This is the new BMW M8 Gran Coupe concept. BMW might use the word ‘concept’, but apart from a few little details this is essentially the latest installment of the new 8 Series family, following on from the 8 Series Coupe concept shown last year.

This time around, BMW has chosen to show us an 8 Series in the guise of a fully fledged M variant, although there will of course be a range of lesser 8 Series Gran Coupes coming to market as well.

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At over five metres in length the M8 Gran Coupe is a big car, with a roofline a little higher than that of the 8 Series Coupe, but the relatively low-line bonnet and the sloping roofline disguise its overall proportions, and every Gran Coupe gets the swollen arches at the rear that give the sides a ‘coke bottle’ effect. There’s an extra crease line in the side profile too, which BMW’s designers say give this car a more powerful aesthetic compared to the softer, more sensuous curves of the coupe version. The ‘duck tail’ spoiler integrated into the boot lid is another element standard across all Gran Coupe models, made possible thanks to the section being made from plastic. The four doors have frameless windows, and the ‘Hofmeister kink’ at the end of the side glass graphic is a milled part, not the usual extruded piece, enabling a more precisely detailed form.