BMW 850I vs Gmc Yukon

What's the difference?

Does the world really need a car as outrageously loud, over-the-top, exclusive and stupidly fast as BMW’s new 8 Series? Obviously not, but BMW clearly felt that its range, and its customers, could do with something like this. On paper, and even from the kerb, it seems a strange beast - luxurious and yet lightning quick - but from the driver’s seat it just instantly makes sense. And makes you smile. Scarily, there’s an even faster 8 Series Competition version to come…

The 2025 GMC Yukon Denali is a big, comfortable, eight-seat 4WD with few rivals in the Aussie market. However, while it may occupy its own niche, it doesn't offer enough in terms of premium look and feel and towing capacity over what could be considered its rivals – and it all comes back to that price tag. 

While it lacks a competitive warranty and its price puts it way out of reach of a lot of 4WD buyers, if you are in the market for a big premium-style wagon with a V8 and eight seats – and the Nissan Patrol and Land Rover Defender 130 aren’t your cup of tea – then the Yukon Denali just might be the right choice for you.

But when all is said and done, for the price of the Denali, you could buy two Nissan Patrols – maybe not brand-new ones – and a camper trailer and a couple of cartons of beer. 

In terms of improving on the car it’s replacing, the new 8 Series pretty much smacks it out of the park. Time has not been kind to vehicles fitted with pop-up headlights and the previous 8 Series, which roamed the planet in limited numbers from 1989 to 1999, with now-unimaginable V12 engines, seems a strange-looking beast, with its tiny little kidney grille almost hiding beneath a BMW badge.

The new M850i is a simply stunning looking beast, particularly in Coupe form (the Convertible is not ugly, but it just doesn’t look as complete). Extremely wide and menacingly low, it seems to loom over whatever patch of ground its parked on, giving off an air of magnificent malevolence.

It looks fantastic when followed from behind, but it’s the front view - featuring the thinnest headlight design ever seen on a BMW for a sleek, Iron Man-like face - that really grabs your attention.

Proportion, poise and big old 20-inch wheels give it plenty of presence, while the way the glasshouse tucks in at the rear only magnifies its powerful hips.

BMW has also thrown plenty of design flair at the interior, where you’ll find the unusual yet fabulous-feeling glass gear lever (there’s more of this sparkly, cut-crystal-like stuff on the volume knob, Start button and iDrive controller).

Not only does it feel truly unique and expensive in your hand, but it has an 8 buried beneath it, which shifts and shimmers as you try and see it through the many angles of the glass.

Elsewhere, the cabin is swathed in merino leather and feels undeniably classy, with a touch of modernity via its big screen, but it’s still not quite as beautiful as the cockpit you’d find in an Audi of a similar price. Close, but not quite.

The 2025 GMC Yukon Denali is 5337mm long (with a 3071mm wheelbase), 2378mm wide, 1943mm high and has a kerb weight of 2813kg.

Suffice it to say, it’s big. 

The signature Denali grille – with LED headlights and chrome accents – is the size of a house and it’s eye-catching. 

In terms of design, the rest of the Denali is standard SUV, but it's so massive it can't help but have plenty of presence on the road. 

This 4WD has 24-inch rims, which are not suited to off-roading at all, but I’ll get to that later.

The Denali’s dual exhaust system, with polished stainless-steel tips, adds to the street-cool aesthetic. 

The rest of the Denali exterior works – but it’s an in-your-face kind of success. 

Inside, the space is cavernous and with leather upholstery, wood-look trim and soft-touch surfaces you’d expect it to feel like a plush, well-appointed cabin. But it doesn’t quite hit the mark. 

Sure, all three rows of seats offer enough in terms of comfort and amenities but, for a $175,000 vehicle, the cabin lacks a distinctive premium feel, as you'd assume it should in a vehicle at this price point. That's a bit of a disappointment.

