When word first broke that the BMW 6 Series was going to be killed off, fans immediately mourned the loss of its Gran Coupe model variant. While the BMW 8 Series isn’t a direct replacement for the 6 Series, as it’s more luxurious and more expensive, it’s the spiritual successor to the beloved 6er. So when fans learned of the 8 Series’ succession, they immediately hoped for a new version of the car they missed most. And now it’s here — the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe.

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This might be the second generation of 8 Series but this is the first ever 8 Series Gran Coupe. Like its 6 Series predecessor, the 8 Series Gran Coupe is arguably even better looking than the already gorgeous Coupe.

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.

BMW M850i Gran Coupe – Exterior

Don’t just think that it’s an 8 Series Coupe with some rear doors carved out, though. It’s grown in length (231 mm), wheelbase (201 mm), width (30 mm) and height (61 mm). That last bit might worry some enthusiasts who love the low, sexy looks of the Coupe but the increase in height is just to give the rear passengers a bit of headroom. 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.

To give you a sense of how much that increase in height helps, the only person that can fit in the back of the 8 Series Coupe is Danny DeVito. So to fit adults in the back, the Gran Coupe needs to be a bit taller.

It isn’t identical to the Coupe up front, either. To accommodate the taller roofline at the back, the windscreen had to be made more upright. So the A-pillar is changed from its Coupe sibling, offering more headroom in the front as well. To give passengers an even greater sense of headroom, an optional panoramic glass roof provides a combined 1.5 meters of glass above passengers’ heads. It’s one piece of unbroken glass from the sunroof back to the rear window.

So it’s a bit more upright and a bit taller than its Coupe sibling, which makes it a bit more practical and comfortable inside. Typically, pragmatism doesn’t make for pretty designs. That’s not the case with the 8 Series Gran Coupe because it’s still stunning.

In fact, I’m just gonna go ahead and say it, the 8 Series Gran Coupe is BMW’s best looking car. It builds off of the Coupe’s already beautiful looks but adds a sexier roofline, more muscular hips and an integrated rear ducktail spoiler that all combine to make an already pretty car even prettier. Previously, the Audi A7 was the prettiest car in its class. Now it has some real competition from Munich.

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. Customers can also take their pick from the BMW Individual matt paintwork variants in a silk matt finish and the particularly eye-catching Frozen Bluestone metallic finish.

In the US, Standard paint finishes on the new 8 Series Gran Coupe include non-metallic Alpine White and metallic finishes in Carbon Black (when the M Sport package is selected), Black Sapphire (840i and 840i xDrive only), Mineral White, Sonic Speed Blue, Sunset Orange, Bluestone (840i and 840i xDrive only), Blue Ridge Mountain (840i and 840i xDrive only) and Barcelona Blue (840i and 840i xDrive only). Optional Individual paint finishes include Dravit Grey Metallic, Tanzanite Blue II Metallic, Aventurin Red Metallic and Frozen Bluestone Metallic.

The 840i and 840i xDrive Gran Coupes feature standard Vernasca leather in either Black, Ivory White or Cognac. Optional on these two models and standard on the M850i xDrive Gran Coupe is Individual Extended Merino Leather in Black Ivory White, Cognac and two-tone Night Blue/Black, Tartufo/Black and Fiona Red/Black. BMW Individual Full Merino leather is optional on all three Gran Coupe models and includes Black, Cognac, Ivory White, Ivory White/Night Blue, Ivory White/Tartufo, Night Blue/Black, Tartufo/Black and Fiona Red/Black.

Inside, the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe remains the same in the front seat (aside from the increase in headroom and slightly more upright view forward. However, it does get some new Individual interior options, one of which being the ivory white and blue option typically seen in the X7.

