Compare the2026 Dodge ChargerVS 2025 BMW 8 Series

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Dodge Charger have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The BMW 8 Series doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Dodge Charger Four-Door are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The BMW 8 Series doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Charger are reminded to check the back seat. The 8 Series doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Charger. But it costs extra on the 8 Series.

The Charger has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the 8 Series’ blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Charger has standard Rear Cross Path Detection, helping the driver avoid collisions. BMW charges extra for Cross Traffic Warning on the 8 Series.

Both the Charger and the 8 Series have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.

Dodge’s powertrain warranty covers the Charger 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than BMW covers the 8 Series. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the 8 Series ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are almost 7 times as many Dodge dealers as there are BMW dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Charger’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2025 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Dodge vehicles are better in initial quality than BMW vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Dodge above average in initial quality. With 16 more problems per 100 vehicles, BMW is rated below average.

The Charger has more powerful engines than the 8 Series:

As tested in Motor Trend the Charger Daytona Scat Pack electric motors is faster than the M850i 4.4 turbo V8:

On the EPA test cycle the Charger running on electricity gets better mileage than the 8 Series Coupe:

The Charger can travel with zero emissions for 223 to 267 miles (dependent on model). The 8 Series can’t move without running its internal combustion engine.

The Charger has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The 8 Series doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

For better stopping power the Charger’s brake rotors are larger than those on the 8 Series:

The Charger stops much shorter than the 8 Series:

For better traction, the Charger has larger standard tires than the 8 Series (275/40R20 vs. 245/35R20). The Charger’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the 8 Series (F:305/35R20 & R:325/35R20 vs. F:245/35R20 & R:275/30R20).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Charger has standard 20-inch wheels. Smaller 19-inch wheels are standard on the 8 Series.

The Charger has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The 8 Series doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Charger’s wheelbase is 9.9 inches longer than on the 8 Series (121 inches vs. 111.1 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Charger is 4.1 inches wider in the front and 3.9 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the 8 Series.

The Charger Daytona Scat Pack Two-Door handles at .99 G’s, while the M850i xDrive Coupe pulls only .98 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Charger Two-Door a Large car, while the 8 Series Coupe is rated a Subcompact.

The Charger has standard seating for 5 passengers; the 8 Series can only carry 4.

The Charger has 22.1 cubic feet more passenger volume than the 8 Series (103.1 vs. 81).

The Charger Two-Door has .2 inches more front headroom, .5 inches more front legroom, 2.3 inches more front shoulder room, 3.3 inches more rear headroom, 7.7 inches more rear legroom and 10.7 inches more rear shoulder room than the 8 Series Coupe.

The Charger has a much larger trunk with its rear seat up than the 8 Series Coupe (22.7 vs. 14.8 cubic feet).

The Charger’s instruments include an oil pressure gauge and a temperature gauge - which could save your engine! Often ‘idiot lights’ don’t warn you until damage has been done. The 8 Series does not have an oil pressure gauge.

The Charger’s standard power windows have a locking feature to keep children in the rear seat from operating them, but the driver can still raise and lower all of them with the lock engaged. BMW does not offer a locking feature on the 8 Series’ standard power windows.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the Charger to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The 8 Series doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the Charger has standard extendable sun visors. The 8 Series doesn’t offer extendable visors.

Both the Charger and the 8 Series have standard heated front seats. The Charger also offers optional heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the 8 Series.

The Charger has a standard center folding armrest for the rear passengers. A center armrest helps make rear passengers more comfortable and it can provide a boundary between children. The 8 Series doesn’t offer a rear seat center armrest.

According to iSeeCars.com the 2025 Dodge Charger retains 47.49% of its original value after 5 years, significantly more than the 39.96% resale value of the 2025 BMW 8 Series after five years, which can save the Dodge’s owner up to $23219.92691 in depreciation.

The Dodge Charger outsold the BMW 8 Series by almost seven to one during 2024.