The Return of the Iconic BMW 8 Series: A Story of Innovation and Evolution

By 1987, the eight series was dead but hey, it's the most successful German v12 car ever made. The world had run out of ideas so everyone was digging up the past and looking to make a buckle. But not every remake was bad. Traditional sedans and coupes sales slumping because buyers prefer TVs and CBS. However, BMW decided to drop a remake of their own 40, which weighed in at 500 pounds and cost $85,000.

The eight series made its comeback with the g15 model designation, similar to all new BMWs including Supra. The car was given the 8 Series moniker once again, but this time it wasn't powered by a V12 engine as everyone had grown accustomed to. Instead, the new car featured big old turbo babies on it. BMW gave the new car the g15 model designation and incorporated carbon core technology into the chassis, which integrated a carbon fiber into the structure of the car. This kept the weight down while increasing rigidity, leading to better handling.

The suspension was double wishbone in the front and multi-link beef jerky in the rear, providing a solid foundation for the new 8 Series. The car could be had in three basic configurations: the base 840, which came with a 3-liter turbocharged straight-6 engine good for 335 horsepower and 369 pounds of torque; the M850, which came with a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 engine good for 523 horsepower; and the M8, which used a slightly reconfigured version of the M8's engine to punch out 600 horsepower almost as much turn.

All trim levels of the new 8 Series came with an 8-speed auto transmission and were available with BMW's all-wheel X-Drive system that was all-wheel-drive but could be turned off to make it rear-wheel drive if desired. Drop an additional $13,000 and get the M8 Competition, which came with sick wheels and a little badge so that whether you're idling in traffic or slamming into a kerb people would know you have the very best BMW.

BMW is always pushing the boundaries of innovation, as seen in their latest 8 Series. The car's design team worked tirelessly to bring this masterpiece to life. He did by painting his interpretation of the car from the inside out; he even put a vinyl dog in the backseat. However, things weren't all rainbows and butterflies for the 8th series, which was the first BMW entirely designed using CAD or computer-aided design.

This meant that everything was tightly and intricately built that even minor repairs and maintenance were a nightmare and cost a fortune when combined with a global oil shortage. Yes, we mentioned it - it had a high initial price tag and advancements by competing manufacturers people stopped buying the big grand touring car and by 1999 the eight series was dead. But hey, BMW is still rocking this iconic model.

Speaking of which, you want a freaking win one! This episode is sponsored by omae's. You worked with them before you know how it goes; click on the link in the description or go to omae's comm slash done' and enter the win a brand new 2020 BMW M8 Competition with a very limited edition dravot great metallic paint and a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 that delivers a hoppin' 617 horsepower birds. All taxes and shipping are included plus you get $20,000 cash to spend on whatever you want not only that but when you donate you'll also be helping a great cause.

That means a lot to me as you guys know I had a heart attack last year and before and during that operation that saved my life. I was hooked up to an extra corporeal membrane oxygenation or ECMO machine now this machine provides cardiac and respiratory support and allows the heart and lungs to rest prior to and during surgeries without ECMO things might have been different so your donation will help Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center the hospital that I went to fund a new UCLA Health ambulance capable of transporting mobile ECMO units as well as support other UCLA Health initiatives.

You can help add to the 50 lives these units of save as well as get yourself a freakin BMW M8 Competition so it's win-win. Please hit the link in the description or go to omae's comm slash doughnut and donate today thank you amazed I love you

