Series 8 aims to muscle in at upper end
BMW’s answer to evaporating demand for luxury coupes like its 6 Series looks simple: more big, more styling, more space, more luxury and an extra two numbers in the name.
Due to arrive as a production car in 2018, the concept 8 Series is a glittering example of BMW’s new-found push towards a richer model mix and higher profit margins, with less focus on volume at the bottom end of its range.
It comes at a time when the company is promising a complete revamp of its line-up.
“In the next two years, we will have the biggest, most comprehensive change ever seen in this company,” says Ian Robertson, BMW board member for sales and marketing.
That new era will see a mixture of tradition and future technology, but he insists that some things will not be compromised. “While electrification, autonomous and digitalisation are important in our strategy, there will always be the drive. Our cars will always have a steering wheel,” says Robertson.
While juggling all the parameters that are rapidly becoming prerequisites in the automotive industry, Robertson says the new 8 Series will help the company play a greater part in the upper end of the market.
“We are committed to uppersegment opportunities,” he says, adding that “one of the strong points of BMW is we always want to raise the bar, we always want to raise the paradigm”.
Raising the bar is an important part of the concept 8 Series, which made its debut at the illustrious Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza in Italy.
The chamfered, swooping body panels will be faithfully reproduced in production, insists senior vice-president of BMW Group design Adrian van Hooydonk. “The BMW concept 8 Series is our take on a fullblooded, high-end driving machine,” he says. “It is a luxurious sports car, which embodies both unadulterated dynamics and modern luxury .... For me, it’s a slice of pure automotive fascination.”
Van Hooydonk, who was responsible for the design of the second-generation 6 Series coupe, which debuted in 2003, suggests its new form language and sharper lines might find their way into other future BMW production sports models.
The “8 Series provides a fresh interpretation of iconic BMW styling cues”, he says. “A handful of crisp lines mark out clear surfaces, and the car’s volumes are powerfully sculpted. Together, these elements make a forceful statement and create a model brimming with character. In short, this is a driver’s car.”
While BMW has yet to release any detailed specifications or powertrain information, it will be larger in every dimension than the 4,895mm-long F13 6 Series coupe and will deliver more rear passenger space by adding length to the outgoing car’s 2,855mm wheelbase.
Based on the architecture of the current 7 Series flagship, the production version of the 8 Series is planned to pitch its price tag somewhere between the 760i and the entry-level Rolls-Royce Wraith.
The big coupe runs a long nose and a short tail, typical signatures of large coupe BMWs, though the bulbous arch that allows the bonnet to clear the engine and meet pedestrianimpact legislation seems a little ungainly, but only from a front three-quarter angle.
In profile, the concept is dominated by its clean proportions, with an ultralow bonnet line, a higher boot line, 21-inch alloy wheels, bulging rear wheel arches and huge scalloped cuts trailing from the front wheel arches and along the doors.
The company will quietly slip the 8 Series onto the 6 Series’ Dingolfing production slots early in 2018, bumping the thirdgeneration 6 Series coupe into retirement to end its seven-year production run.
That won’t be the end of the 6 Series badge, though, because BMW will keep building the very useful 6 Series GranCoupe. It is also committed to launching a new 6 Series, the sleek, cleanly styled Gran Turismo, later this year to replace the ungainly 5 Series GT.
Sources who have seen the car insist it is philosophically closer to the Audi A7 than the taller, plumper 5 Series GT.