BMW never made an official M version of the original E31 8-Series, and the single M8 prototype they did make now sits in their museum. Of course, there was the M-modified and V12-powered 850CSi, but it wasn’t what bimmer fans really wanted. However, one group of enthusiasts decided to create the high-performance 8-Series BMW never sold, and the result is quite impressive.
The car in question started life as just a regular 1994 840i when it was purchased by The Recyclers, but it didn’t stay that way for long. They started by gutting the interior, adding racing brakes and suspension, and swapping out the exhaust system, as well as adding a few other modifications to the engine and transmission. However, the real secret sauce is the components of this car that come from other BMWs.
See Also: The World’s Only BMW E31 M8 Is Getting Back On The Road
For starters, the differential came from an E46 M3, and the Vader sports seats came from an E36 M3. On top of that, the steering wheel, six-speed manual transmission and 4.9-liter V8 all come from an E39 M5. Moreover, they added an ESS supercharger to boost the engine’s output even more. That all makes for a car that’s certifiably wild to drive and you can tell how mean it is as soon as they fire it up.
While BMW’s M8 prototype did use a V12 instead of a V8, the 8-Series built by The Recyclers does at least produce a similar amount of power. Compared to the prototype M8’s 632 hp (640 PS / 471 kW), it’s estimated that the home-brewed “M8” is making around 600 hp (608 PS / 447 kW) from its supercharged M5 powerplant. And given it has a smaller engine and gutted interior, we’d imagine the two 8-Series have similar power-to-weight ratios.
Nevertheless, the DIY M8 can be seen rocketing down the road (when it’s not struggling for traction) in the video that you can watch right below.