The new BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe will be built alongside the BMW 8 Series Coupe and BMW 8 Series Convertible. The global launch of the car will take place in September this year.
The new BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe is the latest premium four-door coupé, stepping in to replace the 6 Series Gran Coupe. It is the second car in the Bavarian, after the 4 Series Gran Coupe in their portfolio that has been derived from a two-door sports car. The car will be built at BMW’s plant in Dingolfing in Lower Bavaria, home to the BMW 7 Series as well.
The new 8 Series Gran Coupe gets a choice of three engines, one diesel and two petrols, in four drivetrain configurations. The top model is the new M850i Gran Coupe with the 4.4-litre, twin-turbo, V8 petrol engine that makes 530 PS and 750 Nm. It is offered with the eight-speed automatic and M-tuned xDrive all-wheel drive. The M850i will sprint from zero to 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds. The second petrol is the 3.0-litre TwinPower Turbo straight-six with 340 PS and 500 Nm, available with a choice of rear- or xDrive all-wheel drive. The 840i will do 0-100 km/h in 5.2 seconds, with the xDrive being three-tenths quicker. Finally, the diesel-powered 840d xDrive gets the 3.0-litre straight-six with 320 PS and 680 Nm. It gets the eight-speed auto paired with standard xDrive and will dismiss 0-100 km/h in 5.1 seconds.
The primary difference between the Coupe and the Gran Coupe is the four doors on the latter. The new 8 Series Gran Coupe is now 201 mm longer than the Coupe. It is also wider, and a quite a bit taller than the Coupe. The new 8 Series is also a good 100-odd kilograms heavier, even with the all-aluminium body. The boot space has also increased slightly in the new Gran Coupe, with 440 litres available. The boot lid is plastic as standard but buyers can opt for a carbon-fibre lid and roof.
The new BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe features an almost completely sealed underbody, active air-flap control with adjustable kidney grille slats, air curtains in the front apron and super-slender exterior mirror bases. An additional front spoiler lip on the BMW M850i xDrive Gran Coupe minimizes front-axle lift at high speeds.
The suspension on the new 8 Series has been tuned to match the new dimensions of the car. Standard specification includes Adaptive M suspension with electronically controlled dampers. The extremely stiff suspension springs reduce body roll and allow the dampers to stabilise the wheels as much as possible and reduce traction loss caused by uneven surfaces. M Sport Differential will come as standard on the M850i, while it can be opted for specifically on the other models.
Also Read: Ultimate Driving Machine? BMW 8 Series Revealed
Story: Azaman Chothia
