On and around the Nürburgring, a BMW 8-series has surfaced with which something special seems to be going on. The car in question suggests that the engine is not where you would expect it to be.
Usually, after a little study, it is clear from spy photos which car has turned up in front of the lens. That does not apply to this BMW. Fair is fair; this 8 series causes the necessary confusion. At first sight it seems to be a ‘regular’ M8 or an M850i, but something remarkable is happening behind the B-pillar. There we see black panels where we would normally find the second side windows. There are air slots in those panels. So there seems to be a need for cooling at that location. The rear window is also different from normal, because it shows a kind of slats.
Cooling vents in those places generally indicate a mid-engine. The rest of the car also looks, thanks to the enormous brake discs and four exhausts, also as sporty as an 8-series can be. Then the question immediately arises: is this a clever camouflage trick to put us on the wrong track and is it just a modified M8, or is BMW really doing something very special here? The short answer to that is: we dare not say exactly.
BMW Vision M Next
If it really concerns a BMW with a mid-engine, the only option is that it is a so-called ‘mule’. A car that is secretly put together very differently and where the carriage is nothing but a disguise. In that case, we may still be dealing with a prototype car that follows the example of the Vision M Next. That was a 600 hp strong concept with an electric motor on both axles, which, on top of the electric power, still got power from a petrol-running four-cylinder mid-engine. However, that would also be a bit of a crazy story, since BMW has reportedly put a line through it. Maybe not after all. Exciting!