BMW Will Reportedly Make An M8, And Is Turning The 6-Series Into A 911 Killer

While we adore the rakish old E31 8-series, BMW hasn’t really needed to revive the name. After all, it has the 6-series (below) for its leggy grand tourer requirements, so why bother making a new 8-series? Well, thanks to a planned reinvention of the 6er as a sports car to take on the Porsche 911 - apparently fuelled by competition from the Mercedes-AMG GT - suddenly there’s room for a Mercedes S-Class coupe-rivalling 8-series.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard 8-series comeback rumours, and in late March Munich even went so far as trademarking a bunch of names like 830, 850 and even M8. But according to an insider source cited by Auto Express, the trademarking was more than a case of preserving a load of potentially useful names for a rainy day - BMW is indeed about to shake up its GT offerings.

When the 8-series does arrive, expect a range of turbocharged straight-sixes and V8s powering most models. The M860 meanwhile will almost certainly use the M760Li’s new 6.6-litre V12, but the powerplant choice for the M8 is less clear.

A fettled version of the M5/M6’s 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 seems the obvious choice, but who knows - perhaps a more powerful edition of the aforementioned 6.6-litre V12 could be on the cards. BMW has steered clear of V12s for almost all of its M cars, but the old 8-series did spawn an M8 concept plus the 850CSi - an M car in all but name - so it could happen…