Thursday 13th December 2018

BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe due in autumn 2019

We get a better glimpse of BMW's forthcoming four-door 8 Series via a half-mast prototype...

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It's fair to assume that the BMW designers tasked with taking the 8 Series, raising its roofline and squeezing in two more doors have had a harder time than most. The bar was set very high indeed by the previous 6 Series Gran Coupe, but you only have to look as far as the 5 Series GT for an example of just how horribly wrong things could go.

Thankfully the four-door 8 Series, which has now been spotted testing partially uncovered in public for the first time, has retained a comparably low-set roofline. To see so much skin on show now is a surprise, with the car not due on roads until Q3 of 2019. But, as you can see in the pictures, the 8 Series Gran Coupe is about 50 per cent identical to the two-door 8 Series.

The bits we can see are all pretty much identical to the coupe that went on sale last month. Only what lies beneath the camouflage is different, where the changes are focused on providing rear passengers with better access and greater headroom. Visible shut lines show that the Gran Coupe will also keep a saloon-style boot opening, rather than going full liftback.

What comes under the bonnet of the more practical 8 will be familiar from the coupe line-up, too. Two variants are due, an M850i and 840d, with the former providing 530hp and the latter claimed to be good for 46.3mpg, so there's a broad mix of abilities to suit most buyers in this segment. For the rest of us, there'll be the M8 in due course. We know a Gran Coupe version of the 600hp plus model is also on its way, having been previewed by the M8 Gran Coupe concept at Geneva in March.

When it arrives sometime next year after the (recently leaked) M8 coupe, the four-door car will, of course, have it its sights set on the AMG GT 4 Door and Porsche Panamera Turbo, which so far has offered an unparalleled mix of performance and practicality in the segment. Time for a change, perhaps?

[sidesauce]

That look like a large 3-series; I say this as a current 6-series owner...

[Harry_523]

any idea if this is a hatch like the panamera/4GC or has a normal trunk like the old 6GC?

[Oakman]

[kambites]

So where will this fit in with respect to the 7-series? Is it going to be broadly similar in price but more "front-seat focused" or will it sit directly above it in the range?

[TrickyTrevM5]

So pleased with my M6GC
I'm sure this will look lovely when its launched etc but based on these images i wont rush to change

[Talksteer]

kambites said:

So where will this fit in with respect to the 7-series? Is it going to be broadly similar in price but more "front-seat focused" or will it sit directly above it in the range?

Like for like the 8 series is at a higher price point than the 7 series.

However the M760 is priced at £138,000 so I suspect that will remain BMW's most expensive "flagship" car. I doubt that the M8 will cost more than that as BMW will want to be price competitive with a Pamamera Turbo S.

[Hairymonster]

looks like a Kia Stinger

[Hairymonster]

Harry_523 said:

any idea if this is a hatch like the panamera/4GC or has a normal trunk like the old 6GC?

Quoting from the text: " Visible shut lines show that the Gran Coupe will also keep a saloon-style boot opening, rather than going full liftback."

[MDMetal]

I own a 6 series GC and to me the lines are nicer compared to this, looking carefully the rear seems even more sloped on the 8 I'd wager the rear headroom isn't as good as the current 6 GC which is just about acceptable. Unless they're lowering the rear seats it looks like more of a squash.

Maybe it's just an illusion but it the roofline down to the little flick spoiler just looks a bit cumbersome vs the earlier model..

Edited by MDMetal on Thursday 13th December 11:10

[pycraft]

Harry_523 said:

any idea if this is a hatch like the panamera/4GC or has a normal trunk like the old 6GC?

From the article: "Visible shut lines show that the Gran Coupe will also keep a saloon-style boot opening, rather than going full liftback."

[Chamon_Lee]

TrickyTrevM5 said:

So pleased with my M6GC
I'm sure this will look lovely when its launched etc but based on these images i wont rush to change

same here. I just don't think its radial enough to warrant the 8 series badge. as a 6 it might have been acceptable at best.
the current 6 is one of the best looking cars out even 5 years on

[EllisGE]

Looking good in my opinion, not sure what is going to go on with the 6er though, will it stay? Hopefully the M8 Gran Coupe closely resembles the Concept at the Geneva Motorshow. Couldn't walk away from it, looked incredible!

Hopefully BMW's accountants don't stick their noses in too much and start saying no to massive dished wheels though...! Those M6 F12 M433 wheels were perfection!

...Hope this doesn't mean that we have to have ANOTHER X model!!

[Midgster]

Chamon_Lee said:

TrickyTrevM5 said:

So pleased with my M6GC
I'm sure this will look lovely when its launched etc but based on these images i wont rush to change

same here. I just don't think its radial enough to warrant the 8 series badge. as a 6 it might have been acceptable at best.
the current 6 is one of the best looking cars out even 5 years on

Agree, I like the 8 series coupe (although not as much as you should like an 8 series) but this doesn't look like a 4 door coupe (if there is such a thing) like the 6GC did, or like the A5 and A7 Sportbacks do.

[unpc]

[redacted]

[Alias218]

kambites said:

So where will this fit in with respect to the 7-series? Is it going to be broadly similar in price but more "front-seat focused" or will it sit directly above it in the range?

I don't quite get BMW nomenclature. The 2 is the coupe of the 1, the 4 of the 3, the 6 of the 5 (6er saloon notwithstanding) - surely this should be the 7 Series? I know historically the 7 has been a large, stand-alone saloon but given their current line up this is just confusing.

As Lord Clarkson once said: 'they've made a saloon version of a coupe version of a saloon'.

[kambites]

Alias218 said:

I don't quite get BMW nomenclature. The 2 is the coupe of the 1, the 4 of the 3, the 6 of the 5 (6er saloon notwithstanding) - surely this should be the 7 Series? I know historically the 7 has been a large, stand-alone saloon but given their current line up this is just confusing.

As Lord Clarkson once said: 'they've made a saloon version of a coupe version of a saloon'.

You have to accept the concept of a "four-door coupe" for it to work. Although I don't think anything will ever explain the 2-series GT.

[Helicopter123]

They've ruined that.

[sh33n]

Hmm the coupe looks decent, this look very bland - maybe when it's released and we get to see it all on decent wheels I'll change my mind. At present it just looks lost (as in no body would notice it); especially when a Panamera ST looks so damn good these days, and surely will be in the same price bracket.

[teleostbat]

unpc said:

Where's that "not sure if serious meme"?

I'm getting the word... "Accountant"

[HardtopManual]

Looks like someone sent the dimensions for the grille over in centimetres and the shop made it up in inches.