At the very least, you’d have to say the 8 Series is fit for purpose. The seats are hugely comfortable for long journeys, so that’s practical, there’s a handy tray for your phone, where it will be wirelessly charged, and there are two cupholders in front of that, and storage for bottles in the doors.

No human larger than primary school age will ever sit in the back, so there’s not a lot going on back there.

In terms of boot space, it’s reasonably capacious at 420 litres, or 350 litres for the Convertible.

The Denali has retractable sidesteps, which is a big help to hobbits, such as me, and it also has big grab handles, again a welcome addition for the purposes of easier ingress for those on the wrong side of tall.

Once you climb inside, it’s easy to appreciate the fact that this wagon’s interior is vast, functional and comfortable, with plenty of storage spaces for everything – glove box, centre console, sunglasses case, door pockets etc – and plenty of charge points for your array of smart devices, even a wireless charge pad. 

It’s a well-designed cabin but, as mentioned earlier, the Denali lacks the prestige fit and finish and even build quality usually showcased in something at this price-point.

Instead, there are expanses of hard plastic throughout, storage receptacles with flimsy lids, and lacklustre fit and finish here and there.

The vertically-oriented 16.8-inch touchscreen multimedia system is simple enough to use, even when the road gets bumpy, although it sometimes took a few stabs of my finger to get the system to register a command.

Climate control switches and the like are located under the screen.

The three rows of seats offer more than adequate levels of comfort – the front seats are heated and ventilated and the second row’s outboard seats are heated – and each row also has the appropriate amount of amenity to suit its occupants, including cupholders, USB-C sockets, map pockets and the like.

The second-row seats even have 12.6-inch HD colour touchscreens – one on the back of each front-row headrest – with which to enjoy… whatever. Those units also have wireless headphones so everyone else in the vehicle doesn’t have to listen to… whatever.

Those in the third row get air vents, a USB-C plug and two cupholders on both sides. 

Rear cargo volume with all seats up is 722 litres. With the second row folded that number expands to 2056 litres, and with only the front seats left standing you have a 'yuge' 3480 litres to play with.

The boot area has tie-down points, a shallow section of underfloor storage and plenty of packing potential. The tailgate door is power-assisted with remote open and close.

As I mentioned, the Denali’s interior is very functional and very comfortable and that includes the second and third row, which offer plenty of space. 

Overall, my thoughts on the Denali’s cabin interior boil down to “massive”, “comfortable” and “feels cheap”.

The 2025 GMC Yukon Denali is a top-shelf, eight-seat, 4WD V8-powered wagon with a price-tag of $174,990, before on-road costs. 

The standard equipment list is a comprehensive and its more notable features include a 16.8-inch touchscreen multimedia system (with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto - but no sat-nav), a 14-speaker Bose sound system, power-adjustable heated and ventilated leather-accented seats, a head-up display, 12.6-inch rear HD touchscreens for the second-row passengers, a panoramic sunroof and an auto-sense power rear door.

It also has a 360-degree high-definition camera system (with up to 11 camera views), power-retractable sidesteps, 24-inch machined and painted 'pearl nickel' alloy wheels (on Bridgestone all-season tyres), all-around adaptive air suspension and a maximum braked towing capacity of 3628kg (when it has a 70mm ball and weight-distribution hitch).

Exterior paint choices include 'Onyx Black', 'Summit White', 'Titanium Rush Metallic', 'Volcanic Red Tintcoat' (on the test vehicle and costs $2000), 'Downpour Metallic', 'White Frost Tricoat' and 'Sterling Metallic'.

Truly, there is one impressive engine sitting under that big, hulking bonnet. The M-fettled 4.4-litre V8 has two turbochargers located inside the V of the block for “immediacy of response”, and they certainly deliver that.

Peak power of 390kW is delivered between 5500rpm and 6000rpm while its hefty 750Nm of torque is on song, for effortless overtaking, from 1800rpm all the way to 4600rpm.

Looking at those rev figures it’s clear to see that you are initially launched by a huge wave of torque and then, while you’re still drawing breath, the power really kicks in. 

