24hoursworld

Practical test : Large touring car | STERN.de

Practical test : Large touring car |  STERN.de

No one sees that BMW has revised its 8 Series. But it doesn’t matter, because the cabriolet is currently one of the most perfect options for driving with the top down – especially over longer distances.

When talking about a large touring car, a Bentley Flying Spur, a Mercedes S-Class or an Audi A8 come to mind. For the high seat friends with and without a hunting license maybe a luxury crossover like a Rolls-Royce Cullinan or a Mercedes GLS. But on long journeys it can definitely be an automobile sun worshiper who sweetens the days. At best, the subtly refreshed BMW 8 Series – optionally open, closed or as a four-door coupé. The BMW 840i Cabrio is the perfect symbiosis of long-distance pleasure, scrubbing kilometers and enjoying the environment flying by. And admittedly: for all those who want to and can treat themselves to even more, the significantly beefier M 850i Cabrio – both with the variable all-wheel drive, which conjures up the power safely on the road on any road surface, in any season and changing weather conditions.

The facelift hardly brings anything new. The sports package is standard on the outside and looks just as good on a four-seater cabriolet as it does on a coupé or the extended Gran Coupé. Honestly, the elegant sun worshiper should have been prescribed 20-inch wheels ex works, because the 19-inch wheels are chic, but in the league of cabriolets and coupés costing well over 100,000 euros, it shouldn’t fail because of the rims, which the fans have to offer have to order extra. With the smaller six-cylinder, it is therefore best to order the Pro sports package and be happy about everything that seems good and important to you on the outside. The fact that the pleasantly flat kidney grille between the LED headlights is now illuminated is only noticeable when opening and closing the vehicle in the dark, when the light installation briefly entertains the surroundings.

The only important innovation is the touchscreen in the middle of the classic dashboard, because it grew from 10.5 to 12.3 inches – not huge, but big enough for such a vehicle. The operation of the individual functions is not only in this league as before standards. Apart from an unnecessary gesture control, input via touch, rotary pushbutton or voice works excellently. Many people do it much worse and it still looks pretty good. Bundled with the obligatory body package, the driver gets a sports steering wheel with a thicker rim as standard. There are also multifunction seats and merino leather, which noticeably upgrade the interior.

The electric seats are in a class of their own, excellently adjustable and those who travel more frequently in warmer regions should order the air-conditioned version right away, because these blow the cooling air from below onto the back and legs much too discreetly, but it is simply more relaxed once it gets hot. The new 8er as an open version fails in one thing. Nobody is bothered by the limited space in the rear, but for a luxury cabriolet in this league a manual wind deflector, which could also have come from a compact class model from the year 1990, is unacceptable. There are better solutions that can be operated electrically and stowed away accordingly. You have to get the black plastic frame out of a windy black bag in the trunk and use it without any problems. Luxury? Rather not!

Things look very different behind the wheel, because the chassis of the BMW 840i xDrive Cabriolet is simply a stunner. It’s comfortable and relaxed enough to enjoy long journeys, not to fret about bad roads, and sporty enough that you can really have fun with the entry-level 840’s straight-six. The steering is excellent in terms of feedback and precision. Depending on the driving program, the 840 adapts to the environment, driver and personal preferences in fractions of a second. There is no better way to be on the road if you still want a portion of sportiness. Competitors such as the Mercedes S-Class Cabriolet or the grandiose Bentley Continental GTC were and are even more comfortable, but hardly more perfect in combination. The noise level is great both open and closed.

The inclined customer has to decide for himself whether it should be the entry-level model of the 4.85 meter long 840i Cabrio or the M 850i Cabrio. You can save yourself at least the M8 sports version, because the 390 kW / 530 hp turbo eight-cylinder of the M 850i is simply too perfect for that and the performance deficit of almost 100 hp is unnecessary. The 245 kW / 333 hp 840 is also excellent and when driving dynamically you can feel that there are a few kilograms less on the front axle than with the eight-cylinder. But the difference in performance is also almost 200 hp and that can be overplayed just as little as the 1.4 liter less combustion chamber of the in-line six-cylinder. But it also accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in 5.2 seconds, brakes at 250 km/h and consumes a tolerable 8.8 liters of Super per 100 kilometers despite its ample weight of almost 2.0 tons.

Anyway, no thought of ordering this open convertible beauty with the admittedly excellent diesel engine of the 840d. It is in good hands in other BMW models where the fabric roof cannot be opened and closed up to 50 km/h. With the roof open, the 350-litre cargo space is reduced to 280 litres. At 113,300 euros, it is also an impressive 27,000 euros cheaper than the 390 kW / 530 hp M 850i Cabrio, which is obligatorily equipped with the four-wheel drive that has to be ordered separately for the smaller 840 for 3,300 euros. With him there is hardly anything under eleven liters per 100 kilometers.

Source: Stern

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts