Article Summary
- Mercedes-AMG confirms new V8 models arrive before the end of 2026, starting with SUVs and reaching the CLE 63 Coupe soon after.
- The C-Class won’t get the V8 back — it moves to a six-cylinder AMG instead, ending eight-cylinder power in Mercedes’ compact performance car for good.
- BMW’s G90 M5 kept its V8 the whole time, pairing a 4.4-liter twin-turbo with an electric motor for 717 hp, setting up a direct rematch as AMG re-enters the category.
Mercedes-AMG is bringing V8 power back to the lineup, with new models arriving before the end of 2026. AMG CEO Michael Scheibe told media the division is doubling down on combustion engines again, a reversal from a company that spent the last few years pulling V8s out of cars rather than putting them in.
SUVs are expected to get the new V8 first, with cars following after. The C-Class isn’t on the list — that model switches to a six-cylinder AMG variant instead, which means the era of an eight-cylinder compact Mercedes is over for good.
The engine is expected to be a higher-output version of the flat-plane-crank 4.0-liter turbo V8 already doing duty in the S-Class and GLS, where it currently makes 530 hp. Reports say the CLE 63 Coupe gets it first, with a hardcore Mythos edition close behind. The GLE 63 S and GLS 63 already produce up to 603 hp on the same engine family, and that’s the number the rest of the lineup gets measured against.
Some of you might recall that the AMG high-performance cars division staked its identity on downsizing, the four-cylinder hybrid C63 got savaged by the people who actually buy AMGs, and the company is now quietly walking that bet back.
BMW Never Had This Problem
While Mercedes was experimenting, BMW kept its V8 and just bolted electrification onto it instead of ripping it out. It even replaced the somewhat more problematic N63 unit with one developed by the M division: the S68. In the new G90 M5, engineers paired the 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 with an electric motor for 717 hp combined. In fact, the eight cylinders are still standard in the X5 M, X6 M, and X7 M60i. Different approach, hybrid-assisted muscle instead of replaced muscle, but the effect on the outside was the same. For the last few years, BMW got to be the brand that kept the V8 while Mercedes looked like it was leaving the category behind.
Of course, this was important for buyers in this segment as someone cross-shopping a G90 M5 against an E63, or an X5 M against a GLE 63, isn’t deciding based on infotainment menus. The engine is basically the majority of the sales pitch.
So it’s not much of a stretch to think some AMG loyalists, annoyed by the C63 going four-cylinder hybrid, might have bought the BMW instead. We can’t back that with sales figures, since neither company publishes “customers we lost over cylinder count,” and plenty else factors into a decision like this: styling, lease terms, dealer relationships, years of brand loyalty. Reducing it to engine configuration alone would be lazy. But it’s exactly the story that’s been playing out in comment sections and enthusiast forums for two years now, and it’s not hard to see why.
Round Two Starts Now
With AMG’s V8 confirmed, the question changes from who gave up on combustion to whose V8 wins. Mercedes and BMW have had this argument before, back when the E63 and M5 traded blows through most of the 2010s, and it’s about to start up again, except each brand is coming at it from a different angle this time. BMW’s V8 never left, and it’s hybrid-assisted at a genuinely absurd 717 hp. AMG is returning from a detour with something closer to a pure combustion setup in at least some models, which might actually appeal to buyers who found the M5’s added hybrid weight and complexity to be its own kind of trade-off.
It isn’t just a Mercedes-BMW story either. Stellantis brought the Hemi back after killing it. Lamborghini keeps publicly recommitting to its naturally aspirated V12 no matter what regulators say. A handful of performance brands pushed downsizing too hard, watched their most vocal customers get angry about it, and are now backing off.
For Mercedes and BMW specifically, expect the next couple of years to get loud again. CLE 63 against the M4. A possible E63 revival aimed squarely at the G90 M5. Eventually, GLE 63 S against X5 M, with both brands finally speaking V8 to each other again. AMG blinked first when it downsized the C63. Now it’s trying to un-blink, and whether that wins back the buyers who left for BMW in the meantime is the part worth watching once these engines actually reach showrooms.
