 as a smaller 8, but one can't help but see how crowded the showrooms are with all the different models.

I was OK to accept 3 sedans 2 coupes and maybe an occasional roadster, but this is getting crazy.

I love my six, but with all the small issues it has plus the looming big issues it may have I am more inclined to go with something simpler like a Z or maybe even something from Detroit.

I don't see a problem in the numbering logic. The odd number 1,3,5,7 are the "traditional styling concepts" of cars. A 3-series was, and will still be a classic sedan. The even numbers 2,4,6,8 are "sports coupe styling" concepts of cars. The number of doors doesn't matter whether it's an even or odd number.

Whether BMW's largest coupe is a 6 or an 8 is irrelevant. That was my whole point. The new 8 series is BMW's largest coupe. That slot used to be branded as the 6. There's no new word on any other cars coming out in the 6 designation under than the rebranded 5GT.

Obviously having the largest coupe as an 8 opens the door for another coupe to slot in as the 6, very similar with what MB did with the CL and E class coupes. IMO, that'll just cannibalize the halo car sales.

[Qsilver7]

BMW switching up its large "sport/luxury coupe" offering from the 6 series nomenclature to the 8 series nomenclature is nothing new. If you're old enough, we've been down this road.
The original e24 6 series production ran from the mid 1970s - 1989...then BMW brought the original e31 8 series to market (replacing the e24 6 series) which was produced from 1989 - 1999.

So, in a way...we've already been down this road with the 6 series being replaced by an 8 series.

I wonder how overall sales plays in the decision of continuing a series vs introduction of a new series to pump new life into the brands large luxury/sport coupe?

[brad850csi]

Those charts are interesting. I wonder if the increase in Europe at the end was due to production starting to wind down and dealers wanting to get some stock.

Do you have the ability to split out 640d, 640i, 650i, M6 and the various body styles?

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by brad850csi

Those charts are interesting.

Do you have the ability to split out 640d, 640i, 650i, M6 and the various body styles?

I found those charts doing a quick google search...I used the search phrase "BMW F06 sales"...and google churned up a link to carsalesbase.com .... I didn't check to see what (if any) were sold in the China market.

I didn't make any attempt to see if there was a break-down per model.

But there was another charting method that showed only annual sales (instead of monthly/annual) that started with the 2004 (e63/e64) model years up through 2018. I guess that would be helpful to anyone interested in 2013 F06/F12/F13 sales.

[elvisisdog]

GT I'd hope would be single digit sales numbers.. 😉

[Taheemr]

Id opt for s class coupe far more upmarket and probably worth the money too

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by elvisisdog

GT I'd hope would be single digit sales numbers.. ��

At least the e63/e64 six series can take a deep breath knowing that the "least attractive six series" crown has been removed from their nomenclature (not that they were as ugly as the g32 6GT...just not as pretty as the other two sisters).

Between the e24, e63/e64, f06/f12/f13, & newest g32 6GT generations...the "ugliest of them all" crown now adorns the g32 6GT's head (at least in my opinion).

I almost wonder if someone let Chris Bangle slip back in through the backdoor of the 6GT design room...if he did...someone should have called SECURITY!

[Flying Ace]

hmmm, I wonder how those numbers break down for each motor.

Anyways, I think the EU uptick is due to dealers clearing inventory. I suspect in EU, many BMWs are dealer inventory cars, meaning they are produced and sit on a lot. Whereas in the US, certain models are custom ordered, at least the M6s are this way. I noticed that there are just new M6s sitting on dealer lots in EU, whereas here in the US, you can't even test drive a brand new M6 in most cities.

[Qsilver7]

Speaking of the new f92 8 series...I just saw the pics below of an M850i xdrive posted on BMWCCA.org:

In classic BMW style, the center stack is neat and clean. iDrive handles the more complex functions.

[Flying Ace]

The new M8 is going to be EPIC!