Cars Polestar 1 (2020) review

First shown at the 1989 Frankfurt Auto Show, the 850i – or E31 in BMW-speak – followed the 750i saloon as the second post-war German car to be powered by a 12-cylinder engine.

According to the company, BMW ‘launched its challenge to the world’s finest sports coupes with a design oozing avant-garde elegance, arresting performance attributes, an exceptional wealth of innovations and a sprinkling of exclusive luxury’. Sounds promising…

Mazda MX-30 2020 UK review

A classy, comfortable, refined, well-equipped and well-priced crossover – but at the cost of a range that will put off many buyersThe interior also merges some of the spatial benefits of its dedicated EV architecture with some reassuringly conventional features. The clean dashboard creates a real sense of space, with the 8.8in infotainment screen set back in the dashboard. There’s also a 7.0in colour touchscreen to operate the climate control. But this isn’t a form-over-function touchscreen takeover: the climate control screen is surrounded by physical buttons, and the infotainment is operated via a rotary controller built into the ‘floating’ centre console.

Indeed, BMW’s flagship coupe made a brilliant first impression. Within eight days of the Frankfurt show, it had received 5,000 orders. By the summer of 1990, it was reported that the entire production of 10,000 to 12,000 cars a year had been sold out until 1993. Some people were prepared to spend twice the showroom price to avoid the six-month waiting list.

This was the first time BMW had used the number eight in its model line-up, with the 8 Series breaking new ground for the brand. Power came from a 5.0-litre 12-cylinder engine, which was mated to a six-speed manual gearbox developed specifically for the 850i. A four-speed automatic was optional.

It might seem a contradiction in terms for a car powered by a 5.0-litre V12, but efficiency was a key target during the 850’s development. Central to this was aerodynamics, with BMW setting out the aim of a drag coefficient (Cd) of less than 0.3. Aerodynamic door mirrors, recessed windscreen wipers and super-tight seals on the side windows were just three of the elements resulting in a Cd of just 0.29.

Polestar 2 2020 UK review

Luxury electric hatchback loses its special suspension – and £5000 from its asking priceBoth variants get the same 78kWh battery and 292 miles of WLTP range and the same Valeo-Siemens electric motors – one for each axle, making more than 400bhp in total. Drivability is equally good. It’s all very easygoing, although push through initially quite hesitant throttle response and the 2 is uncomfortably quick. Floor it and this car would initially out-drag a BMW M4 or Porsche 911 Turbo S.

Other highlights included pop-up headlights, the absence of a B-pillar, speed-sensitive power steering, an electrically adjustable steering column with memory function, remote central locking, auto dimming rear-view mirror, two computers, a mobile phone located in the centre console and safety belts integrated into the seats. This, along with dynamic stability control, represented two firsts for BMW.

Given the evidence presented, it’s hard to see how the 8 Series could fail. The cabin was another positive, with the 850i featuring a well-built and driver-focused interior. Writing in Car magazine, Russell Bulgin said: “As a place to pass the miles in, as a tax-free adjunct to an office, a Club Europe ticket and a platinum American Express card, the 850i interior is an elegant, soothing and high-tech minimalist home from home.” The interior shown is a later 840Ci.

What, if anything, went wrong for the 8 Series? History will be kind to the 8er, but there’s no getting away from the fact that it represents a glorious failure for Bavaria. Why else would BMW turn its back on the segment for the best part of two decades before taking enough brave pills to try again? For all that talk of waiting lists and production allocated for three years, BMW managed to shift a mere 30,621 examples of the 8 Series before pulling the plug in 1999.

In 1990, a BMW 850i would set you back upwards of £53,000, which is almost £105,000 in today’s money. For some context, a Mercedes-Benz SEC would be around £60,000 of your finest English pounds. The 850i was cheaper, yes, but it was far from perfect. To compound matters, launching a V12 on the eve of a financial depression wasn’t the best timing.

Toyota GR Yaris 2020 UK review

All-paw Yaris might be the most exciting addition to the hot hatchback market in a decade. Wickedly purposeful, and wonderfully evocative of fast 4x4s of old.It also has a manual gearbox; nothing less than the most powerful three-cylinder engine in any production vehicle in the world; and the first proprietary four-wheel drive system that Toyota has developed for a road car in two decades, which can be set for a rear-biased torque distribution and augmented with proper ‘Torsen’ limited-slip differentials for both axles as you prefer. If that doesn’t excite you, folks? Well, I’m not sure any modern hot hatchback will.

Today, the BMW 8 Series can turn heads as well as any modern classic of the 1990s, but that wasn’t necessarily the case when the car was new. See an 850i in your rear-view mirror and you’d be forgiven for thinking you were being hustled by a banker in a Toyota Supra 3.0i Turbo. There’s nothing wrong with a Supra, but it cost nearly £40,000 less than the BMW. The well-heeled motorist simply must stand out from the crowd.

For all its technical wizardry – Active Rear Axle Kinematics (AHK), adjustable suspension and Servotronic steering – the 850i could never really make up its mind what it wanted to be. Drivers could select between ‘Sport’ and ‘Komfort’ modes, but while the 850i was certainly smooth and comfortable, the more practical and cheaper 750i did everything just as well. ‘Good, but not that good’, read the rather damning headline on the front of Car, June 1990.

