0-60, quarter mile and the 2023 update, explained
2.5 s to 60 and 10.7 s at 129 mph on Car and Driver's timing gear. BMW rates it at 617 hp, in a luxury coupe that weighs over two tons.
Car and Driver timed a 2020 BMW M8 Competition Coupe at 2.5 seconds recorded from 0 to 60 mph and 10.7 s at 129 mph recorded in the quarter mile, with the first foot of rollout subtracted (Car and Driver). It's the quickest published test of the coupe, and those are the numbers our race uses.
BMW claims 3.0 s claimed to 60 mph for the U.S. car (BMW USA) and 3.2 s claimed from 0 to 100 km/h (BMW). Other testers were slower: MotorTrend recorded 3.3 s and 11.4 s at 124.6 mph recorded (MotorTrend), and Edmunds 3.2 s and 11.2 s at 125 mph recorded (Edmunds). This page covers the 2023 coupe; the test car was a 2020. BMW's 2019 and 2022 releases give both the same 617 hp and 553 lb-ft claimed, the same eight-speed automatic and the same M xDrive.
BMW announced the facelift in January 2022 and started U.S. production that March. In America the M8 became Competition-only, the 600 hp base car gone. The center screen grew from 10.25 to 12.3 inches, the laser headlights got dark M Shadowline inserts, and five new paint colors arrived, along with optional M Carbon bucket seats (BMW USA).
The engine, gearbox, all-wheel drive and BMW's 3.0 s claimed 0-60 figure stayed the same.
Photo: a 2023 M8 Competition Coupe, after the update, at Bicester Heritage in January 2024, by Calreyn88, CC BY 4.0, resized and edited to blur the number plate and bystanders.
Every figure carries its label. claimed means BMW said it. recorded is timed or measured on an actual car by a named tester. reported is press we couldn't trace to a primary source. derived is our math. Here's how we label numbers.
Each bar fills at the real speed of that car's 0-60 time. The M8's 2.5 s and the GT-R's 2.9 s are Car and Driver measurements; the Tesla times are Tesla's claims. The second M8 bar is MotorTrend's 2020 coupe. Every other bar subtracts the first foot of rollout; MotorTrend doesn't say whether its figure does.
By driving the rear wheels first. BMW says the system "only sends torque to the front wheels when the rear wheels reach the limit of their traction," through a transfer case with a fully variable multi-plate clutch. At the back, an Active M Differential can lock from 0 to 100 percent claimed (BMW USA).
Car and Driver's launch held 2,800 rpm and the car "blasts off without a chirp of the tire, shifting twice before 60 mph." Its verdict: the run "goes to show how a car can leverage all-wheel drive to benefit acceleration."
The first slide is our own generated illustration, not BMW photography or design data. The others are real photos of cars built before the 2023 update, credited on each slide.
Tap a marker. Figures are BMW claims unless noted. The side view is our own generated illustration, not BMW photography.
The black trunk-lid spoiler has a notch in the middle that mirrors the double-bubble roof, BMW says.
Carbon fiber at the highest point cuts weight and lowers the center of gravity. Its double-bubble shape is "reminiscent of classic racing cars."
The M Carbon exterior package swaps the grille surrounds, mirror caps, side gills, spoiler and diffuser for carbon fiber. On Car and Driver's test car it cost $5,400.
BMW's name for the vents behind the front wheels, with integrated M gills. U.S. cars finish them in Black Chrome.
Drilled 395 mm front discs with six-piston calipers come standard; carbon ceramics grow them to 400 mm. UK buyers could pick red, blue or black calipers.
The adaptive LED headlights with Laserlight show blue accents and reach up to 600 meters on high beam. The 2023 car darkened them with M Shadowline inserts.
Ten-second quick, on its best day. Car and Driver's 10.7 s at 129 mph is the fastest of three published tests of the coupe, and the magazine called it "one of the cheapest ways to get into the 10s in the quarter-mile." The four-door Gran Coupe, 126 lb heavier on Car and Driver's scales derived, ran 10.8 s at 129 mph in a 2021 comparison test.
Every M8 Competition shared the 617 hp V8, the eight-speed and M xDrive.
Two doors and a standard carbon roof.
Nearly ten inches longer, with a carbon roof too.
The roof folds in 15 seconds at up to 30 mph.
