Page 79 - Motor Trend (January 2020)

COTY

BMW 8 Series

PRO Thunderous V-8 • Sharp handling • High-quality materials
CON Familiar interior design • Cramped rear seat • iDrive system UX
he 8 Series of the 1990s was “The M850i drives like force of Series with some crystal trim here It’s not all bad, though. We
gorgeous to behold but nature—heavy, grippy, sonically and there,” Cortina said. “If I’m loved the audio system, which
Tless so to drive. BMW has awesome,” Markus said. going to pay for a car that costs is made better by the coupe’s
revived that flagship nameplate, Judges loved the 4.4-liter this much, it better be worth exceptionally quiet cabin, and
which today includes a coupe, twin-turbo V-8’s 523 hp and 553 it. And I don’t see the value or the adaptive suspension for its
convertible, and four-door Gran lb-ft of torque, its rear-biased specialness in the M850i.” smooth ride on the highway and
Coupe. The new 8 Series isn’t all-wheel-drive system, and Then there’s the matter of rough road.
the looker its predecessor was how the M850i went around a cabin space, which is plentiful Given that the two-door GT
(MacKenzie calls it “Hulk Hogan corner. Still, the 8 Series left many in the front seats but tight in the market is shrinking, BMW had the
in a Hugo Boss suit”), but it’s fun unimpressed. back. The 8 Series is down an opportunity to set the bench-
to drive this time around. Part of that is due to the inch in rear head- and legroom mark with the 8 Series. Instead,
Contrary to what its roughly interior, which uses high-quality compared to the 6 Series. Cortina the M850i is merely an adequate
4,400-pound curb weight materials but looks like it was called its packaging “a disaster.” choice in a segment with not
suggests, the M850i is a nimble cut and pasted from lesser BMW Priddle agreed: “Such a big car many choices to begin with.
performer. models. “The interior feels like a 3 yet so little room for people.” Alex Nishimoto

SPECS 2019 BMW M850i xDrive Coupe 2019 BMW M850i xDrive Convertible
Base Price/As Tested $112,895/$119,295 $122,395/$126,395
Power (SAE net) 523 hp @ 5,500 rpm 523 hp @ 5,500 rpm
Torque (SAE net) 553 lb-ft @ 1,800 rpm 553 lb-ft @ 1,800 rpm
Accel, 0-60 mph 3.4 sec 3.9 sec
Quarter Mile 11.7 sec @ 120.4 mph 12.3 sec @ 113.7 mph
Braking, 60-0 mph 111 ft 110 ft
Lateral Acceleration 0.98 g (avg) 0.97 g (avg)
MT Figure Eight 24.2 sec @ 0.85 g (avg) 24.3 sec @ 0.82 g (avg)
EPA City/Hwy/Comb 18/25/20 mpg 17/26/20 mpg Convertible

Vehicle Layout Coupe Front-engine, AWD, 4-pass, 2-door coupe Convertible Front-engine, AWD, 4-pass, 2-door convertible Engine/Transmission 4.4L
twin-turbo DOHC 32-valve V-8/8-speed automatic Curb Weight (F/R Dist) Coupe 4,360 lb (55/45%) Convertible 4,564 lb (52/48%) Wheelbase 111.1
in Length x Width x Height 191.2 x 74.9 x 53.0 in Energy Consumption, City/Hwy Coupe 198/130 kW-hr/100 miles Convertible 187/135 kW-hr/100 miles
CO2 Emissions, Comb Coupe 0.96 lb/mile Convertible 0.94 lb/mile

BMW Z4

PRO Satisfies roadster cravings • Great inline-six • Soft top > hard top
CON Sticker shock • Muddled design • Stressed turbo-four

MW can’t seem to shake sub-13 quarter mile prove this
the allure of an intimate little car punches well above its
Btop-down driving experi- weight.
ence, so they sent us a turbo-four Objective numbers are one
Z4 sDrive30i and a turbo-six Z4 thing, but our judges’ subjective machine! Very controllable and Pricing was an undisputed
M40i. It’s remarkable how differ- opinions were harder to parse. fun to drive. Great brakes with challenge. The sDrive30i starts at
ently these two drive and how Some rather liked the four-cyl- excellent pedal feel and initial $50,695 and the M40i at $64,695.
divided our judges felt about the inder version, saying the same response.” But Markus sniped: Is the six-cylinder engine really
merits or deficiencies of each. engine is stressed in the 3 Series “This feels like a short-wheelbase $14,000 better? We can see how
The Z4 sDrive30i was potent but right-sized in the Z4. But 3 Series with too many of the 3’s one could prefer the Z4 M40i over
enough for a 0–60 blast in just others felt that the turbo-four problems.” the mechanically related Toyota
over 5 seconds and an impres- didn’t have the “sparkle” BMW I felt like the 30i’s cohesiveness Supra, until you see the price. As
sive 100-mph trap speed in the needs for such a car. works better than the M40i, which it sits, it’s $20,000 more than the
quarter mile. The M40i’s sub-4- As for the M40i, things were feels like it’s trying too hard to be Supra, but not $20,000 better to
second 0–60 time as well as a just as unclear. Loh wrote, “Drift taken as a serious sports car. drive. Chris Walton

SPECS 2019 BMW Z4 sDrive30i 2020 BMW Z4 M40i
Base Price/As Tested $50,695/$62,845 $64,695/$73,295
Power (SAE net) 255 hp @ 5,000 rpm 382 hp @ 5,000 rpm
Torque (SAE net) 295 lb-ft @ 1,500 rpm 369 lb-ft @ 1,600 rpm
Accel, 0-60 mph 5.2 sec 3.9 sec
Quarter Mile 13.8 sec @ 100.7 mph 12.4 sec @ 112.0 mph
Braking, 60-0 mph 99 ft 101 ft
Lateral Acceleration 1.02 g (avg) 1.02 g (avg)
MT Figure Eight 24.5 sec @ 0.79 g (avg) 24.0 sec @ 0.84 g (avg)
EPA City/Hwy/Comb 25/32/28 mpg 24/31/26 mpg M40i
Vehicle Layout Front-engine, RWD, 2-pass, 2-door convertible Engine/Transmission sDrive30i 2.0L turbo DOHC 16-valve I-4/8-speed automatic
M40i 3.0L turbo DOHC 24-valve I-6/8-speed automatic Curb Weight (F/R Dist) sDrive30i 3,389 lb (50/50%) M40i 3,626 lb (50/50%) Wheelbase 97.2
in Length x Width x Height 170.7 x 73.4 x 51.4 in Energy Consumption, City/Hwy sDrive30i 135/105 kW-hr/100 miles M40i 140/109 kW-hr/100 miles
CO2 Emissions, Comb sDrive30i 0.70 lb/mile M40i 0.73 lb/mile
JANUARY 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 79