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: ensolar eclipses or leaf clovers triple rainbows these are all special things that you might only see once every 20 years just like one of the greatest GT cars ever made this is everything you need to know to get up to speed on the BMW eight series this episode is sponsored by omae's and to support a great cause they're offering you the chance to win a new BMW m8 competition clue plus twenty thousand dollars to spend on whatever you want okay you can enter to win right now by clicking the link in the description below or go to omae's comm slash done' now let's dive in in late 70s BMW was stuck in a rut and looking for something fresh and exciting to add to their lineup the company had recently broken up with famed Mercedes designer Paul Brock you know the guy that designed all those bad mercs from the 1960s like the luxurious 600 and legendary 200 series pagoda he designed the 1972 BMW turbo concept car which was supposed to be the BMW of the future hence the super Omega awesome awesome Goldwing doors while paul was a great designer BMW thought they needed to go outside of the company for something new they wanted something exotic they wanted something mid-engine they wanted something so began their tumultuous relationship with Lamborghini at first it seemed like a match made in heaven the Germans would design the mechanical aspects of the car while the Italians would design the body and begin the initial assembly the final product was the m1 and it was m AZ launching to much fanfare in 1978 but as they say the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry soon the relationship crumbled because the Germans were like excuse me there are costs and the italians were like we didn't finish the building them yet wiki's whoa long story short the m1 turned out to be a disaster as the assembly chain was fraught with problems and it underperformed on the racetrack as well it still looks cool and BMW ended up scrapping it in 1981 afraid to love again BMW told everyone they were going to take some me time and stick to what they know German design and advanced engineering they were like who needs a sweet sports car when you can have a practical and reliable cruiser like the e24 six Series this Coupe was a precursor of things that come the e24 was initially designed by Carmen you know like the Karmann Ghia before being taken over by BMW Beamer Vice President of Sales Bob Lutz the guy who eventually developed cars like the Ford Sierra and Dodge Viper wanted a powerful and handsome executive cruiser and boy did he get one the e24 variants like the sporty 635 CSI made 218 her Spurs and sent the power through a close-ratio five-speed transmission it was the perfect mix of performance and sophisticated style if you rolled up in one of these bad boys you were a baller and in my opinion the e24 still looks sick especially on bags with some big old mesh wheels I got a face book marketplace cab open right now looking for him around this same time BMW had started dreaming up something else something little sporty something with a lot of displacement something unnecessarily complicated in all of the very very best ways in 1984 Klaus Luth was designing some pretty sweet BMWs while basking in the glow of his highly successful ether tea which came out in 1982 and working out the kinks on his new ether t2 which had just debuted but wasn't quite ready for market he decided he also wanted to make a car that was completely absurd and thus the e30 one 850 I was nicknamed the great eight Klaus set out to build a v12 coupe version of the flagship seven series using the e30 to chassis as a basis he wanted the car to have a drag coefficient of less than point three all right let's put that into perspective with some other v12 beastie boys Lamborghini Countach drag coefficient of 0.4 - Roy testa Rossa drag coefficient 0.36 in order to reach his goal Klaus enlisted the help of designer Klaus Capp pizza uh nepotism much ke Klaus took the super long hood of the aforementioned turbo concept and mixed it with the styling cues of the M ones nose to create the front of the vehicle now with the front taken care of he focused on eliminating other places where dragged could occur he curbed the front fenders like the e30 M car he gave it recessed windshield wipers even though the mirrors look like they are upside down he did that on purpose to cut down on drag he also created tight seal windows so that glass joined the roof seamlessly which is something that can now be found on pretty much every new convertible or coupe the end result was a drag coefficient of I hope he made it did he make it bad tonight whoo oh my god that's even better than he had hoped you know you said I can do some kind of crazy I said you really really take it home way to go Klaus the car was so smooth that Klaus with a/c didn't want to f it up with a B pillar so he married the a pillar to the C pillar and called it a day the result was a rad silhouettes and of course a large access point for people to hand you large pizzas snowboards dogs Nolan's ego the point is that it was awesome and if you're wondering where the seat belt attached to the car it was through the seat itself which is pretty creative with the body design complete Klaus with a/c focused on making the 8 the ultimate ultimate driving machine he used the naturally aspirated v12 engine from the 750 i which was basically 2m 20 inline 6 engines turned to 60 degrees and fused together to cut down on weight the engine block was illuminating him to go along with the already aluminum heads 5 liter engines was good for about 300 her Spurs and 332 pound-feet of torque the massive engine and be pillarless unibody chassis weighed a ton actually it weighed like one and a half tons in order to make the beast handled nimbly Klaus with a/c went a little counterintuitive and added more weight in the form of cutting-edge technology this car assured in speed sensitive power steering and steering linked rear suspension the first iteration was this thing called active rear axle