However, it’s the back seat where things change the most. Rather than the claustrophobic set of glorified parcel shelves in the back of the 8 Series Coupe, the Gran Coupe sports two very luxurious, very handsome thrones. The rear seats look fantastic and feature integrated headrests that look very sporty and very premium. Sitting in the rear of the 8 Series Gran Coupe will be an event in itself and should make long, grand-tours quite enjoyable.Especially with the center console that extends into the rear seat, offering rear passengers easy access to climate controls, a nice aluminum speaker grille and two USB-C ports.

Now, technically, the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe is a 4+1, as there’s a third rear seat nestled in between the two rear seats. However, it’s hilariously small and the center console will bisect that third passenger’s legs. So it will only be used for children and only briefly. Really, it’s a 2+2 but that’s no bad thing.

BMW M850i Gran Coupe – Interior

Those rear seats do fold down, though, and split 40:20:40, so you can actually get some utility out of the 8 Series Gran Coupe. If you need to carry some longer items in the trunk, you can pass them through between the rear seats, through one of the seats or through both. So the 8er GC can be an actual usable everyday vehicle, just one with super-model looks.

Unfortunately, it does only have a regular trunk. Some of these sexy four-door coupes have rear liftback tailgates; such as BMW’s own 4 Series Gran Coupe and the Audi A7. That would have made the 8 Series Gran Coupe a genuinely practical vehicle and really put icing on the GT-cake. Instead, it just has a standard trunk lid but I guess we can’t have everything.

It’s not just a pretty face, though. The BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe also needs to be a sports car. 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.

If you don’t opt for the glass roof and instead choose the carbon fiber roof, you not only reduce weight even further but lower the car’s center of gravity. Customers can also choose an M Carbon Fiber package for the BMW M850i Gran Coupe, which adds carbon fiber air intake bars, mirror caps and a carbon rear diffuser.

Speaking of the BMW M850i xDrive Gran Coupe, it will be the flagship model at launch with its 4.4 liter twin-turbocharged V8. That engine is a carryover from the Coupe, so it 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.

The BMW 840d xDrive Gran Coupe will come with a 3.0 liter turbocharged I6 diesel engine, making 320 hp and 501 lb-ft of torque. In rear-wheel drive guise, the 840d Gran Coupe can scoot to 60 mph in a claimed 5.1 seconds. All engines will obviously come with eight-speed automatic transmissions only and all engines meet Euro 6d-TEMP emissions standards.

BMW M850i Gran Coupe – Social Media

As far as how the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe handles, the Bavarians have made sure that it doesn’t have any agility penalty due to its extra size and weight. So it gets unique chassis and suspension tuning from its two-door sibling. Adaptive M Suspension is fitted as-standard on all Gran Coupe models and Integral Active Steering (rear-wheel steering) is standard on all xDrive models. The only rear-drive model, the 840i GC, will have the rear-wheel steering as an option.

All models will have an optional Adaptive M Suspension Professional, which will offer active roll stabilization. This uses electric swivel motors to counteract bumps and road imperfections, as well as cornering loads, to make the 8 Series Gran Coupe not only more comfortable but also sharper in the bends.

BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe – Sketches

The new BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe also comes as standard with electrically adjustable, heated and folding exterior mirrors and the BMW Display Key, which shows the driver the remaining fuel level and service-related information on its color display, as well as indicating whether the car’s doors and windows are locked / closed properly.

The M Sport package customers can specify as an option includes M Sport brakes with discs measuring 374 millimeters in diameter, while the M Technic Sport Package adds the 395 mm brake discs fitted as standard on the BMW M850i xDrive Gran Coupe. Both versions of the M Sport braking system are recognisable by their blue callipers bearing the M logo.

We can’t wait for the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe to arrive this September. We’ve been very happy with each version of the 8 Series Coupe we’ve driven and are big fans of the brand’s new flagship. This four-door version is arguably even better looking while also adding the practicality of two usable rear seats. Now imagine a BMW M8 Gran Coupe. Shivers.

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.

BMW M850i Gran Coupe – Highlights