BMW has a new SUV in the development rooms that is positioned a step above the X7. In the form of the X8, BMW comes with a sportier alternative to that colossal SUV. He was caught during test work. If you walk away from the increasingly eccentric BMW design, it might be better to look the other way.
It is gradually becoming a cliché to mention the large grille that BMW uses on the new 4-series and M3 in an article about a new model. Fortunately, there is plenty to say about the X8 that is now on the digital shelves. It promises to be a very idiosyncratic giant. You should actually see the model as what the X6 to the X5 is, a slightly sportier type with a more sloping roofline. In this case, the X7 was the model.
So a coupé-SUV, but one of 5.15 meters thick. By the way, BMW does much more than just push down the roofline of the X7. Where in many coupé SUVs the body up to approximately the B-pillar is almost identical to ‘the original’, BMW apparently gives the X8 its own packaging. The muzzle cannot go unnoticed. Of course, BMW also gives the X8 a substantial fence, although that kidney grille will look more like the one we know from the X7. More interesting is the lighting that is located on either side.
BMW X8
BMW gives the X8 remarkably low-placed light clusters, although the question is whether these are the definitive copies. The units that pierce through the camouflage work seem to be the same ones as those we recently saw on the i7. It may therefore concern viewers provisionally incorporated into the carriage. Equally interesting is the narrow groove that sits above the visible headlights. Although that gap separates the hood from the rest of the car, BMW may well fill the area above the visible headlights with a thin strip of LED daytime running lights. That would mean that Munich opts for ‘layered’ lighting, which is divided over two floors, as is increasingly the case in the car country. Whether it suits BMW? We leave that in the middle. The fact is that the X8 at least gets a completely own look. Just as striking is the strongly rising shoulder line. The side window area becomes smaller by the centimeter towards the rear.
The snapped test specimen has a Hybrid Test Vehicle sticker on its side and that of course indicates that the X8 cannot escape electrification. In any case, count on at least one plug-in hybrid powertrain. Incidentally, the question is whether BMW will also supply the X8 with ‘mild’ engines, or whether it will in all cases be provided with at least 400 hp power sources. We will know more next year!