BMW's New Special Edition 8 Series Takes You Back To The 1990s

That's because the M Heritage model won't be offered on the M8. It's only available on the M850i, the one that has had a bit of sprucing up versus the 840i. It's also a package that offers little more than cosmetics upgrades, though admittedly, some of those cosmetics are pretty cool. Still, some M fanatics might find it all to be a smidgen of what M heritage used to be.

The M850i Edition M Heritage's main party trick is that it will be offered in the same five shades offered when the E31 8 Series made its first appearance at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1989. You can get Bright Red, Mauritius Blue metallic, Cosmos Black metallic, Oxford Green metallic, and Daytona Violet metallic, all included in the price of the car. Curiously, BMW only has images of Bright Red for now, but should more become available we'll plug them in for your viewing pleasure.

The M Heritage Edition will come only as the Gran Coupe body style, a car that would have been unimaginable back in 1989. Not just because of its 523-horsepower 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8, but because the idea of a four-door coupe like we have today would have been unheard of.

Wrapping up the exterior changes, all 500 copies of this special edition will get an M carbon roof with M accent stripes. Style 859M wheels will also be included, behind which sit M Sport brakes with black calipers. Black shadowline trim and lights are also included.

Loaded With Black Leather And Matte Carbon
On the inside, the Heritage cars will have BMW Individual interiors with black full Merino leather and Alcantara with diamond-shaped stitching. The headliner, dash, and door panels will also be finished in Altantara, and tri-color M stitching can be found throughout.

BMW is giving these cars a matte-finish carbon fiber center console trim, as well as a glass shifter and iDrive controller. There will be special badges inside, with M850i Edition M Heritage and "1/500" script on the cup holder lid and doorsill plates.

Aside from the color, all 500 will have the same heavily-loaded configuration, which seems very modern M. That includes the Bowers & Wilkins Diamond audio system and all the brand's advanced driver assist systems.

This isn't just 500 for the US, it's 500 for the world. BMW didn't specify how many would come to America, but it's likely that the US will get the lion's share. The 2026 BMW M850i Edition M Heritage will start from $130,400 plus destination, about $20,000 more than a basic M850i, but $10,000 less than the M8 Competition. Production is set to start in November, so US deliveries should begin in early 2026.