BMW teases 8 Series Gran Coupe ahead of unveil
Four-door version of BMW's flagship coupe will be officially revealed next month
We've been talking about the 8 Series Gran Coupe since last year, when test mules were two a penny in the German back country. Now though, with the reveal only a few weeks away, BMW has delivered an official teaser image of the car which effectively replaces the 6 Series Gran Coupe.
Why trouble your eyeballs with what is, after all, 50 percent shadow? Well, its predecessor was - in case you've forgotten - just about the most handsome car BMW has produced this decade. The four-door coupe was designed to stick it to the Audi A7 and Mercedes CLS, and it did so with the righteousness of a thoroughbred stallion visiting a donkey sanctuary.
Its replacement is essentially a retread of the same formula, only this time of course its maker has remembered to attach its flagship number to the job of market placement. The latest Gran Coupe will share powertrains with the coupe variant - albeit with a longer wheelbase deployed aft of the bulkhead.
Practicality will swell commensurately with the larger dimensions - expect a higher roofline and bigger boot, too - but if the camouflaged development cars are anything to go by, don't expect the four-door car to depart dramatically from the design language established by the current 8 Series.
For BMW's part, the talk is of 'consummate elegance' and an interior which epitomises 'modern luxury' - but the crux of the matter is that you get two additional doors and 'an enhanced ride quality' to ensure that those sitting over the rear axle don't feel like they've been relegated to steerage.
We'll find out for sure how the whole shooting match has turned out in Munich next month, although the manufacturer has already reiterated that expanding its model portfolio in the luxury segment is already one of the ways it will ensure sustained growth over the next decade. The takeaway from that is that BMW is newly interested in the ground occupied by the Porsche Panamera - so don't expect much change from £80k when the time comes to talk about the entry-level 840d option.
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