2019 BMW M850i- The Joy Of Being Surprised

When I was but a teenaged car freak, few cars held the appeal of the original BMW 8 Series coupe. Introduced in 1989, the 8 Series, specifically the V-12-powered 850i, was truly perceived as the ultimate in ultimate driving machines. What would Gordon Gekko drive? An 8 Series, obviously.

- Jonny Lieberman

With the possible exception of the i8, BMW hasn’t built a lustworthy halo car since the OG 8, and I say the brand’s image has suffered as a result. Fast forward to now: Even though luxury coupe sales are nearly nonexistent, BMW is bringing back the 8 Series to try to get some of that swaggering, master-of-the-universe mojo back.

Tall order. See, the 4,500-pound elephant in the room is that the new G11 8 Series—like the old 6 Series—is derived from the 5 Series. Ye olde E31 8 Series was a completely unique platform that BMW spent eight years and $1.5 billion developing. This one? I figured the M850i would be nothing but an M550i with two doors hacked off. And so it was in beautiful Sintra, Portugal, home of the legendary former F1 circuit of Estoril, that I approached BMW’s effort at a flagship coupe with a heart full of hope but a mind full of cynicism. In the case of the 2019 BMW M850i xDrive, the heart fortunately, magnificently, thrillingly wins over the head.