The M8 had a racing twin before it had a road car. In January 2019 the M8 GTE won the GTLM class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Heavy rain stopped the race twice; one lap before the second stoppage, Augusto Farfus put the #25 car into the class lead, and the race never restarted. It was BMW Team RLL's first Daytona win, and the team dedicated it to the late BMW Motorsport figure Charly Lamm (Rahal Letterman Lanigan).
A year later it won the class again: Jesse Krohn passed the leading Porsche with 46 minutes left, in a race where the lead changed hands more than 40 times (BMW USA). BMW says lessons from developing the GTE fed into the road car's setup (BMW).
Eight years of the M8, from a show car to the end of production. Scroll sideways.
BMW shows the design at Villa d'Este.
The M8 GTE race car first runs at Plant Dingolfing.
The GTE finishes seventh in GTLM at Daytona.
A road-car prototype runs at Estoril with M xDrive and a 2WD mode.
The #25 M8 GTE leads GTLM when rain ends the race.
BMW shows the M8 Competition Coupe: 617 hp and 3.0 s to 60 claimed.
Coupe and convertible go into production in Dingolfing.
The M8 Gran Coupe joins the family.
A second straight GTLM win for the M8 GTE.
Car and Driver's instrumented test, the source of our race figures recorded.
A bigger screen and darker lights; Competition-only in the U.S.
U.S. production begins; the update premieres at Amelia Island.
Dealers are told 2025 is the coupe's final model year reported.
The last M8s are built, a source tells BimmerLife reported.
Testers agreed on the speed and argued about the purpose. These are opinions, quoted with links.
"The M8 is quicker to 60 mph than a 710-hp Ferrari 488 Pista."Car and Driver, 2020, road test
Top Gear's long-term tester agreed in 2023: "Now, you kind of expect the M8 to be fast. But not that fast."
"That the M5 Competition will do it for some $60,000 less and includes an extra set of doors makes this M8 seem almost sane."Car and Driver, 2020, road test
evo's verdict line: "Can't hide its weight; lacks that M-car fizz."
"Fails to fulfil the role of either a true GT car or a sports car"Autocar, 2020, review
Top Gear, 2023: "it doesn't know whether it wants to be a luxury car or a super car."
"For that reason, and many others, we will miss the M8 as it heads into retirement."Road & Track, 2025, Gran Coupe test
evo, also in 2025: "depreciation has made it more appealing for those looking to buy used."
The consensus: nobody argues with the straight-line speed. Instrumented tests matched or beat BMW's own 3.0 s claim, and Car and Driver's put the coupe into the 10s. Reviewers also agree it's heavy, at over two tons, and that the weight dulls it on a twisty road. Where they split is purpose: some call it a brilliant fast grand tourer, others a car caught between GT and sports car, in the shadow of the cheaper M5.
Edmunds Cars · Jul 14, 2023 · 10:37
DragTimes · Feb 19, 2020 · 11:11
Edmunds Cars · May 31, 2024 · 13:11
carwow · Apr 22, 2025 · 10:13
BMW M · Jan 25, 2022 · 1:02
BMW M · Aug 7, 2019 · 9:17
Doug DeMuro · Dec 6, 2019 · 23:17
Top Gear · Mar 2, 2020 · 5:57
Car and Driver · Feb 3, 2021 · 3:04
Extra Throttle House · Jul 17, 2024 · 13:27
In the early 1990s BMW built one M8 prototype on the old 8 Series, with a 6.0-liter V12 rated at 640 hp. It never went on sale, and BMW kept it hidden until 2010.
BMW called the V8 "the most powerful engine ever developed for a BMW M GmbH car" in 2019. evo said in 2025 that it still was.
The M8 shares its powertrain with the F90 M5. Car and Driver lists the same 617 hp and 553 lb-ft for the 2021 M5 Competition.
The M8 GTE rolled out two years before road-car production began. BMW says GTE development "played a role in the configuration process" of the road car, along with testing at the Nordschleife.
Launch control holds 2,800 rpm, and Car and Driver's car left "without a chirp of the tire," changing gear twice before 60 mph.
On the updated car, UK buyers could pay £250 for the classic BMW Motorsport roundel, a logo that first appeared on the brand's first racing car in 1973.
The coupe and convertible went into production at BMW's Dingolfing plant in Lower Bavaria on July 1, 2019, the same day as the 8 Series Gran Coupe.
In October 2025, evo found UK coupes with about 50,000 miles for just under £50,000, against £132,000 new in the final year reported.
