Jeff Koons’ New BMW 8 Series Lets You Slip Inside Your Favorite Comic Book

Remember that crazy looking BMW E92 M3 Art Car that raced in the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans? Did you want to own it? Well, you probably can’t have that one—but you can get a newly designed car by the same artist, Jeff Koons, this year. Just 99 examples of Koons’  2022 BMW M850i xDrive Gran Coupes, titled the “8 X Jeff Koons,” will ever be sold, making it yet another highly exclusive BMW one-off and a passion project for the artist.

Jeff Koons Who?

American artist Jeff Koons is better known for his work with sculptures that look like balloon animals, or metallic interpretations of classic Roman art, or maybe a floral sculpture that looks like a puppy. He doesn’t seem like someone who custom paints cars for a living. Even so, Koons was keen on getting another chance to make a special edition car to follow the legacy of his E92 racing art car design. BMW has continued commissioning art cars beyond him, but now he’s back for another go.

“My edition of the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe is a dream come true. It is completely unique, very special to me and I’ve wanted to create a special edition BMW for a long time,” said Jeff Koons in BMW’s statement. “What matters is how we relate to each other and our awareness of everything we are surrounded by. This principle drove my creative vision for The 8 X Jeff Koons, and it’s an exciting next chapter of co-creation with BMW.” Through several visits over many months at BMW’s world headquarters, this is the ultimate trim work and paint job the team came up with.

An Art Car For Who?

The car is very much comic book inspired inside and out. Outside, you see the flashes, zooms, and “Pops” in the style of old 1950s and 1960s comics. The primary blue and yellow colors contrasted against silver are equally as bright and cheerful as those short comic strips you’d find in gum wrappers.

The entire process to create this livery required 11 different stages of painting that took “several hundred hours per vehicle to complete.” With 99 more cars to sell, that’s a lot of time for a paint job, and only two cars can be produced per week by two specialized teams at BMW’s Dingolfing and Landshut plants in Bavaria, Germany. If you were looking for an 8-Series you could sneak around in, you’re looking at the wrong car to own.

Inside is only slightly understated, as you’re greeted by seats wrapped in red and blue leather and cloth reminiscent of superheroes like Superman and Spider-Man. We also maybe see a tiny bit of Cobra from GI Joe, if you focus on the rear seatback element. The rest of the interior is wrapped in a deep wine red and black leather treatment, while the floor is brown and wine colored carpeting.

The headliner gets a bright red material similar to the seats. The door cards feature black, wine, and brown leather with bright red stitching on the center panel and armrest to attempt to pull this all together, and brushed metal is seen on the trim of the speakers, vents, door controls, and center console.

You Might Be Able To Get One

If you’re able to afford the $350,995 MSRP, you’re still going to have to be lucky to get one of the 99 available 8 X Jeff Koons M850i xDrive Gran Coupes. They go on sale today, February 16, 2022, and you’ll also get a large-format certificate of authenticity with your car’s VIN that’s personally signed by Jeff Koons and BMW Chairman and CEO Oliver Zipse.

However, if you want your money to go to the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) along with the purchase of the car, one will be going on the block during the Christie’s Auction on April 4, 2022 in New York City.

If you can’t afford one but want to see it, you can visit the iconic Rockefeller Plaza between April 1-4, 2022 to look at the art car on display and see what you’re missing. It will also be on display around the rest of the world at venues like the 16th Istanbul Contemporary, Paris Photo, West Bund Art and Design Fair Shanghai, Art Basel Hong Kong, and the Goodwood Festival of Speed throughout the year.

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