UPDATE: 2026/04/01 10:38 EST New details looking back at Alpina B8 GT's demise.This article has been updated with additional information on the Alpina B8 GT, which is out of production and represents one of the last Alpina models before he company was absorbed by BMW.Fittingly, after eight years, the BMW 8 Series has reached the end of the line for the second time. BMW has confirmed that production of the 8er will wrap up in April, bringing to a close the model that was built as a coupe, convertible, and the always-strange Gran Coupe four-door. The 8 Survived Despite A Load Of Hate BMWCarBuzz noticed that the 8 Series lineup had been removed from the BMW website configurator. We reached out to the German automaker to confirm, and were told that production of the 8er is ending in April. A spokesperson said that "it has reached the end of its standard product lifecycle."In 2024, reports surfaced that claimed BMW was planning to bring back the 6 Series to replace the 8, with a new model to be revealed later this year. BMW later refuted the claims, saying that "There are currently no plans to reintroduce the BMW 6 Series to the market for model year 2026." Of course, a late 2026 reveal would be model year 2027, but we'll leave it at that for now.The rumors surrounding the death of the 8 Series have been circulating for almost as long as it has been on sale. We first heard in 2022, when the model was just four years old, that the M8 would be put out to pasture in late 2025, and that the full line would end in June of this year.That report came a couple of years after reports that sales weren't going well and that dealerships weren't happy. Dealers complained there was too much variety and not enough marketing, and so high-end models would sit. After a slow first couple of years, volumes leveled out in the mid-7,000 range. After 2023, that dropped to the mid-5,000 range. BMW Says Goodbye With A Special Edition BMW It turns out the initial rumors weren't that far off. They were actually optimistic, with BMW killing the M8 Coupe in January 2025 though the M8 Convertible and Gran Coupe continued. They're gone now as well, and the final run of BMW 8 Series models was a special called the M850i Edition M Heritage.The M850i Edition M Heritage close-out run was offered in the same five paint colors that BMW used on the original E31-chassis 8 Series way back in 1989. Bright Red, Mauritius Blue metallic, Cosmos Black metallic, Oxford Green metallic, and Daytona Violet metallic were all offered.It is only available as the four-door Gran Coupe. The M850i badge refers to the 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 that makes 523-horsepower. Quite a jump from the 5.0-liter V12 of the original car, which delivered just 296 hp in its earliest years. Of course, the old one let you get a six-speed manual with that V12, making it the first road car with that combination.BMW only built 500 of these Heritage cars. That's not 500 for the US market, that's 500 for the entire world, though we're guessing at least half came to the US.Production of the 8 Series happened at BMW's plant in Dingolfing, its largest in Europe. The model is also home to the 4, 5, and 7 Series models as well as the electric BMW iX. Body shells for some Rolls-Royce models are also fabricated there, with more than 18,000 employees at the plant. Taking The Alpina B8 GT Down With It alpina-b8-gt-01With the 8 Series gone, so too is the Alpina B8 GT. While news of the B8's production ending is last year's news, Alpina Classic has taken the news of the 8 Series' demise as an opportunity to reflect on the B8 GT's legacy, taking to Instagram to share the thoughts of Andreas Bovensiepen, CEO of Alpina on the milestone of the B8 ending production.The B8 GT was one of the last Alpina models built before the relaunch of Alpina as BMW Alpina. This follows a lengthy process since BMW first announced it was buying out the Alpina name. The first two models - based on the X7 and 7 Series - will launch this year, with the first to be revealed in May at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este in Italy. The new brand, which also has a new logo, will elevate specific BMW models to split the difference between mainstream Bimmer models and the upper-crust Rolls-Royce brand.
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