Nothing says '90s cool like purple paint, pillarless doors and a naturally aspirated V12
It took BMW a while - decades, in fact - to finally get around to topping off its lineup with a big, brawny grand tourer, but it did just that in 2018 with the new 8 Series, a car that followed on from one of the cult classics of the '90s. It was sleek and ticked all the luxury boxes you’d expect from a flagship GT.
So why is it the G15 never received the sort of love that the original E31 gets? Perhaps it’s the lack of a manual V12, which was never going to happen in this day and age but, even with 625hp in M8 form, a twin-turbo V8 auto just isn’t the same. While it doesn’t look nearly as, er, divisive as some of BMW’s recent offerings, the newer 8 Series doesn't hold a candle to the original’s silhouette, pillarless doors and, of course, pop-up headlights.
That being said, the E31 was hardly a runaway success in its day. The angular look was conceived by Klaus Kapitza in the mid-80s and though it was still fresh come its release in 1990, the quirky GT lacked something when compared to the gorgeousthat arrived soon after. Therein lay another issue with the 8 Series: it was in the truest sense of the term a ‘luxury GT’, but at the time buyers weren’t entirely sure whether it served as the successor to the 6 Series or M1 supercar.
Underneath, the suspension was overhauled with sportier dampers, stiffer springs and BMW’s Active Rear Axle Kinematics - the company’s first application of rear-axle steering. The bumpers were also redesigned to reduce lift at the expense of drag , while the wheels gained BMW’s achingly cool throwing star wheels.
Hard to think of a better colour to pair them with than this example’s stunning shade of Techno Violet - two-tone leather in light and dark grey is a fine choice, too. It looks especially good after a bare-metal respray was carried out in 2017, while more recent work includes replacement dampers up front, a new clutch plus discs and pads all around. It really is a beautiful thing, and looks to have been well cared for over the last 30 years and 70,000 miles.
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