Mercedes-AMG CEO Michael Scheibe confirmed new V8 models will hit showrooms before the end of 2026, starting with SUVs and expanding to the CLE 63 Coupe shortly after. It is a full reversal from a company that spent three years ripping eight-cylinder engines out of its performance lineup and telling customers to be excited about it.
BMW, meanwhile, never had to make this U-turn because it never took the exit.
The contrast is brutal. While Mercedes was busy stuffing a turbocharged four-cylinder hybrid into the C63 and watching its most loyal buyers revolt, BMW kept its 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 and simply added electrification on top. The G90 M5 pairs that engine with an electric motor for 717 hp.
The X5 M, X6 M, and X7 M60i all still run on eight cylinders. No downsizing experiment. No apology tour.
AMG’s returning V8 is expected to be a higher-output version of the flat-plane-crank 4.0-liter turbo already used in the S-Class and GLS, where it currently produces 530 hp. The GLE 63 S and GLS 63 already push that architecture to 603 hp. A hardcore Mythos edition of the CLE 63 is reportedly close behind the standard car.
The C-Class, though, stays locked out. Mercedes is moving that model to a six-cylinder AMG variant, which means eight-cylinder compact performance from Stuttgart is dead permanently. That decision alone tells you how selective this comeback really is.
AMG isn’t restoring the old order. It is trying to rebuild credibility at the top of the range while quietly accepting the damage done lower in the lineup.
And there was damage. The four-cylinder hybrid C63 got savaged by exactly the audience it was supposed to excite. Forum threads, YouTube comments, and real-world purchase decisions all pointed the same direction.
Nobody publishes “customers lost over cylinder count” data, but the narrative wrote itself. When one brand keeps the V8 and the other replaces it with half the cylinders and a battery, cross-shoppers notice.
BMW’s approach carried its own trade-offs. The G90 M5 weighs roughly 5,400 pounds, a direct consequence of bolting hybrid hardware onto a twin-turbo V8. Some buyers found that bulk and complexity just as objectionable as AMG’s downsizing. But perception matters in this segment, and BMW held the high ground simply by keeping eight cylinders on the spec sheet.
Now the rematch takes shape. CLE 63 against the M4. A possible E63 revival targeting the G90 M5 directly. GLE 63 S against X5 M, with both brands finally speaking the same language again.
AMG is not alone in this retreat. Stellantis resurrected the Hemi after killing it. Lamborghini keeps doubling down on its naturally aspirated V12 despite regulatory pressure.
A pattern has emerged across the performance car industry: push downsizing too hard, watch your core customers get furious, then quietly reverse course and hope they come back.
The open question is whether they do. Mercedes spent years telling V8 buyers that electrified four-cylinders were the future, and some of those buyers went to Munich. Getting them back requires more than a press release confirming cylinder count.
It requires cars that justify the wait and the broken trust. Scheibe’s announcement sets the timeline. Showroom results will tell the rest of the story, and those first CLE 63 delivery numbers will say more about AMG’s credibility than any corporate strategy deck ever could.
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