kinematics or act which is a computer-controlled electro hydraulic four-wheel steering system the active rear axle kinematics system improves lateral stability using a multi-link rear axle known as the integral rear axle the car was able to turn the back wheels which improved corene five years and nine hundred million dollars later the car was finally ready to make it to the but at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September of 89 to say it was well received would be an understatement within eight days of the Frankfurt Show BMW had received five thousand orders of the $100,000 car by the summer of 1990 it was reported that the entire production of about 11,000 units a year had been sold out until 1993 some people were prepared to spend twice the list price to avoid the waiting list with so much initial success the peeps at motorsport division aka em immediately set to creating some new trim levels in 92 they came out with the entry-level 840 i which was powered by a v8 and had just about as much Hurst burn but less torque than the 850 I in 1993 after all those backorder suckas had picked up their basic 850 eyes BMW unveiled an improved version known as the 840 and 850 CI as well as the superformance version the 850 CSI which stands for crime scene investigation yeah the CSIs new m70 v12 engine was 5.6 liters and cranked out 381 hurst purrs the new engine was so impressive that McLaren borrowed it to power their new supercar the f1 you ever heard of it you know Carly held top speed record for frigging ever if you grew up in the 90s this was the car which is probably why they go for about 20 million dollars at auction Mr Bean wrecked won the CSI was the first car to have BMWs now standard dynamic Stability control instead of big complicated AK rear steer system we were talking about earlier DSC relied on sensors and other electronics to apply the brakes and engine power as needed to create active steering to better keep the car under control the 850 CSI was a technologically advanced piece of automotive art literally famed painter David Hockney was commissioned to make it the 14th BMW art car which he did by painting his interpretation of the car from the inside out he even put a veiner dog in the backseat but things weren't all rainbows and later hosen for the 8th series this was the first BMW entirely designed using CAD or computer-aided design which meant that it was able to work on because everything was so tightly and intricately built that even minor repairs and maintenance were a nightmare and cost a frickin fortune when combined with a global oil shortage yes we mentioned it it made it into this episode it had a high initial price tag and advancements by competing manufacturers people stopped buying the big grand touring car and by 1999 the eight series was dead but hey it's the most successful German v12 car ever made so throughout the 2000s remake culture was in full swing the world had run out of ideas so everyone was digging up the past and looking to make a buckle but not every remake was bad with traditional sedans and coupes sales slumping because buyers prefer TVs and CBS 20:19 seemed like the perfect time for BMW to drop a remake of their own 40 500-pound $85,000 coupe of a remake because why not it was official the eight series was coming back but not with the v12 know was something better because now it's got big old turbo babies on it BMW gave the new car the 8 Series moniker and the g15 model designation like all new BMWs including Supra the 8 series gets BMWs carbon core technology which integrates a carbon fiber into the chassis this keeps the weight down while increasing rigidity which leads to better handling the suspension is double wishbone Ranch Dressing in the front and multi jack links beef jerky in the rear the g15 can be had in three basic configurations there's the base 840 which comes with a 3 liter turbocharged straight-6 good for 335 her spurs and 369 pounds Petersburg then there's the M 850 which comes with a 4.4 liter twin-turbo v8 good for 523 Herzberg and then there's the mack daddy of them all the one that all the others look at and say man that guy's cool the m8 which uses a slightly reconfigured version of the m8 50s engine to punch out 600 per person almost as much turn and all trim levels come with an 8-speed auto transmission and are available with BMWs all-wheel xDrive system that's all-wheel-drive but don't worry because you can turn it off yeah to make you full rear wheel drive if you want drop an additional 13 grand and get the m8 competition comes with sick wheels and a little badge so that whether you're idling in traffic or slamming the rear into a kerb people will know you have the very best BMW speaking of which you want a freaking win one this episode is sponsored by omae's and we worked with them before you know how it goes click on the link in the description or go to omae's comm slash done' and enter the win a brand new 2020 BMW m8 competition with a very limited edition dravot great metallic paint and a 4.4 liter twin-turbo v8 that delivers a hoppin 617 hertz birds all the taxes and shipping are included plus you get $20,000 cash to spend on whatever you want not only that but when you donate you'll also be helping a great cause that means a lot to me as you guys know I had a heart attack last year and before and during that operation that saved my life I was hooked up to an extra corporeal membrane oxygenation or ECMO machine now this machine provides cardiac and respiratory support and allows the heart and lungs to rest prior to and during surgeries without ECMO things might have been different so your donation will help Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center the hospital that I went to fund a new UCLA health ambulance capable of transporting mobile ECMO units as well as support other UCLA health initiatives you can help add to the 50 lives these units of save as well as get yourself a freakin BMW m8 competition so it's win-win so please hit the link in the description or go to omae's comm slash doughnut and donate today