Last call for the “eight.” BMW is preparing a farewell M850i Heritage Edition for South Korea — and it’s essentially the final chance to buy a new 8 Series in this market. Out of a global run of 500 cars, Korea gets just 49.
And here’s where it gets interesting — the colors. Exactly three cars will be painted Bright Red. Three. For the whole country. Another four will wear Daytona Violet, five Mauritius Blue, 17 Oxford Green, and 20 Cosmos Black. Regardless of shade, all 49 will get a carbon roof with M tri-color stripes. Rarity here isn’t an abstract production number — it’s the math per color. Catching the “red trio” will be nearly impossible.
Like the North American version, the Korean Heritage Edition is built on the M850i Gran Coupe — with everything befitting a flagship. 20-inch two-tone 895 M dual-spoke wheels. Door sills with the M Heritage Edition script. Soft-close doors, four-zone climate control, a Bowers & Wilkins audio system, and the Driving Assistant Professional package. Modesty isn’t this car’s thing.
Inside — black BMW Individual Merino leather, Alcantara, and diamond quilting. Alcantara also covers the upper door-handle sections, dashboard, and headliner. Add to that M tri-color stitching on the seats, door panels, and seatbelts, M badges on the headrests, matte carbon fiber on the center console, glass-accented switchgear, and an M Heritage Edition logo on the cupholder cover. Every detail whispers the same thing: there won’t be a second car like this.
Sales kick off on June 9 at 3 PM local time — and exclusively through the BMW South Korea online shop. Price: 156.6 million won, roughly 102,000 dollars. In the United States, by the way, the same car costs 131,575 dollars — Korean buyers, oddly enough, got the better deal.
So what’s next for the 8 Series? Fog. No third generation is expected anytime soon, and rumors of an electric Gran Coupe remain unconfirmed. Formally, the model’s spirit lives on in the limited Skytop and Speedtop, but the regular production “eight” is wrapping up. Sometimes the final batch turns out to be more interesting than the entire career of the model.
