BMW began development, design, and construction of the M8 GTE in mid-2016. The first chassis was assembled in June 2017, with the first complete vehicle finished in July of that year. The car was publicly unveiled on 12 September 2017 at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany. It replaced the BMW M6 GTLM, which had competed in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship through the end of the 2017 season. Unlike its predecessor, the M8 GTE was not derived from a pre-existing race car but was conceived from the outset as a LM GTE-class vehicle, using the BMW M8 road car as its production basis.
The M8 GTE was powered by a front-mid mounted BMW P63/1 turbocharged V8 engine — the motorsport variant of the S63 unit found in roadgoing BMW models including the F90 M5 and the BMW 8 Series G15. The engine placement contributed to improved front-to-rear weight distribution.
Several advanced manufacturing and engineering technologies were incorporated into the programme. Additive manufacturing (3D printing) was used for rapid prototyping of components during development. The powertrain featured a transaxle arrangement that integrated the transmission, driveshaft, and axle assembly into a single unit, further improving mass distribution across the car. These technical approaches reflected BMW Motorsport's intent to build a purpose-engineered GTE competitor rather than an adapted version of existing machinery.
The M8 GTE competed simultaneously in two major endurance racing platforms: the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in North America, where it contested the GTLM class, and the FIA World Endurance Championship globally, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. BMW's return to Le Mans under the GTE Pro banner in 2018 was a significant moment for the manufacturer, having last appeared at the circuit with its LMP2 programme in 2011.
The car was campaigned by BMW Team MTEK in the WEC and by BMW Team RLL in IMSA, the latter being a long-standing partnership between BMW Motorsport and the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing organisation. The M8 GTE faced strong competition from Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette, Aston Martin, and Ford in the GTE class during its competitive years.
The BMW M8 GTE represented BMW Motorsport's most serious commitment to top-level GT endurance racing in the latter part of the 2010s. Its construction as an entirely new homologated GTE vehicle — rather than an adaptation of an earlier race car — underlined the scale of investment BMW made in the programme. The car's use of additive manufacturing for prototyping reflected broader trends in the industry toward applying advanced production technologies to motorsport component development. The M8 GTE competed through the final years of the LM GTE class era before BMW announced a transition toward the Le Mans Hypercar programme with the BMW M Hybrid V8 for future WEC campaigns.