Gran Coupe’s fab four a big hit

BMW has added an extra set of doors to its 8 Series to help practicality - but is there more to it than that?

Giant four-door ‘coupes’ are no new thing. It’s a not-so-niche segment pioneered by the likes of BMW and Mercedes, to give buyers who need a saloon but really would love a coupe something of a middle ground. It’s proven popular, so it’s no surprise to see BMW has taken its recently introduced flagship 8 Series coupe and slapped on an extra set of doors. In its standard guise, the 8 Series is something of a desirable cruiser - but does that remain in its newly-shaped form?

WHAT’S NEW?

OK, so there is more to this car than just taking an 8 Series Coupe and adding some doors – it’s actually a noticeably larger form overall. It’s grown 231mm in length, 30mm in width and 61mm in height. Some design alterations have been made to the car too. Though its front end is identical to the coupe, the windscreen is steeper as a result of a higher roof, with a similar approach taken for the rear window to maximise boot space.

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO DRIVE?

At motorway speeds, with its adaptive cruise control system on and the car just doing its thing, the 8 Series Gran Coupe is a hard experience to beat. Refinement, like the engine, is very impressive - wind noise is minimal, it glides over the road and you’re really only going to hear surface noise if it’s a particularly harsh road. It’s exactly what you would expect of a luxury grand tourer.

WHAT’S IT LIKE INSIDE?

Much like the exterior design, the cabin of the 8 Series Gran Coupe is nearly identical to that of the regular two-door car. That means those up front are met with a plethora of plush materials, with build quality throughout the car of a very high standard. The big change is the extra space in the back. For the average adult there’s plenty of space and even a separate dual-zone climate control system.

WHAT’S THE SPEC LIKE?

As standard, the 8 Series Gran Coupe’s exterior is enhanced with 20-inch alloy wheels, an ‘M Aerodynamic’ package and automatic LED head and taillights. Luxuries inside the car include a thermally insulated windscreen, four-zone automatic air conditioning, heated front and rear seats, a head-up display and ambient interior lighting. Pricing kicks off at £69,340, which is a well-valued package on the face things. Head into the options list though and that begins to skyrocket, while moving up to an M850i sees a £97,720 starting cost. That does bring with it a notable increase in performance along with the higher price though.

THE VERDICT

BMW has nailed the luxury coupe-turned-capable saloon formula with the 8 Series Gran

Coupe. It near-matches the head-turning style and overall appeal of the two-door car while providing a genuinely usable space in the back for more practical purposes. It does undercut the Porsche Panamera on price, though - in 840i guise at least - does lack in terms of driving dynamics. Those looking for more of a thrill should look towards the M850i. Or hold out hope for an M8 variant of the four-door car.