thank you amazed I love yousolar eclipses or leaf clovers triple rainbows these are all special things that you might only see once every 20 years just like one of the greatest GT cars ever made this is everything you need to know to get up to speed on the BMW eight series this episode is sponsored by omae's and to support a great cause they're offering you the chance to win a new BMW m8 competition clue plus twenty thousand dollars to spend on whatever you want okay you can enter to win right now by clicking the link in the description below or go to omae's comm slash done' now let's dive in in late 70s BMW was stuck in a rut and looking for something fresh and exciting to add to their lineup the company had recently broken up with famed Mercedes designer Paul Brock you know the guy that designed all those bad mercs from the 1960s like the luxurious 600 and legendary 200 series pagoda he designed the 1972 BMW turbo concept car which was supposed to be the BMW of the future hence the super Omega awesome awesome Goldwing doors while paul was a great designer BMW thought they needed to go outside of the company for something new they wanted something exotic they wanted something mid-engine they wanted something so began their tumultuous relationship with Lamborghini at first it seemed like a match made in heaven the Germans would design the mechanical aspects of the car while the Italians would design the body and begin the initial assembly the final product was the m1 and it was m AZ launching to much fanfare in 1978 but as they say the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry soon the relationship crumbled because the Germans were like excuse me there are costs and the italians were like we didn't finish the building them yet wiki's whoa long story short the m1 turned out to be a disaster as the assembly chain was fraught with problems and it underperformed on the racetrack as well it still looks cool and BMW ended up scrapping it in 1981 afraid to love again BMW told everyone they were going to take some me time and stick to what they know German design and advanced engineering they were like who needs a sweet sports car when you can have a practical and reliable cruiser like the e24 six Series this Coupe was a precursor of things that come the e24 was initially designed by Carmen you know like the Karmann Ghia before being taken over by BMW Beamer Vice President of Sales Bob Lutz the guy who eventually developed cars like the Ford Sierra and Dodge Viper wanted a powerful and handsome executive cruiser and boy did he get one the e24 variants like the sporty 635 CSI made 218 her Spurs and sent the power through a close-ratio five-speed transmission it was the perfect mix of performance and sophisticated style if you rolled up in one of these bad boys you were a baller and in my opinion the e24 still looks sick especially on bags with some big old mesh wheels I got a face book marketplace cab open right now looking for him around this same time BMW had started dreaming up something else something little sporty something with a lot of displacement something unnecessarily complicated in all of the very very best ways in 1984 Klaus Luth was designing some pretty sweet BMWs while basking in the glow of his highly successful ether tea which came out in 1982 and working out the kinks on his new ether t2 which had just debuted but wasn't quite ready for market he decided he also wanted to make a car that was completely absurd and thus the e30 one 850 I was nicknamed the great eight Klaus set out to build a v12 coupe version of the flagship seven series using the e30 to chassis as a basis he wanted the car to have a drag coefficient of less than point three all right let's put that into perspective with some other v12 beastie boys Lamborghini Countach drag coefficient of 0.4 - Roy testa Rossa drag coefficient 0.36 in order to reach his goal Klaus enlisted the help of designer Klaus Capp pizza uh nepotism much ke Klaus took the super long hood of the aforementioned turbo concept and mixed it with the styling cues of the M ones nose to create the front of the vehicle now with the front taken care of he focused on eliminating other places where dragged could occur he curbed the front fenders like the e30 M car he gave it recessed windshield wipers even though the mirrors look like they are upside down he did that on purpose to cut down on drag he also created tight seal windows so that glass joined the roof seamlessly which is something that can now be found on pretty much every new convertible or coupe the end result was a drag coefficient of I hope he made it did he make it bad tonight whoo oh my god that's even better than he had hoped you know you said I can do some kind of crazy I said you really really take it home way to go Klaus the car was so smooth that Klaus with a/c didn't want to f it up with a B pillar so he married the a pillar to the C pillar and called it a day the result was a rad silhouettes and of course a large access point for people to hand you large pizzas snowboards dogs Nolan's ego the point is that it was awesome and if you're wondering where the seat belt attached to the car it was through the seat itself which is pretty creative with the body design complete Klaus with a/c focused on making the 8 the ultimate ultimate driving machine he used the naturally aspirated v12 engine from the 750 i which was basically 2m 20 inline 6 engines turned to 60 degrees and fused together to cut down on weight the engine block was illuminating him to go along with the already aluminum heads 5 liter engines was good for about 300 her Spurs and 332 pound-feet of torque the massive engine and be pillarless unibody chassis weighed a ton actually it weighed like one and a half tons in order to make the beast handled nimbly Klaus with a/c went a little counterintuitive and added more weight in the form of cutting-edge technology this car assured in speed sensitive power steering and steering linked rear suspension the first iteration was this thing called active rear axle kinematics or act which is a