An M Performance Parts display car in Japan, November 2024; the wrap and parts aren't standard. Photo: Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and edited to blur bystanders; shared under the same license.
Of the 21 cars in our race lineup, the M8 Competition has the 18th-quickest quarter mile, Car and Driver's 10.7 s. The car just quicker and the car just slower:
Car and Driver recorded 2.5 seconds in a 2020 M8 Competition Coupe, with the first foot of rollout subtracted, and that is the figure our race uses. BMW claims 3.0 seconds to 60 mph for the U.S. car and 3.2 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h. MotorTrend recorded 3.3 seconds and Edmunds 3.2 seconds in their own tests of the coupe.
Car and Driver recorded 10.7 seconds at 129 mph in its 2020 test of the M8 Competition Coupe, and our race uses that run. Edmunds recorded 11.2 seconds at 125 mph and MotorTrend 11.4 seconds at 124.6 mph. In a 2021 Car and Driver comparison test, the four-door M8 Competition Gran Coupe ran 10.8 seconds at 129 mph.
Both numbers describe the same engine. BMW rates the 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 at 460 kW, which it publishes as 625 hp in the metric horsepower unit common in Europe. BMW USA and Car and Driver list 617 hp at 6,000 rpm, the same output in American horsepower. Torque is 553 lb-ft, or 750 Nm, in both cases.
Slightly, with the same engine. Car and Driver lists 617 hp and 553 lb-ft for both cars, and its tests recorded 2.5 seconds to 60 mph and a 10.7-second quarter mile for the 2020 M8 coupe, against 2.8 seconds and 10.9 seconds for the 2021 M5 Competition. Road & Track found the M8 Gran Coupe three tenths quicker to 60 mph than the newer hybrid M5.
No. Car and Driver recorded the 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S at 2.2 seconds to 60 mph and 10.1 seconds in the quarter mile, and the 2026 model at 9.7 seconds at 142 mph. It recorded the M8 Competition Coupe at 2.5 and 10.7 seconds. Our race uses the 2026 Porsche's 9.7 seconds and the M8's 10.7, so the Porsche reaches the line a second sooner.
Yes, by every report, though BMW hasn't announced it in a press release. Car and Driver reported in December 2024 that BMW told dealers the 2025 model year would be the coupe's last and that orders had closed. BimmerLife later reported, citing a source familiar with BMW's plans, that M8 production ended in October 2025. BMW has not announced a direct replacement.
Labels. Claimed: BMW said it. Recorded: timed or measured on an actual car by a named tester, with the car and the test named. Reported: press reporting we couldn't trace to a primary source, including the end of production, which BMW hasn't announced in a release. Derived: our math, explained in the methodology guide. Race figures come from the lineup in our quarter-mile race, which uses Car and Driver's 2020 test of an M8 Competition Coupe for this car; the page describes the 2023 coupe, which BMW rates at the same 617 hp. Car and Driver subtracts the first foot of rollout from its 0-60 times, 0.2 s for this car. See every car in our car profiles.
Where sources disagree. BMW's documents give the torque band as 1,800 to 5,800 rpm, 1,800 to 5,860 rpm (2019 U.S. release) and 1,850 to 5,860 rpm (2022 U.S. release). BMW lists the coupe at 4,867 mm (191.6 in) in Europe and 191.2 in in the U.S. Top speed with the M Driver's Package is 189 mph in BMW's 2019 releases and 190 mph in its 2022 release; both are the same 305 km/h limiter. BMW quotes a 4,295 lb curb weight; Car and Driver weighed its car at 4,251 lb and MotorTrend at 4,202 lb. MotorTrend's 2025 BMW roundup prints the M8's trap speed as 123 mph; its original test says 124.6 mph, which we use. Edmunds doesn't state the model year, date or rollout method of its test.
Images. 2023 photo: Calreyn88, CC BY 4.0, resized and edited to blur the number plate and bystanders. Front and rear photos of a 2020 car, before the 2023 update: Alexander Migl and Alexander Migl, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and edited to blur number plates. Interior photo of a 2019 car: Vauxford, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and edited to blur bystanders. M Performance Parts display car: Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and edited to blur bystanders. Our edits of the CC BY-SA photos are shared under the same license. The hero and the front, side and rear views are our own generated illustrations, not BMW photography or design data. None of the images are BMW photos.
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