Saar: At the time of launch, which will happen in March 2019, the drop-top 8 Series will come in two variants, M850i and M840d, both with xDrive all-wheel-drive.

Behold! The BMW 8 Series Convertible has shed its cover. With its top dropped down, it is destined to leave a lot more with their jaws dropped down. See, what we did there?! We… Umm! Never mind! It isn’t tough to deduce that in the drop-top form, the BMW 8 Series’ desirability factor has gone up a couple of notches. In terms of design, however, there is no major difference between this and the Coupé. And, as you’d expect, mechanically both are identical.

Let’s get rid of the mechanical stuff first. Like the Coupé, the BMW 8 Series Convertible will be available in two variants – M850i and M840d – at the time of launch. Both variants, as standard, will come with an 8-speed automatic transmission and BMW’s xDrive all-wheel-drive system. The M850i will house a 4.4-litre, twin-turbo, V8 petrol engine with 530PS/750Nm on tap. The M840d, on the other hand, will be powered by a 3.0-litre, in-line, 6-cylinder turbo-diesel engine which produces 320PS/680Nm.

Performance figures? The petrol-powered soft-top BMW 8 Series can hit 100kmph from a standstill in 3.9 seconds, whereas the diesel-fed variant will do that in 5.2 seconds. Compared to the Coupé, the Convertible is predictably slower to accelerate. The top speed, however, is the same – limited to 250kmph.

Needless to say, the features list of the Convertible will be on par with that of the Coupé. That means you get BMW’s Live Cockpit Professional which includes a 12.3-inch fully digital instrument cluster, a 10.25-inch touchscreen control display, a multi-function steering wheel, a wind deflector, BMW gesture control and voice control. Safety kit is top notch as well, with features like Driving Assistant Professional including Active Cruise Control and Stop & Go function, and steering and lane control assistant. The list of options includes wireless mobile phone charging, climate seats, BMW Display Key, neck warmer and Bowers & Wilkins sound system

The real party-piece is, of course, the roof that folds away. The soft-top, which comes in black as standard but can be had in Anthracite Silver effect by paying an extra amount, opens and closes completely at the touch of a button in 15 seconds. What’s more, you can close or open the roof at speeds up to 50kmph. The roof, when opened, hides away under a cover behind the rear seats. With the roof closed, the 8 Series Convertible can gulp 350 litres of stuff in the luggage area.

We saw the production-ready specimen of the BMW 8 Series Coupé in June this year. Back then, the Bavarian automaker announced that the reincarnated model will go on sale in November 2018. But if you are interested in the BMW 8 Series with a drop-top arrangement, you will have to wait at least until March next year because that’s when the convertible will start arriving at showrooms across Europe.