BMW 8 Series vs BMW 7 Series

What's the difference?

The right lane on Aussie freeways is occasionally referred to as the ‘fast lane’, which is laughable because the highest legal speed in the entire country is 130km/h (81mph). And that’s only on a few stretches in the Top End. Other than that, 110km/h (68mph) is all you’re getting.

Sure, a 'buck thirty' isn’t hanging around, but the subject of this review is a 460kW (625hp) four-door missile, capable of accelerating from 0-100 km/h in 3.2 seconds, and on to a maximum velocity somewhat in excess of our legal limit. 

Fact is, the BMW M8 Competition Gran Coupe is born and bred in Germany, where the autobahn’s left lane is serious territory, with open speed sections, and the car itself the only thing holding you back. In this case, to no less than 305km/h (190mph)!

Which begs the question, isn’t steering this machine onto an Aussie highway like cracking a walnut with a twin-turbo, V8-powered sledgehammer?

Well, yes, But by that logic a whole bunch of high-end, ultra high-performance cars would instantly become surplus to requirements here. Yet they continue to sell, in healthy numbers.  

So, there’s got to be more to it. Time to investigate.

The BMW 7 Series is Munich’s flagship, the car that fans of the blue and white roundel respect as peak plush motoring.

Now, for the seventh 7 Series, BMW has brought electric power to the table in the form of the i7 in order to stay ahead of the curve.

It’s still joined by a petrol-powered variant here in Australia, the 740i, which is a mild hybrid and shares a lot of the luxury specifications of the i7 - including a properly impressive rear seat theatre screen.

But is it forward-thinking enough to fend off the likes of the Mercedes EQS?