BMW Malaysia sent me an email yesterday about the number 8. It had nothing to do with any of their current or upcoming models. After a few hours (it was a busy day) I finally got the message: the new 8-Series is open for booking online. This was confirmed later by a post on their official Facebook page and a link to a website.
All you have to do to be the ‘first’ is to fill out a form with your details and preferences, then send them RM5,000.
BMW Malaysia hasn’t offered a diesel since they were selling the previous-generation 520d, so it’s fair to assume the 8-Series will come with a petrol engine. And the only petrol engine being offered on this ‘G15’ 8-Series is a newly updated, (hopefully, more reliable) N63 4.4L V8.
And then it hit me. That email about the significance of the number ‘8’… It was alluding to something else… The road tax on 4.4-litre engines in Malaysia… it’s over RM8K! Gotta love it when they drop hints like that!
In all seriousness, RM5K for a booking fee on a car of this importance is fairly reasonable. I do hope there’s a quick and painless refund process for those who end up changing their minds though!
