BMW 8 Series (G15)
The BMW 8 Series is the second generation of the BMW 8 Series (E31) grand tourer. It was officially unveiled at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 15, 2018.
It is the successor to the BMW 6 Series (F12) range of models and marks the return of the BMW 8 Series lineage after 19 years.
Development
The 8 series is based on the BMW Concept 8 Series that first made its debut at the 2017 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, and featured a new design language and iteration of the iDrive system. The BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupé variant was also later introduced at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show,[6] and is a high-performance four-door variant of the 8 Series, to be launched in 2019 followed by a coupé and a convertible variant. The base 8 Series Gran Coupé and convertible variants would be unveiled in late 2018.
The production model is based on the modular CLAR platform and has a design largely unchanged from the concept 8 series. The 8 Series utilises a double-wishbone front suspension and rear multi-link suspension. The car uses BMW Carbon Core technology, integrating carbon-fibre within its chassis. GPS navigation data is used for the 8-speed automatic transmission to predict upshifts or downshifts when approaching a junction, and cameras along with sensors are utilised to determine appropriate shutdowns for the engine start-stop system. Sales of the 8 Series will commence in November 2018.