BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe arrives

The long-awaited BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe has been revealed by the firm. The four-door coupe is the last model in the 8 Series range to be unveiled and will arrive in showrooms during September with a price of £69,340.

Both the front and rear of the Gran Coupe are shared with the existing 8 Series models but it has a more sharply raked windscreen that flows into a roofline that is 61mm taller than the two-door variants. The addition of the rear doors makes the Gran Coupe 231mm longer overall, while at the back the rear wheel arches are 30mm wider to accommodate a wider rear track (the distance between the rear wheels).

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The interior of the Gran Coupe looks identical to the other models in the 8 Series range, with a 12.3-inch digital dial cluster and a centrally mounted 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen. This setup is controlled by the conventional iDrive control wheel mounted next to the gear selector, and also features voice and gesture control. Heated seats, wireless smartphone charging and BMW’s digital display key, which can show information such as how much fuel is in the car, are all standard.

BMW refers to the Gran Coupe as a 4+1 with seating for five passengers. According to the firm, the middle rear seat is only for shorter journeys owing to reduced legroom caused by the centre console. This does at least feature USB sockets and climate controls for the rear passengers. Leg and headroom are significantly improved over the Coupe and Cabriolet thanks to the higher roofline, and boot space has been increased by 20 litres to 440 litres overall.

The additional doors of the Gran Coupe make it 70kg heavier than the two-door Coupe. As standard, adaptive suspension is fitted along with revised M Sport springs to cope with the additional weight.

At launch, the Gran Coupe can be specced with a choice of two petrol engines and one diesel. The 840i boasts a turbocharged 335bhp 3.0-litre straight-six petrol engine that gets the car from 0-62mph in 5.2 seconds. The 840d gets a 316bhp turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-six diesel engine and four-wheel drive, giving it a 0-62mph time of 5.1 seconds.

At the top of the range is the M850i xDrive, which gets a turbocharged 4.4-litre V8 petrol engine that can get the car from 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds. All engines feature an eight-speed Steptronic Sport gearbox with steering wheel mounted shift paddles, and are electronically limited to 155mph.

The 840d is the most efficient model offered, with claimed economy of up to 45.6mpg and CO2 emissions of 166g/km. The 840i can achieve up to 38.2mpg with CO2 emissions of 170g/km, while the V8-powered M850i claims 28.5mpg and CO2 emissions of 229g/km.

Want to know more about the BMW 8 Series Coupe and 8 Series Cabriolet? Read our full in-depth reviews.