computer-controlled electro hydraulic four-wheel steering system the active rear axle kinematics system improves lateral stability using a multi-link rear axle known as the integral rear axle the car was able to turn the back wheels which improved corene five years and nine hundred million dollars later the car was finally ready to make it to the but at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September of 89 to say it was well received would be an understatement within eight days of the Frankfurt Show BMW had received five thousand orders of the $100,000 car by the summer of 1990 it was reported that the entire production of about 11,000 units a year had been sold out until 1993 some people were prepared to spend twice the list price to avoid the waiting list with so much initial success the peeps at motorsport division aka em immediately set to creating some new trim levels in 92 they came out with the entry-level 840 i which was powered by a v8 and had just about as much Hurst burn but less torque than the 850 I in 1993 after all those backorder suckas had picked up their basic 850 eyes BMW unveiled an improved version known as the 840 and 850 CI as well as the superformance version the 850 CSI which stands for crime scene investigation yeah the CSIs new m70 v12 engine was 5.6 liters and cranked out 381 hurst purrs the new engine was so impressive that McLaren borrowed it to power their new supercar the f1 you ever heard of it you know Carly held top speed record for frigging ever if you grew up in the 90s this was the car which is probably why they go for about 20 million dollars at auction Mr Bean wrecked won the CSI was the first car to have BMWs now standard dynamic Stability control instead of big complicated AK rear steer system we were talking about earlier DSC relied on sensors and other electronics to apply the brakes and engine power as needed to create active steering to better keep the car under control the 850 CSI was a technologically advanced piece of automotive art literally famed painter David Hockney was commissioned to make it the 14th BMW art car which he did by painting his interpretation of the car from the inside out he even put a veiner dog in the backseat but things weren't all rainbows and later hosen for the 8th series this was the first BMW entirely designed using CAD or computer-aided design which meant that it was able to work on because everything was so tightly and intricately built that even minor repairs and maintenance were a nightmare and cost a frickin fortune when combined with a global oil shortage yes we mentioned it it made it into this episode it had a high initial price tag and advancements by competing manufacturers people stopped buying the big grand touring car and by 1999 the eight series was dead but hey it's the most successful German v12 car ever made so throughout the 2000s remake culture was in full swing the world had run out of ideas so everyone was digging up the past and looking to make a buckle but not every remake was bad with traditional sedans and coupes sales slumping because buyers prefer TVs and CBS 20:19 seemed like the perfect time for BMW to drop a remake of their own 40 500-pound $85,000 coupe of a remake because why not it was official the eight series was coming back but not with the v12 know was something better because now it's got big old turbo babies on it BMW gave the new car the 8 Series moniker and the g15 model designation like all new BMWs including Supra the 8 series gets BMWs carbon core technology which integrates a carbon fiber into the chassis this keeps the weight down while increasing rigidity which leads to better handling the suspension is double wishbone Ranch Dressing in the front and multi jack links beef jerky in the rear the g15 can be had in three basic configurations there's the base 840 which comes with a 3 liter turbocharged straight-6 good for 335 her spurs and 369 pounds Petersburg then there's the M 850 which comes with a 4.4 liter twin-turbo v8 good for 523 Herzberg and then there's the mack daddy of them all the one that all the others look at and say man that guy's cool the m8 which uses a slightly reconfigured version of the m8 50s engine to punch out 600 per person almost as much turn and all trim levels come with an 8-speed auto transmission and are available with BMWs all-wheel xDrive system that's all-wheel-drive but don't worry because you can turn it off yeah to make you full rear wheel drive if you want drop an additional 13 grand and get the m8 competition comes with sick wheels and a little badge so that whether you're idling in traffic or slamming the rear into a kerb people will know you have the very best BMW speaking of which you want a freaking win one this episode is sponsored by omae's and we worked with them before you know how it goes click on the link in the description or go to omae's comm slash done' and enter the win a brand new 2020 BMW m8 competition with a very limited edition dravot great metallic paint and a 4.4 liter twin-turbo v8 that delivers a hoppin 617 hertz birds all the taxes and shipping are included plus you get $20,000 cash to spend on whatever you want not only that but when you donate you'll also be helping a great cause that means a lot to me as you guys know I had a heart attack last year and before and during that operation that saved my life I was hooked up to an extra corporeal membrane oxygenation or ECMO machine now this machine provides cardiac and respiratory support and allows the heart and lungs to rest prior to and during surgeries without ECMO things might have been different so your donation will help Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center the hospital that I went to fund a new UCLA health ambulance capable of transporting mobile ECMO units as well as support other UCLA health initiatives you can help add to the 50 lives these units of save as well as get yourself a freakin BMW m8 competition so it's win-win so please hit the link in the description or go to omae's comm slash doughnut and donate today thank you amazed I love you