[MUSIC PLAYING] MARK TAKAHASHI: In the 1990s, BMW introduced the 8 Series, a sleek coupe with strong performance. Honestly, it was one of those cars that I lusted after for that entire decade. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a one-hit wonder. They made that one generation. That was it. However, like a lot of one-hit wonders, there’s a reunion tour. And this is it. The 2019 BMW 8 Series. Before I get too deep into the 8 Series, do me a favor and hit subscribe below. We’ve got a lot of great content coming your way as well as a review of the BMW Z4 roadster, which I just happened to test drive here, the Estoril circuit in Portugal. Up front, the new 8 Series is all BMW with the twin kidney grills and swept back headlights. It’s very identifiable for the brand. Along the side, it’s pretty clean. And I like it for that reason. You also get this long hood that denotes power combined with that stubby rear end. Its classic coupe styling, which made me love the original 8 Series. You don’t have a lot going on here. And that’s a good thing. Really subtle creases. One up here that just kind of disappears into the bodywork. And a nice aggressive flare-out here from the roof pillar. Overall, this is one of those cars I think is going to age very, very well. There’s one question I want to have answered by the end of this video, which is, does this new 8 Series live up to the 8 Series heritage? SPEAKER: And then from there I’ll start increasing the pace a little bit. Have fun, guys MARK TAKAHASHI: OK, here we go. We’re in sport plus mode. I’m going to stay in sport plus mode the whole time. They’re all going to come standard with adaptive dampers, as well as rear wheel steering. It’s a little less squirrely because of that rear steer. It’s going to kind of gracefully draw you out to the edge of the track. Is this a track car? Probably not. It’s pretty heavy. It feels heavy. Oh, but it’s good. Ah, I can get used to that sound. And I don’t even care if that’s fake sound. Woo, there’s power, power, power. OK, that’s over 200 kilometers. Still– here we go. Braking at 240 kilometers. Brakes feel pretty decent. It’s not a really wooden pedal or anything. Whoa, there’s traction control right there. The traction and stability control lets you get away with quite a bit before it reins you back in. As long as you hold a little bit of a slide, it’ll let you do it, up to a certain point. And then once you start lifting out of it, it’ll straighten you out real quick. No need to muscle it around. OK, now that A pillar is in my way. Could be just the angle I was in. I tend to lean more in my seat than most drivers. Call it a motorcycle thing. Yeah, these shifts from the automatic are pretty good. They’re quick. Rev matching is obviously perfect. Yeah, just taking it down that one notch for stability control really opened it up quite a bit. And I’m able to get on the power and let it slide a little bit more. It’s a good balance, though. It doesn’t feel like it’s nose heavy or tail happy, which means you can kind of get it pointed whichever way you want with combination of brake and throttle. It’s very capable. I would love to drive this up Highway 1 towards Big Sur. The big question is, is that GoPro still on the roof? Well, that was worth it. [REVVING] I had very high expectations for the interior of this 8 Series. And it met those expectations with ease. Materials quality is excellent throughout. I mean, everything just feels right. Standard equipment is a leather covered dash with really, really nice stitching. And if there’s one thing– it’s a real nitpick here– is the reach back to get the seat belt. It’s an awkward crane that you kind of have to pull through. They should have just thrown together one of those seat belt presenters that they have in other cars. But once you do have the seat belt, you get these really nice stripes on here, the BMW M stripes are sewn right into the seat belt. It’s a nice touch. Like every other BMW, the buttons and everything just seem to fall into hand perfectly. It’s right where you want it. We have an optional kind of glass crystal shifter here with a light up 8 behind it. Maybe not my taste entirely, but it’s a conversation piece. It looks cool. What can I say? This has the very latest iDrive system as well. They have these neat jeweled facets on the knobs, on the shifter, on some of the buttons as well. You have a wireless charging pad right here. And like the other latest versions of iDrive, you don’t have to have your phone plugged into the USB to use Apple CarPlay. That’s a huge bonus, at least for me. Interior storage is pretty good. That’s a decent sized bin right there. Two cup holders up here, right behind the wireless charging pad. The door pockets, they’re OK. They’re about moderately sized. You can put a medium sized water bottle in there without any problem as well as some other personal effects. All in all, this was a great place to spend some time this afternoon driving throughout Portugal. I really quite enjoyed it. All right, rear seat comfort, or lack thereof. There’s not a lot of space back here. I’m 5 foot 10. This seat is pretty much set for me, even actually set a little closer just out of consideration for a rear seat passenger. Yeah, it’s really cramped back here. I definitely can’t sit up straight. My head is bumping into the headliner. It’s not a lot of space. My knees are also banging into the back of the seat. The seat cushions are very low, very short. But this is a sport coupe. Yeah, I don’t even think I’d be very good back here in a pinch just to go to dinner. So keep that in mind if passenger space is a big deal for you. I want to get out of here now. Oy. Oh. Ow. While I’ll begrudgingly admit that coupes aren’t the most practical, this 8 Series isn’t nearly as impractical as you might think. There’s almost 15 cubic feet of cargo space back here. That’s more than enough space for a weekend getaway. There’s a ton of luggage space back there. And the rear seats fold flat. Not bad. After driving this 8 Series throughout Portugal and here at the Estoril circuit, I can say, yes, it does its heritage well. It’s just as sophisticated and sporty looking as the original 8 Series. And it’s a blast to drive too. Compared to its main rival, the Mercedes Benz S-Class coupe, the 8 Series is more of a driver’s car. It’s fun to drive. It encourages sporty driving. And it just seems a lot better suited to twisty mountain roads than the S-Class coupe. This is more suited to people who really like performance. This is my choice in that very small luxury coupe class. For more information on the 8 Series as well as its competition, head on over to Edmunds.com. 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