BMW 2 Series vs BMW 850I

What's the difference?

Coupes are back.

Heading into the second half of the 2020s, buyers of affordable sports cars seem better-served for choice than when the current BMW 2 Series Coupe surfaced earlier this decade.

Mazda’s MX-5 keeps gently evolving. Toyota and Subaru have rejuvenated their respective firecracker 86/BRZ twins. The glorious Nissan Z is as evocative as it is entertaining. The recent Ford Mustang revamp serves rousing American muscle car. The reborn Honda Prelude looms as a hybrid hero. And even Audi’s TT is set for resurrection soon.

All reinvigorate the genre. Just like the (G42) 2 Series Coupe, the third in the series since 2007, released during 2021 and facelifted in 2024.

Here we revisit the M240i xDrive, our favourite version (sorry, M2 owners), to see if it remains the definitive brand experience.

Can a car company show off? It seems absurd; the kind of embarrassing, unedifying behaviour that only ego-driven, status-obsessed human beings engage in. And yet look at BMW’s new 8 Series, with its shinily silly cut-glass gear lever, its laser headlights, its outrageously powerful V8 engine and its bullfrog-but-beautiful stance - surely this is showing off on a corporate scale?

To be fair, when a car company makes a new range-topper - and BMW only applies the number 8 to its most special vehicles, think Z8 and i8 - it really is about making a kind of look-at-me statement. 

A car as obviously ostentatious as the M850i xDrive Coupe (and Convertible) has to appeal to buyers, even if it’s only a small and wealthy target market. And there is plenty that’s appealing about this old-fashioned yet modern-looking grand tourer, from the incredible way it accelerates to its luxuriant ride quality and decadent interior.

It would want to be impressive, of course, with a price tag of $272,900 (or $9000 more for the Convertible).

So, has the new 8 Series BMW got what it takes to separate the very rich from their hard-earned megabucks? We donned our shiniest shoes and went to the launch to find out.