Four Quick Things You Learn After Driving the M8 Competition Gran Coupe

Last week, we learned that the M8 is already dead, gone, out of production since October without a chance of returning. The 8 Series has a few months left, before its production comes to an end in April. That’s a shame, really, because the M8 is a wonderful car, and in Gran Coupe trim, makes most other full-size performance sedans irrelevant.

I recently spent a week with a 2025 Gran Coupe, ironically right around the same time BMW stopped building them. I wish it was sticking around.

There’s No Better Way To Cover Miles

Photo: Travis Okulski

The M8 GC is a simply phenomenal grand tourer. I’ve driven a few of these now on longer trips, and there aren’t many cars that have the ability to sit comfortably and quietly at 80 mph for hours, but then take a quick back road detour and become engaging and fun, a serious sports car.

Before this most recent time with a GC, I drove one from Los Angeles to Monterey in 2024 for Monterey Car Week. Most of that time was spent on the 101, a six-hour straight-shot up the coast (normally I’d take a detour onto 33 or spend most of the drive on the Pacific Coast Highway, but I had to be in Monterey at a certain time and the PCH was close from rock slides).

: Photo: Travis Okulski

: Photo: Travis Okulski

: Photo: Travis Okulski

The M8 made record time, the only weak link was me, since I had to stop for food. It didn’t drink too much fuel, it wasn’t overly harsh or loud, it just did its job, and perfectly. And it really doesn’t hurt that the M8 has 617 hp from its 4.4-liter twin-turbo V-8, enough to cover any gap in traffic.

That Engine

Photo: Travis Okulski

Speaking of the engine, that thing is a masterpiece. Sure, it’s in multiple products—from the X5 M to the current M5, now hybridized, of course—but that doesn’t make it any less special here. I’m not sure I can emphasize enough just how fast this thing is. It really doesn’t need more power, 617 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque is a ton, and the way the M8 pulls without really a hint of turbolag is hugely impressive.

It sounds great on startup, an excellent burble, yet it’s refined and quiet around town. At speed, I know some of the noise is synthetic, but I don’t care that much, it sounds great.

But really, this is one of the all-time great turbocharged engines. The immediacy of the response, the tractable power, the outrageous acceleration, all of it adds up to be the secret sauce of this special car.

It’s Delightfully Uncomplicated, Somehow

Photo: Travis Okulski

Now, I’m not going to claim this is a simple car. The M8 has multi-mode four-wheel drive, about 85 settings for shift speed, chassis, traction, and more, and a number of drive modes and safety settings, yet compared to the new M5, it seems like it’s from a different era.

I know the trope is that the last BMW is always better than the new BMW, and when that last BMW was new, it was worse than the car that came before it, but that’s not what I’m claiming here. The M8 and the F90 M5 were basically the same car with different bodies. The G90 M5 is totally different, a fully hybridized car where tech takes center stage. In that context, the M8 feels old school.

It’s lighter and has an interior with buttons and dials. You don’t have to work the climate control or shift speeds through iDrive. It actually might be nearly as complex in terms of setup and modes, but the ways to access them are simpler in the M8, and I appreciate that.

It’s Sad To See It Go

Photo: Travis Okulski

It’s definitely sad to see the M8 leave. BMW’s bigger coupes have been a calling card of the company for nearly its entire history. From the CS to the 6 and 8 Series, then the more modern versions in the early Aughts, these cars have been part of the brand’s fabric like the 3 Series.

Now, there won’t be one anymore. And yes, I understand that I’m lamenting the loss of a coupe after driving the four-door version, but it still rings true. It’ll also be sad to lose the Gran Coupe, which took the 5 Series and made it sleeker, lower, and more elegant. I’ve always loved the way these cars look, the extra length of the four-door really accentuating the cut roofline and near liftback proportions.