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BMW 8 Series turns 25 [w/video]

From the very beginning, the BMW 8 Series was a head turner. It was hardly a common sight in the first place, and the angular lines and low, pointed nose made the GT look like something special on the road. It's been 25 years since the Bavarian brand's flagship coupe of the '90s debuted, and owners celebrated the anniversary in style in Germany.
The 8 Series still looks great today, but its popup headlights give away its age a little. You just don't see them anymore. It was introduced at the 1989 Frankfurt Motor Show as the 850i with a 5.0-liter V12 under the hood capable of 295 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque. Later, even bigger V12s would find their way in there. Production lasted until 1999, but they were rather exclusive with 30,621 built in its lifetime.
To celebrate the anniversary, several BMW clubs organized 120 examples for display at the company's headquarters in Munich. The brand took advantage of the display to show off the ultimate 8 prototype as well. The one-off special packed a 550-horsepower V12 and a body with optimized aero. That engine eventually became the basis for the one in the McLaren F1.

More details emerge on hotter BMW i8S coming next year

The BMW i8 recently won the Autoblog Technology of the Year award, and it's going to get even better. In October, Automobile magazine reported that BMW's i brand is working on an i8S that would be stiffer and more powerful, and celebrate the marque's centenary in 2016. At the time, one of two power unit combinations was suggested, either one of them good for more than 500 horsepower. Car magazine has added more info on the coupe said to be called Project M100, saying that in addition to being a birthday gift for BMW, it will also be a going-away statement to current chairman Norbert Reithofer, who is expected to retire in 2016 or 2017. It will also be so thoroughly reworked that there will be plenty of daylight between it and the standard i8: a more integrated carbon fiber and aluminum chassis, a wider range of materials used in the build, a larger luggage bay due to the omission of rear seats, a more aggressive suspension supporting heartier brakes and wider tires, and - perhaps - a different aero and ground-effects package to be visually different and make the most of the alterations. As for that power unit, Car says that the two options mentioned by Automobile are still under consideration, being either a 2.0-liter twin-turbo four-cylinder with 320 horsepower and a 204-hp electric motor, or a 3.0-liter straight six with 480 hp and an electric motor with 109 hp. Either choice gets an integrated starter motor good for another 27 hp, and a total torque number of roughly 520 pound-feet, 100 additional lb-ft than the current car. Word is that it will be shown for the centenary in 2016 then go on sale by the end of 2017.

Here's how Detroit is selling more luxury vehicles than Germany and Japan

Now there's an attention-grabbing headline, eh? Although the answer to the riddle - pickup trucks and SUVs - might be somehow deflating, the numbers involved deserve a going over. According to TrueCar's figures (click on the table to enlarge), six of the year's ten best-selling vehicles in the US that sell for a transaction price above $50,000 are body-on-frame, and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class is the only foreigner to crack the top five. Every enthusiast knows that pickup trucks are 'Murica's most popular vehicle by a colossal margin, and there have been plenty of reports about the popularity of luxuriously appointed trucks and SUVs, but compare these figures from TrueCar: 70 percent of Chevrolet Tahoe sales have a transaction price above $50K, and The Bowtie is expected to make $3.9 billion in revenue on 66,945 predicted high-dollar sales; 95.1 percent of E-Class sales break $50K, so the German company will make $4.0 billion on 67,006 predicted sales in that pricing sphere. It's about the only time you'll see the Tahoe ranked right next to Mercedes' bread-and-butter sedan. Ram is ahead of those two with $4.2B coming from $50K-plus sales. The Ford F-Series does almost as much revenue as the next three combined, with an expected $10.8 billion coming from sales of trucks over $50K - more than a quarter of the model's total sales, when a base F-150 can be had for about $26,000. Yes, the Germans make a lot more money on fewer sales, but considering the comparison, the bottom line isn't too troubled by such facts. Weighing like-for-like, the full-size Ford walks it in every category; elsewhere, the Chevrolet Silverado outsells the Ram, but the Ram outsells the Chevy by 6.7 percent above $50K. And for all the flak GMC takes over swapping out grilles, the Sierra also outsells the Chevy in the well-appointed segment, 16.1 percent of sales versus 11 percent – the Professional Grade brand is a huge profit center for The General. You'll find more info in the TrueCar press release below. TrueCar finds pickup trucks far outsell premium brands among top 10 vehicles over $50,000 Ford F-Series pickup sales over $50,000 surpass combined BMW 3, 5, 7 Series luxury car sales SANTA MONICA, Calif. (December 10, 2014) - TrueCar, Inc., the negotiation-free car buying and selling platform, finds mainstream pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles dominate U.S.