Today marks the launch of BMW’s first ever four-door coupe built on the 8 Series platform and name. The new BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe was just unveiled and it’s fair to say that judging by the first images, it is arguably one of the best looking models of the last decade. According to BMW, the 8 Series Gran Coupe is the only car in its segment that is developed from a coupe. Its two major competitors; the Audi A7/S7, Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class and Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door; are all four-doors from the get-go. While the 8 Series started out life as a sleek, sexy coupe and translated those looks into a four-door body.
The new BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe will be launched with a choice of one non-metallic and six metallic exterior paint finishes. Carbon Black metallic and Barcelona Blue metallic will be offered as additional exterior colors for the BMW M850i xDrive Gran Coupe and in conjunction with the M Sport package. There will be a wide choice of BMW Individual paint finishes and BMW Individual special paint finishes available for the new BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe at launch or shortly afterwards.
It’s grown in length (231 mm), wheelbase (201 mm), width (30 mm) and height (61 mm). The front track width of 1,627 mm is the same as the two-door car’s, while the rear track of 1,671 millimetres is 28 millimetres wider, making it the widest of any model in the BMW line-up.
Thanks to an extensive use of lightweight materials, the Gran Coupe is light, rigid and nimble. The doors, the outer skin of the roof, the bonnet, front shear panel, engine subframe, front bulkhead and rear bumper support are all made from aluminium. The trunk lid is made from composites, the cockpit support is made from magnesium and the center tunnel structure is carbon fiber. All of this has kept the weight as low as possible, so despite having two more doors, much larger rear seats and more body work, the 8 Series Gran Coupe only weighs 70 kg (154 lbs) over its two-door sibling.
The top model, as you’d expect, is the BMW M850i Gran Coupe which uses the same engine as the coupe and convertible models. The 4.4 liter twin-turbocharged V8 makes 523 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque. According to BMW, that helps the big 8er get from 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds, which is only a couple of tenths off the Coupe’s claimed time.
Other model variants will be the BMW 840i and 840d Gran Coupes. While the 840i will come in either rear or all-wheel drive versions, the 840d will only be xDrive all-wheel drive. The BMW 840i will come with the brand’s ubiquitous, but excellent, B58 3.0 liter turbocharged I6 engine, making 340 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque. According to BMW, 0-60 mph happens in 5.2 seconds for the rear-drive car and 4.9 seconds for the xDrive-equipped one.
Prices start at $84,900 for the new 2020 840i Gran Coupe, $87,800 for the 840i xDrive Gran Coupe and $108,900 for the M850i xDrive Gran Coupe. Pricing does not include $995 Destination.
As always, we put together a series of videos showing the new model:
