The M8: Germany to Brisbane
It was early 2021, and one day in the office Rafael turns to me and says “guess what, we’re getting a car from BMW to have at the Academy!”. I never expected to hear those words from him, but wow was it an exciting piece of news. We had to wait another month or so for Jimmy to confirm what model of car it was going to be, and in the meantime I remember the conversations we were having and the speculations over the model and colour it could be. Most of us were very optimistic and saying something with an M badge would be great, like an M3 or M4 (M being BMW’s performance brand which denotes Motorsport). The funny thing is I remember saying to the Academy team that having BMW’s premier luxury sports car, the M8 Competition, would be awesome (although very unlikely). So, you can imagine my excitement when I heard that the car we were being sent by BMW was in fact an M8 (the most expensive and one of the most powerful BMWs ever made).
Our BMW M8 Competition Coupe was manufactured in Plant Dingolfing in Germany, the largest of BMW Group’s production sites in Europe. Our M8 is a pre-production US spec model, and with about 73kms on the odometer it has only been driven a few times (possibly as a press car or for some lucky BMW staff to take home for a few days). Once we had received word that the car was on its way to Australia, we had to play the waiting game. We knew it was going to be a couple of months before the M8 arrived in Australia, then a few more weeks while the customs and import processes were sorted. While it was on the way to Brisbane, QUT had begun planning and deciding where the car would be housed. A few locations were discussed, but it was ultimately decided that building Z2 room 407 at Kelvin Grove (aka ‘The Glasshouse’) was the spot. Z2-407 is absolutely the best location for the M8 – we have floor to ceiling glass windows around the outwards facing sides of the room, space for desks and flexibility to transform the area for presentations and workshops.
We had to wait longer than expected for the car (due to the general craziness of worldwide transport and logistics during the pandemic), but at last we had a date for when the car would arrive at QUT Kelvin Grove: Wednesday 28th July. I still remember the lead up to this day – taking delivery of a shipping container (for on-site storage of the car), making sure we had wheel ramps organised, and of course my camera charged and ready to go. Seeing the tow truck driver pull up with a sleek, black (and very dirty) M8 Competition Coupe was a very good feeling. I had of course looked up M8’s online to get to know the car more and what they sound like – but nothing beats hearing the car in person. Listening to the twin-turbo V8 growl to life on the back of the tow truck and fill the air of the crisp winter morning, it was a big sigh of relief; the M8 had made it to QUT.
We spent a little while admiring the car out in the sun, before starting the daunting task of reversing it into a shipping container. The M8 is a big car – about 1.9m wide and 4.9m long – and fitting it into a shipping container that’s about 2.3m across on the inside is not easy. Raf carefully reversed the M8 up the ramps, before having to climb out of the window once in the container.
My whole life I have been into fast, loud and cool cars, so to be part of this whole experience with the M8 was really special for me. I’m probably a bit biased now we have one, but I’ve always thought that this generation of 8 Series BMW’s is a very good looking car. Being able to see one up close is really cool, and made even better due to the rarity of M8’s in Australia (and other 8 Series variants). Another enjoyable part was making some number plates to go on the car. Unfortunately we aren’t allowed to drive the M8 on public roads or race tracks, so putting some display plates on the front and back was just for a bit of fun. I made a few combinations up: ACADEMY, QUT M8 and NICE M8.
The M8 came out of the container about a month after the delivery at QUT to be professionally cleaned and detailed at Image Perfection Automotive Detailing. The team at Image Perfection made the car look incredible. Following this we spent 12hrs on a Saturday in September filming the video for the announcement of the M8 with the talented team at Stranger Films. This was an awesome experience seeing how the the team works and the set-up involved for the various elements within the video – the smoke machine, the lasers, the different lighting set-ups (including a custom overhead light box) and all of the different camera angles that were used. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to take behind-the-scenes photographs for parts of the video shoot. The following weekend we came back to film the ‘piece to camera’ (talking) parts of the video.
In late 2021 we began making decisions on the renovation and what flooring and material finishes we wanted for Z2-407. This was about the time that we finalised the branding and the signage for our new Alpha Studio and Beta Lab spaces (Beta Lab being the location of the M8). The initial designs for the logos and signage was done by one of our Impact Lab 4 students, Sophie Burton. We also kicked off on the Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality projects: a VR twin of the M8 vehicle and Beta Lab workspace, which transitioned into a BMW factory, plus some AR interactions of various animations around the vehicle. Both will be covered in more detail in separate blog posts.
Iguana Signs printed and then installed the signage for the Beta Lab a week out from the launch event. This was also when we moved the M8 into the Lab and quickly covered it up to avoid spoiling the surprise. Before we knew it, it was Tuesday 29th March and the launch event was upon us. I wiped the car over one last time and made sure it looked a million dollars. Taking the car cover off to officially unveil the M8 at the event was an awesome feeling. Further, it was great to see that all of the distinguished guests from QUT and external companies were so excited about the car and the whole BMW Group + QUT partnership.
Now that we have settled into the new spaces at Kelvin Grove and the car is public knowledge, we are underway with some projects and initiatives with the M8. One of our interns is completing an autonomous supercar interior design project, and we have recently had Dr Levi Swann bring his Personal Transportation unit in to check out the M8 and all of the tech and design packed into it. It’s pleasing to see all of our efforts are generating results for QUT and for the design students already.
I can’t tell you how excited I am for future work and events with the M8!
Thanks for reading,
Jordan Domjahn
Design Associate
