A mysterious BMW 8-Series coupe has been
spied near the Nürburgring and it might feature a mid-mounted engine. While the
car doesn’t look too special at first glance, it has unique rear quarter
‘windows’ with what appears to be air intakes. We can also see a partially
camouflaged rear window, which suggests BMW doesn’t want people taking a peek
inside.
We’re not entirely sure what it is, but
spy photographers believe the prototype is mid-engined. We have our doubts –
see below, but the model also has camouflaged fascias, a four-tailpipe exhaust
system and a high-performance braking system with red calipers. For what it’s
worth, aside from the pipes, the body looks to be based on the M850i.
If it is mid-engined, that
brings up some interesting possibilities including the potential for a new
supercar. However, previous reports have suggested the supercar project was
shelved earlier this year. That remains unconfirmed, but the model was
reportedly inspired by the Vision M Next concept and would have become the
brand’s halo car now that the i8 has gone out of production. That’s not the
only possibility as spy photographers floated the idea of a prototype race car.
However, that doesn’t seem likely as they noted BMW has already unveiled the M8
GTE.
There’s also the real chance that this
prototype isn’t mid-engined at all. Unless there’s a lot of hidden ducting not
visible from these photos, it seems like the car would suffer from serious
cooling issues. We’d also expect more modifications to the body and especially
the rear end if an engine was mounted behind the front seats, leading to
different exterior proportions, which doesn’t seem to be the case here.
