2023 BMW M8 Competition Gran Coupe Review

Looking for a luxe four-door sedan with a burly twin-turbo V8 engine? This beauty has serious sports car energy.

The old idiom, "opposites attract," applies to quite a few things in life. Now, the 2023 BMW M8 Competition Gran Coupe sleekly confirms this phenomenon in the automotive world. On the one hand, here's a big, beautiful, four-door luxury sedan—until the other hand slaps you across the face with its M-badging, bonkers 617-horsepower twin-turbo V8. I took it on a drive and found out it's a German recipe that still works beautifully.

We first met BMW's M8 lineup in 2019, and it remains at the M range's pointy end without any major revisions. The Competition package has become standard, bringing racetrack-ready chassis goodies to heighten handling abilities. Stiffer springs and engine mounts, and increased front camber and rear toe-link ball joints are a roundabout way of saying M8 Gran Coupe and its coupe and convertible brethren are of a seriously sporty persuasion.

Mind you, the M8 family isn't being left out in the cold for 2023. The new model year brings a smattering of updates, mainly in the visual department, such as refreshed metallic paint color options and a new color for the merino leather seats and microsuede upholstery. Featherweight M Carbon seats are now available as well. The iconic BMW roundels can be optioned for M logos, and dark accents are inside the adaptive LED headlights. The only functional change is to the touchscreen infotainment system that stretches from 10.3 to 12.3 inches.

Five-star Accommodations

What meets the eye is a gleaming GT car that commands attention at every turn. Its long, low, and wide profile is accentuated with aggressive styling from the Bavarian camp and brash cues, like a carbon-fiber roof. In our tester's case, the drama is taken to the next level with $5,400 worth of carbon-fiber bits, imbuing this low-slung sled with enough of the carbon stuff to make an Italian superbike manufacturer envious. Within all that is one singular truth: M8 GC's physical presence cannot be denied. It's awesomely massive and nearly nine inches longer than its two-door M8 compatriots—yet it knows how to use it.

That plays out positively when stepping inside the spacious interior. There isn't a single stitch out of place in the elegant microsuede upholstery, the supple merino leather seating, nor the finishing. The entire experience is gushingly elegant in a way befitting a six-figure price tag.

Plopped in the sportily scalloped heated and cooled driver's seat, it's difficult to dismiss the sports car vibe reinforced by a chunky, leather-wrapped steering wheel. It all speaks to an athletic M-car narrative, although I wouldn't compare the rear bench to being in the cheap seats, either. The full-length console will cramp the middle passenger's legs on the next family ski trip, but the practical argument holds water for your partner. Look at the facts: It's a four-door, five-seater with ample trunk space that can be put in a two-wheel-drive mode and do rolling burnouts after soccer practice. I'm struggling to see the issue, personally.

A button-heavy cockpit layout flanks the revised 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system. Given how many competitors have gone all-in on touchscreens, it almost seems like a throwback in today's market. Apple Car Play and Android Auto are standard fare here, as well as a 16-speaker Harmon/Kardon sound system that sounds, well, surprisingly average.

Of course, once you get a taste of Gran Coupe, I suspect the only things you'll be pressing are M Mode (Road, Sport, and Track) and Setup buttons to fiddle with throttle, suspension, AWD, and braking settings. Alternatively, you've got the programmable M buttons on the steering to jump into your preferred settings on a whim.

M Is for Maniac

Lurking beneath the hood is a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 engine, flexing a monstrous 617hp and 552 ft-lbs of torque that will never lose its charm. The sheer amount of shove on-hand gives it prodigious passing power and becomes even more astounding when we consider it's pushing a car tipping the scales at nearly 4,500 pounds.

All that exceptionally smooth power is delivered to all four wheels via a snappy eight-speed transmission. Tapping the paddles and banging through the gears nets a hearty bark from the exhaust and even a few lovely burbles during deceleration without drawing the wrong kind of attention.

Coupled with the beefed-up Competition suspension and chassis, M8 GC becomes a willing dance partner when charging headlong through any choice section of road, with cornering abilities that fly in the face of its size. That's not to say it's as tack sharp as smaller sedans, but it does quite well in its own right. The steering is light and well-tuned, though it can lack pure road feel unless you start loading the chassis on the gas or brakes. The vagaries crop up when off-throttle. So, it's best to put the massive 275/35 front and 285/35 rear Pirelli P Zero tires to work and enjoy their immense grip.

The active damped suspension offers three modes (Comfort, Sport, and Sport Plus) that all land firmly on the stiffer side. I wouldn't say that the ride quality paddles backsides to the point of, "Thank you, sir, may I have another?" but it is flirting with the idea. How comfortable you are with this reality will probably be dictated by the amount of salt and pepper in your hair—but it's a hoot on a well-paved stretch of sinewy road.

We enjoyed our M8 tester with the optional ceramic carbon brakes ($8,500), featuring discs as big as dinner plates and silly amounts of stopping power. As impressive as they are, the only hiccup is BMW brake-by-wire can have a sharp initial bite that takes some foot recalibration.

The Beemer's inherent drivability is made possible by the outstanding, rearward-biased xDrive AWD system and accompanying electronic aids. Getting on the gas hard, you can feel the torque being applied just so while the traction control and active dampers all work harmoniously to flatter your driving skill.

Even the middle ground Sport mode can net a bit of sass out of the ass end. Those who want to experience the full regalia must activate the two-wheel-drive mode, where the nannies are lowest and all 617 ponies are going straight to the rear wheels. Indeed, it's as nuts as it sounds. On that note, options like the $1,700 Driving Assistance Pro package bring truly admirable adaptive cruise control into the fold. See? It's totally practical, and we'll ignore the middling mpg.

Long Live the M

There's nothing quite like a swaggering sport GT car, loaded to the gills with premium features and dripping in sex appeal. Its noise, looks, and panache make M8 Gran Coupe a head turner, and it's appointed with everything you'd demand at a price point destined for a well-heeled clientele. Wearing an M badge comes with certain expectations. Where that's concerned, BMW's big M8 has nothing to worry about. The taut chassis and intoxicating V8 engine dominate the conversation, while the electronic wizardry keeps everything tidy. It all stacks up to a car that leaves an impression. Once my week around Southern California was complete, I was left wanting more.

[From $130,000; bmwusa.com]