We’ve been bashing BMW of late because we truly believe they are premium luxury rubbish cars. They don’t work properly, they are expensive and they are not the ultimate driving machine. However, for the purposes of fair & balanced journalism (which doesn’t actually exist), we have decided not to say BMW is premium luxury rubbish luxury in this error-filled article. Besides, the new BMW 8 Series Cabriolet is new, we don’t have any statistical evidence to definitively say that it will suddenly lose drive or spontaneously burst into flames because of a dodgy mechanical part or faulty wiring loom. Not yet anyway. 

So, the BMW 8 Series Cabriolet. While we’re not big fans of convertibles we think the styling of the 8 Series convertible looks… nice. Indeed the 8 Series Convertible looks better than the Coupe. We have a lot of issues with the latter because it looks like a Ford Marstang. And the Ford Marstang is a rip-off of the Aston Martin DB9. The BMW 8 Series Cabriolet utilizes a folding fabric roof that is able to open or close in 15 seconds. As with all modern convertibles, the roof can be opened or closed at speeds of up to 31mph. We don’t know why the majority of convertibles are released during the winter time. However, if you consider the target market, California, then it doesn’t matter what time of the year it is. Powering the BMW 8 Series Cabriolet is a range of familiar engines. At the launch, the straight-six 3.0-litre diesel will send 316bhp and a lot of torque to the rear wheels. This will give it a 0-62mph time of 5.2 seconds. But if you want more power then the 526bhp 4.4-litre V8, will cover 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds and reach a top speed of.. it doesn’t really matter. Power is transmitted via an 8-speed auto, handling is complemented by adaptive M Dampers, 4-wheel-drive, roll stabilisation and active steering. Like all modern luxury cars from Germany, the BMW 8 Series Cabriolet will be stuffed full of the latest, too numerous to mention, exotic technologies. The New BMW 8 Series cabriolet starts at an eye-watering £83k for the diesel model and a stinging-nettles £107k for the V8 version. We know the BMW V8 engines suffer from reliability issues on top of numerous electrical issues. So is it money well spent? During the warranty period… yes. But we still have a problem here. No matter how BMW spins this, the additional strengthening undertaken when removing the roof will always affect the handling. So if you are looking for a performance GT don’t buy a cabriolet, always go for a Coupe. Cabriolets are almost always bought by aging idiots looking at one last shot to relive a youth that faded long ago. Don’t be an aging idiot, such as Jeremy Clarkson, and don’t buy a cabriolet. Top quality, award-winning advice from dailycarblog.com  

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