All that grunt equates to 0 to 100km/h in just 3.7 seconds, which is very fast indeed, and you also get to enjoy a growly, guttural soundtrack, thanks to the standard Sport Exhaust.

The Convertible has the same engine with the same figures, but it’s slightly heavier and thus takes 3.9 seconds to hit the tonne. Which is still stupidly fast for this much car.

The GMC Yukon Denali has a naturally-aspirated 6.2-litre V8 petrol engine – producing 313kW and 624Nm – and that’s matched to a 10-speed automatic transmission.

This is an impressive set-up – the Denali is punchy off the mark, smooth and refined at highway speeds and overall it offers a composed and comfortable driving experience.

The Denali has a full-time 4WD system, selectable driving modes include 'Normal', 'Sport', 'Off-road' and 'Tow' and an electronic limited-slip differential is standard.

Good luck ever matching these figures, with all that V8 temptation beneath your right foot, but the claimed number, at least, is 10.4 litres per 100km for the Coupe and 10.6 for the Convertible. During our launch drive we would have been absolutely nowhere near those figures.

Obviously, with such a big vehicle – almost three tons – driven by such a big V8 engine, fuel consumption is a concern. The 2025 GMC Yukon Denali has a listed fuel consumption figure of 12.8L/100km (on a combined, urban/extra-urban cycle).

I recorded 16.2L/100km on this test. I did a lot of high- and low-range 4WDing and this wagon was never working hard.

The Denali has a 91L fuel tank so, going by my on-test fuel-consumption figure, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 560km from a full tank. 

There is a sizeable distance between driving a small, lithe sports car that can sprint from 0 to 100km/h in a scorching 3.7 seconds, and then piloting something that feels as large, and louche, as a cruise ship that can do the same thing.

Accelerating in the M850i is an experience that can only be described as hilarious. There’s just so much mass attempting to move so quickly that it defies belief. The way the nose rears into the air, and the rear end seems to dip towards the ground, brings to mind a bucking bronco, although a feisty polo pony would probably be more appropriate.

It’s easy to see why this car is all-wheel drive rather than the traditional BMW rear-driven layout, because there’s just no way you could get all that grunt to the ground with two wheels, or not without some serious power oversteer issues.

For a car that weighs more than 1.8 tonnes, the 8 Series is surprisingly fluid and involving on winding stretches of road. It feels hunkered down and hammered into the road, which is less of a surprise, but the steering is so perfectly weighted and the power delivery so well calibrated that it really encourages you to push on, and rewards you sense of adventure with smile-widening pace.

It’s quite something to suggest of a car that costs a quarter of a million dollars, but the M850i actually exceeds your expectations in terms of driving joy. On paper, it looks like a straight-line bully, or merely a very grand grand tourer, and it does eat up the miles on a freeway with class and ease, but when you want to point it at a mountain pass, it excels there as well.

We drove the new 8 Series back to back with BMW’s also-new Z4, and what really stood out was not just the gulf in power and poise, but the huge difference in the ride/handling balance.

The M850i really can soak up the worst our roads can throw at it with aplomb, while still making you feel connected to the ground beneath you, and inspiring confidence, and its abilities really did make the Z4 feel very brittle and hard indeed.

To be fair, we didn’t get to throw this big luxo-barge at any sections of really sharp S-bends, or 35km/h corners, and no doubt it would be challenge for it to change direction quickly, but through fast sweepers it really does excel.

And as far as its grand-touring design brief, it absolutely nails it.

The Denali is imported to Australia as a left-hand drive vehicle and then Walkinshaw's subsidiary company Premoso remanufactures the US 4WD wagons to right-hand drive at their facility in Clayton, Victoria. 

And that mob has done a commendable job.

Firstly, the Denali is very impressive on general driving duties – settled and composed, that V8 just rumbles along. It’s pretty close to flawless on the open road - smooth and refined. 

