BMW’s Not Mid-Engine M8 Plays Ping-Pong On The ‘Ring, Hits Two Guardrails In One Crash

BMW recently confirmed its mysterious M8 prototype doesn’t feature a mid-mounted engine, but maybe it should have as the model crashed on the Nürburgring earlier today.

According to spy photographers who caught the aftermath, the car “crashed into the guardrail on both sides of the track” near the Pflanzgarten section of the Nordschleife. It then came to a stop in the corners of the Stefan Bellof S.

The car was quickly covered, but you can see it suffered damage to the front end and driver’s side front fender. There are also gouges on the driver’s side door and spy photographers noticed “a broken front suspension” as well.

Also Read: Is This BMW 8-Series Prototype Hiding A Mid-Engine Secret Or Just Trying To Fool Us?

Following the crash, marshals stopped the industry pool session until the car was towed away. The driver didn’t suffer any injuries, but the car was reportedly damaged enough that it was no longer driveable.

As we have previously reported, the prototype raised eyebrows earlier this week when it was spotted with a covered rear window and air intakes where the quarter glass normally resides. Speculation suggested it was a mid-engine prototype, but we had our doubts and BMW recently confirmed that wasn’t the case.

BMW won’t say what exactly the car is, but they told Auto Motor und Sport it’s a development vehicle which is being used to test new components. The company added the prototype is based on the M8 and isn’t a mid-engined sports car.

Regardless of what the car was testing, development likely suffered a setback thanks to the crash.