BMW’s latest 8-Series coupe takes its two-door aspirations to the top of its lineup. The 2019 M850i xDrive has extravagant power and electronically agile handling, though it’s weighed down by all its complexity.

We rate the 8-Series an 8 for performance, with an extra point for ride and handling and two for its marvelous drivetrain. (Read more about how we rate cars.)

BMW fits a twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V-8 to both the 8-Series coupe and convertible. In either, it’s a scintillating hammer to hold. BMW rates it at 523 hp at 5,500 rpm and 553 lb-ft of torque, which peaks at 1,800 rpm and maintains that stronghold through 4,600 rpm. Silent until it’s irked, the V-8’s sensuous at higher speeds and full throttle, and in its more focused drive modes, crackles and rumbles with muscle-car authenticity.

All 8-Series cars shift power to all four wheels via an ideal bedmate, an 8-speed automatic with paddle shift controls. The 8-Series’ standard all-wheel-drive system sends more torque to the rear wheels in most situations, and the rear axle sports a limited-slip differential for superior traction.

All the hardware in place, the sonorous M850i xDrive rockets to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds in coupe form, 3.8 seconds as a convertible, either available through BMW’s pre-programmed launch control—an apt name for code that allows a 4,500-4,700-pound car to do anything this quickly. Both models reach a 155-mph electronically limited top speed.

BMW 8-Series ride and handling

The 8-Series’ adaptive suspension and trick electric power steering lend it size-defying moves, though it’s not always easy to see the corners the 8er loves to clip.

A front double-wishbone and five-link rear suspension get a helping hand from adaptive dampers that give the 8-Series a wider latitude of ride quality and handling capability. As it sits in base Comfort mode, it’s a prodigious mile-swallower that’s well-suited to roads like the Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu, where a convertible M850i let us soak up brilliant mile after mile with just an occasional quiver across its front end. (No roof means lesser structural integrity, so choose wisely). Through its drive-mode selector the 8-Series can stiffen its shocks to deflect bumps and to firm up its grip on tight canyon roads, where the car seems big enough to swallow more than the pavement. It never feels brutish.

That’s where its active steering helps: With the available system, the rear wheels turn 2.5 degrees in the opposite direction of the fronts at speeds below 45 mph (55 mph in Sport or Sport Plus mode). Those slight angles help the massive car pivot better in hairpins, while another optional active roll-bar system counters cornering force to let the 8-Series move with less lean through the same bends. The M850i doesn’t wallow in excessive lean or roll anyway, and doesn’t have copious amounts of steering feedback, but with all those systems engaged it’s a remarkably engaging car.

It’s truer on a racetrack, where we’ve driven the coupe at relatively unbridled triple-digit speeds, without worrying about skinny roads and its wide track. Dialed into Sport Plus mode, with relaxed stability and traction control, a wide-open sport exhaust system, and fully tensed dampers and weighty steering, the 8-Series does anything it’s asked, with a fair measure of understeer that even staggered 245/35 front and 275/30-series rear tires can’t overcome.

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