But off-road is a different story – especially in low-speed technical low-range 4WDing – and a lot of that has to do with the Denali’s sheer bulk and its 24-inch wheels.

The big pizza plate rims and paper-thin Bridgestone all-season tyres (285/40) aren't suited to four-wheel driving as they don’t offer the grip of a decent all-terrain and you can’t drop air pressures because there isn’t enough tyre there. Worth noting the spare is a Maxxis Bravo HT-750 (265/70R17).

In its favour, though, the Denali has a range of drive modes – one of which is Off-road and that seems well calibrated for a variety of 4WD situations – as well as high- and low-range gearing and an electronic limited slip diff.

Steering has a nice balance to it at low speeds, throttle response is quite impressive and controlled. And you can call on that 624Nm from the big 6.2-litre V8 pretty much as you see fit, and it delivers it smoothly and in a controlled fashion. 

This top-shelf variant has air suspension – that does some levelling out of even major imperfections in the road or track surface – and it does have a special damper system also working away to even out ride and handling. 

In terms of off-road measurements, the Denali offers approach, departure and rampover angles of 24.8 degrees, 20.5 degrees and 22.5 degrees, respectively.

Ground clearance is listed as 205mm, wading depth is not quoted, but likely a guesstimated 700-800mm, and turning circle is 12.4m.

And again, this is a big vehicle – 2813kg – so it requires more consideration, more patience, more skill and probably more experience than perhaps some smaller four-wheel drives do. 

The Denali's payload is listed as 634kg, which is not a lot for a massive vehicle like this. Its towing capacities are 750kg (unbraked) and 3500kg braked.

If you do, however, put a 70mm tow ball and a weight-distribution hitch on the Denali, you can tow as much as 3628kg legally (braked).

That's not a lot more than something like the Nissan Patrol, which is 3500kg, or the equivalent 4WD wagon or ute available in Australia already. So the extra towing capacity in the Denali is not that big of a selling point. GVM is 3447kg and GCM is 6577kg.

Ultimately, even though the Denali has sound four-wheel drive mechanicals and reasonable off-road traction control, it's hampered by its gargantuan dimensions and let down by its 24-inch wheels and paper-thin tyres.

If you got rid of the standard wheel-and-tyre combination and replaced it with a set of decent, aggressive all-terrain tyres on 17 inch or 18 inch, or even (if you had to) 20 inch wheels, those changes would go a long way to making this over-sized 4WD capable in some off-road scenarios.

In its current state, however, the Denali is a tow vehicle playing at 4WDing rather than the other way around.

The GMC Yukon Denali does not have an ANCAP safety rating because it has not been tested.

Standard safety features include six airbags (including full-length curtain airbags for all three rows) and a full suite of driver-assist tech includes AEB (with pedestrian detection), adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors, tyre-pressure monitoring, a surround-view camera, trailer sway control, trailer hitch guidance with hitch view and more.

BMW is sticking with its not-very-industry-leading three-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, and says its customers are happy with that, rather than the five- or seven-year warranties some other companies offer. When you’re paying this much for a car, it seems a trifle mean, frankly.

Like all modern BMWs, the servicing requirements for your M850i are controlled by the Condition Based Servicing (CBS) system, which means that “advanced algorithms monitor and calculate the conditions in which a vehicle is used, including mileage, time elapsed since its last service, fuel consumption and how a vehicle is driven”. 

That information allows the car to decide for itself when an annual vehicle inspection or oil service is due.

BMW offers two fixed-price servicing plans, under its BMW Service Inclusive (BSI), which is available in two packages: Basic - $2,290 for five years/80,000km or $5,170 for Plus.

The 2025 GMC Yukon Denali has a three-year/100,000km warranty – which is on the wrong side of ordinary in this day and age.

Roadside assistance is available for three years but check with your dealership for more details on that.

Servicing is scheduled for every 12 months or 12,000km. The first three workshop visits come in at $398.33, $420.33 and $506.48, including GST. Not outrageous for such a hefty beast.