The 8 Series has three different M badge vehicles for 2020. There’s the BMW M8 Gran Coupe, which stretches out with four doors like a luxury sedan. There’s the M8 convertible with its open-air elegance. Then, there’s the 2020 BMW M8 Coupe. There are two model variants available – the M8 Coupe and the M8 Competition Coupe.
The 2020 BMW M8 Coupe is a top tier performance grand tourer. It’s large. It has tons of power on tap and driving one is almost a frightening experience. Just a tap on the accelerator sends the throttle into a roaring belch. The M8 Coupe almost dares you to test your mettle. Thankfully, there’s all-wheel-drive on the M8 Coupe to properly transfer all that belligerent power directly to the pavement.
After a 20-year hiatus, the 8 Series from BMW returns to the spotlight. The M8 coupe houses the most powerful production engine from BMW and has no shortage of choice amenities. The interior bear’s witness to the BMW and Rolls Royce partnership with brilliant colors and butter-soft seating. Truly, the 2020 BMW M8 Coupe is a marriage of beauty and beast.
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2020 BMW M8 Coupe Performance Capabilities
Both the M8 Coupe and the 2020 M8 Competition Coupe have a 4.4 Liter V8 Twin Turbo power plant. The M8 Coupe produces 553-pound feet of torque and 600 horsepower. It can travel from zero to 60 MPH in 3.1 seconds. The Competition Coupe shaves that down to just 3 seconds flat and produces 617 horsepower. It’s the most powerful production engine from BMW.
M Series vehicles are well-recognizable by their exhaust note. Savvy BMW enthusiasts can stick their heads out the window on the highway and discern which M Series vehicle just blew their doors off. The 2020 BMW M8 Coupe will make that a bit trickier with its M Sport exhaust system. You can change the exhaust sound from inside the cabin. You can fly below the radar or wake the neighbors. It’s up to you.
Gear management is handled through an 8-speed Steptronic transmission. It allows you to toggle between manual and automatic. You can use paddle shifters on the steering wheel or the gear shifter in the center stack. BMW xDrive all-wheel drive is standard on both versions of the M8 coupe, but you can switch it to send power to the rear wheels if you want to try out your Tokyo Drift skills in real life.
A 2020 M8 Coupe that can run a top speed of 156 MPH with so much torque on demand can really get away from you on the road. So, adaptive suspension and M Sport Differential come standard on the 2020 BMW M8 Coupe. You can add M Sport ceramic brakes, but even the braking system can be totally configured by the driver. This is an M Series first of its kind.
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2020 BMW M8 Coupe Style Points
It’s a luxury coupe that matches the size of a sedan. It’s 191.8 inches long and 75.1 inches wide. The M8 Coupe has a long nose and hood with the swept-back accents of a muscle car. The ribbed kidney grille is larger and wider than previous generations. The LED headlights are narrow and sweep back toward the profile.
The M8 Coupe returns to a coupe-like design with the roofline and contours that hug the lower portion of the doors. The air vents just behind the front fenders lead the eye toward deep concave creases that give the illusion of powerful gusts of wind channeling off the sides of the doors. The rear of the M8 Coupe has prominent air vents over each one of the dual exhaust ports, as well.
There are twelve premium exterior color patterns available for the 2020 M8 coupe. More than half are in the blue/grey spectrum, but a noteworthy surprise color tone is the Almandin Brown. It’s just different and bears a nice contrast to the leather interior tones that are available from BMW.
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2020 BMW M8 Coupe Interior Amenities
The cabin of the 2020 BMW M8 Coupe is upscale, yet sporty. The ambient lighting and unique M gear shifter give the interior of the M8 Coupe a futuristic aesthetic. Leather and Alcantara headliner are to be expected and don’t provide any surprises in a BMW.
There are nine different Merino leather choices. There are the usual takes on white, beige and black. However, the Sakhir Orange and Black leather upholstery with diamond-patterns in the stitching is full-on awesome. Piano black is the most widely available trim for the interior, but there is a carbon fiber option.
The front seats are tall and well-bolstered. There’s also plenty of headroom up front, but the rear seats are too tight for two passengers. There’s 46.9 inches of rear shoulder room and just 29.5 inches of rear legroom. For the sake of comparison, the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 has 51.9 inches of rear shoulder room and 29 inches of rear legroom.
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2020 BMW M8 Coupe Hi-Tech Features
Much of what you’d want in the tech department comes standard on the 2020 BMW M8 Coupe. It comes with Apple CarPlay connectivity and dedicated Wi-Fi. BMW concierge services bring maps, navigation, voice recognition and remote access to the vehicle. There’s a 464-Watt Harman Kardon sound system with 16 speakers. If that’s not enough sound for you, then take a closer look at the available Bowers and Wilkins Surround System that turns your M8 Coupe interior into a veritable concert hall.
There’s a 10.3-inch touchscreen display that sits high in the center dashboard console. It has a bit of paneling over it that acts as a hood to prevent glare from the sun. The interface is intuitive with only a slight learning curve for users who are completely new to BMW vehicles. The center controller gives haptic feedback and that helps prevent drivers from taking their eyes off the road.
The digital instrument cluster has been redesigned. The individual gauges have lost prominence, and everything is now focused on the large center gauge where you can place your own favorite data. You can activate Track Mode on the M8 Coupe and the instrument cluster changes for a more focused view of your vehicle’s vitals. There’s even a performance-oriented heads-up display that appears in the driver’s field of view across the lower portion of the front windshield.
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2020 BMW M8 Coupe Safety Gear
Thankfully, BMW doesn’t over-bundle when it comes to the safety of its motorists. There’s only one safety option that can be bought for an additional price and that’s a night vision camera that can detect pedestrians with infrared technology.
Otherwise, the 2020 BMW M8 Coupe is stacked with premium safety gear. It has rollover protection, advanced airbags, and impact sensors. It comes with front collision warnings, automatic emergency braking, and a rearview camera.
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The Takeaway
The 2020 BMW M8 Coupe has a starting MSRP of $133,000 and the Competition Coupe costs $146,000. There are plenty of components and features that you can add to the M8 Coupe, but the base model comes so well-equipped that you could just drive it stock.
The performance capabilities of the M8 Competition Coupe are staggering, and it would be hard to convince someone to look elsewhere after a test drive. It can toggle between rear and all-wheel drive. It can switch from automatic to manual. It has motorsport quality suspension and handling.
The M8 Coupe’s interior doesn’t comfortably fit four passengers though. It’s better suited for two. Rear occupants will find it cramped but might not complain as they sink into premium Merino leather seats. The driver might not hear them either with 16 speakers to drown out any naysayers.
The 2020 M8 Coupe is long, wide and heavy. It has a curb weight of 4,300 pounds. The raw V8 power promises limitless energy and thrilling driving experiences. Some might balk at the price tag, but this grand tourer sits about neck-and-neck with a supercar in terms of value. You’d be hard-pressed to find an auto enthusiast who doesn’t agree.