BMW chipped away at the 8 Series, eager to perfect its super-coupe. In 1993, a second version of the 12-cylinder engine was added to create the 850CSi. This 5.6-litre unit offered 381hp and 401lb ft of torque, enough for it to complete the 60mph dash in less than 6.0 seconds. This is the point at which BMW introduced active rear axle kinematics, with the rear wheels responding to speed and steering angle by turning in the same direction.

Audi A3 Sportback 40 TFSIe 2020 UK review

Largely impressive plug-in hybrid set up with all the usual Audi design and build quality. Harsh ride spoils an otherwise smooth operatorThe electric motor is as you’d expect - smooth, full of torque and perfectly happy to live with other traffic up to the national speed limit. The regen braking is strong, but not so much that you can one-pedal this A3. You will need to touch the brakes.

Meanwhile, the 850i became the 850Ci, with standard equipment including a pair of airbags, infrared remote control and folding rear seat backrests. Dynamic stability control was available as an option and the automatic transmission was equipped with adaptive control.

The BMW 840Ci joined the line-up in 1993. Powered by a 286hp 4.0-litre V8 engine, the new entry-level 8 Series was designed to introduce a new audience to the car. It wasn’t a huge success, as more than two-thirds of all 8 Series sold were powered by a 12-cylinder engine.

In total, 30,621 8 Series were built, including 24 hand-built at BMW’s Rosslyn plant in South Africa. For tax reasons, assembling the cars there was more cost-effective than importing the finished articles. Today, 840 prices start from around £12,000, but you’ll pay more for a good example and much, much more for an 850, with the CSi commanding top dollar.

Sadly, a much rumoured M8 version never saw the light of day, but a one-off, high-performance variant of the 8 Series was completed in 1991 and featured an all-new 12-cylinder engine developing around 550hp, chassis tweaks and bespoke body features. Co-developed by BMW Motorsport and BMW Technik, the ‘M8’ was employed as a test bed for technology and innovations. Its engine, for example, served as the basis for the V12 unit powering the legendary McLaren F1.

This is the David Hockney Art Car: a BMW 850CSi completed in 1995. The artist said: “BMW gave me a model of the car and I looked at it time and time again. Finally, I thought it would be a good idea to show the car as if one could see inside.” Hockney turned the car inside out, making it transparent through unique perception. The hood sports a stylised reproduction of the engine’s intake manifold, the driver is visible through the door, and a dachshund (named Stanley) can be seen sitting on the back seat.

Alpina created two versions of the E31: a 5.0-litre produced from 1990 to 1994 and a 5.7-litre built from 1992 to 1996. In 5.7 guise, the Alpina B12 developed 416hp, enough for a 0-60 mph time of 5.5 seconds and top speed of 186mph.

It wasn’t until 2017, and the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, where BMW unveiled its svelte concept for a new 8 Series. The car previewed a more luxurious successor to the outgoing 6 Series. Excitement swelled for the return of BMW’s flagship GT.

This BMW also had duties to perform, namely in GTE-spec at Le Mans. In fact, we saw the racing 8 Series before the production version, at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2017. Sadly, the car proved a disappointment on-track, not achieving the wins BMW hoped for and attracting ridicule in online memes, due to its apparent size.

The M8 Gran Coupe Concept previewed the latest chapter of the 8 Series story, with BMW M5 power and a longer four-door saloon body. This would become, for our money, the most desirable version of the current 8 Series.

The real deal arrived a year later, codenamed G15 by BMW and featuring either a twin-turbo 530hp V8 or a straight-six diesel with 320hp. Both came with four-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic gearbox. Like the original 8 Series, it’s less a sports car and more a luxury GT. Although you can’t have a V12 engine this time. Boo.

The G14 convertible version advances the 8’s boulevard cruising credentials, while retaining its blistering performance. Its roof folds down in 15 seconds at speeds up to 31mph.

One of many odd special editions from BMW over the years, the 8 Series Night Sky Edition arrived in January 2019, with controls made from what BMW called ‘meteoric material’. In short, what wood veneer is for Rolls-Royces, space rock is for BMWs.

Although the M850i offered ample performance, we were all waiting for the proper M-car. The M8 Competition is the fastest road-going BMW ever made, with 625hp and switchable all-wheel drive. It hits 60mph in around 3.0 seconds, before settling to a 70mph cruise across Europe.

This is what the Germans like to call a four-door coupe. In truth, it’s a sleek-looking saloon. No matter – the 8 Series Gran Coupe has the road presence to compete with Aston Martins, Bentleys and other luxurious exotica.

Naturally, there’s also an M version of the Gran Coupe. More aggressive bumpers, bulbous exhausts and lashings of carbon fibre suit the 8 Gran Coupe’s muscular lines. The ultimate 8 Series?

Perhaps not. Misguided, misjudged or misunderstood – whatever your views on the 8 Series, you can’t deny its place in BMW history. Today, the styling of the original looks better than ever. With a body blissfully free of spoilers and scoops, its legacy looms large over the current car. As a grand tourer, we can think of few better ways to cross the continent. In the V12-powered 850CSi, of course.