2022 BMW M8 Gran Coupe

The price of the BMW M8 Gran Coupe begins at an MSRP of $130,000 before options, making it one of the most expensive new BMWs on sale in the USA. This excludes destination and handling fees of $995. With every available extra, the bill will increase to over $162,000.

You really have to decide what you want to use this car for. It starts with the rubber band tires with an aspect ratio of 35. That's the percentage of how much of the tire is sidewall and cushiony. That's a low number, so there isn't much cushion. We expect that out of an M car, but this is such a big, family-style M car we thought we'd get a little more waft. And any M8 absolutely requires winter tires if you live in the north. We were slipping all over the road in this German manatee. And it's made worse by the driver assistance systems taking over the wheel, sometimes it felt like it was losing traction, not keeping it.

The M8 Gran Coupe gets a double-wishbone front and five-link rear suspension with special bushings, swivel bearings, and strut tie bars. BMW says that forces moving through the control arms, wishbones, sub-frames, and to the body provide handling and agility without compromising comfort. We concur - it certainly handles well.

And in the Comfort driving mode, it is a little softer. The transmission and throttle relax, the adaptive suspension smooths out more bumps and the steering gets easier. We could still hear the ping of those tires crossing expansion joints on the highway. Sport mode turns everything up, and in fairer weather we would have left it in that setting the whole time, kidneys be damned.

This M8 Gran Coupe, like Audi RS7 and even the Porsche Panamera Turbo S, could easily be your only car. While it doesn't have loads of cargo space, it's enough to go on vacation with your significant other, it would be aces on road trips as long as you stay in Comfort mode, and if the need strikes, you can hit the track. Our tester had carbon ceramic brakes, which you'd need for any serious track work, as this car weighs in at almost 4,500 pounds and you'll definitely be pushing it to go faster.

However, when you switch to maximum attack mode - Sport Plus mode - it doesn't feel like "The Big M8" we hear so much about. This car is easy to handle in a parking lot, as it is at full speed on the freeway. It will shoot through surprisingly small gaps and take on anything off the line south of a full-on supercar. If you have the means, we highly recommend it.

If we were choosing our dream M8 Competition Gran Coupe, first we'd give ourselves a high five for making so much money, then we'd get to checking boxes. It starts at $130,000, and to that we'd add a cheap paint color like Motegi Red Metallic. This beast looks equally gorgeous in the no-cost options. There are a couple of cool 20-inch wheel options that don't add anything to your total. We would splurge on upholstery options by adding the Sakhir Orange interior for $3,500. We'd stick with the Ash Grain Grey-Metallic Wood trim, too.

On the options list, we'd tick the boxes for the Comfort Seating Package for $850. We're in two minds about the Driver Assistance packages; on the one hand, we like the added safety, but on the other hand, it was jumping in too often on the slushy roads and became annoying. Luckily it can be turned off, so we'll add both for $1,800. We wouldn't be too bothered with the expensive carbon ceramic brakes, unless the plan was to track the GC. All in all that puts us out $136,150, not including the $995 in destination fees.

Both the M8 Gran Coupe and RS7 are interesting alternatives to more conventional sedans. They each have arresting styling, spacious cabins, and powerful turbocharged V8 engines. The 591-hp Audi will hit 60 mph in an impressive 3.5 seconds, while the 617-hp BMW shaves half a second off that time. The Audi's interior packs more of a visual punch and it also has a much bigger trunk, but its reliance on touchscreen controls makes it less user-friendly than the BMW's cabin. Both cars are fabulous to drive and have grip reserves that will not be challenged on most public roads. We'd say that the Audi is a little more comfortable and the BMW a little more exciting at the limit, but it's a close call. At $118,500, the Audi is cheaper than the $130,000 BMW, but the M8 makes up for that with its more powerful V8. Audi fans are unlikely to be swayed by the BMW and vice versa, but if you aren't loyal to either brand, you can't go wrong with either model in this comparison.

The M5 is a more conservative package but still packs a mighty V8 punch, as we've explained in our reviews of the M5 sedan. It also offers more configurations, including a Competition model and a hyper-focused CS. Its boxier lines conceal a more practical interior for five occupants and a larger trunk, but the M8 Gran Coupe is undeniably sexier. The base M5 makes 600 hp but is nearly as quick, taking 3.2 seconds to reach 60 relative to the M8's three seconds. Notably, the base M5 is almost $30,000 cheaper - that money could go towards one of the many options. Both are similar to drive, being comfortable on the highway and athletic in the corners, but we would have liked more feedback through the steering. If you prefer flying under the radar, the M5 is the obvious choice. But these are performance cars designed to excite, and for that reason, we find it hard to resist the appeal of the seductive M8 Gran Coupe.