BMW's upcoming Porsche Panamera rival, the 8 Series Gran Coupe, has been spied largely undisguised in Munich. The front of the fastback four-door has no camo at all — just black tape over the BMW badge, as if that would fool anyone. Last time the Gran Coupe was spotted was in August, when the nose of the car was still covered.
The immediately obvious thing about the Gran Coupe is just how long it is. The regular two-door 8 Series is already nearly 16 feet long, and the four-door version can surpass 16.5 feet, weighing two tons. The rear doors seem long enough to make ingress and egress somewhat graceful — which is not always easy in a "four-door coupe" due to the rakish roofline.
The car seen here is likely an M850i with a more aggressive front bumper, blue brake calipers and rectangular exhausts. The M850i, with its V8 making 530 horsepower and 550 pound-feet of torque, isn't going to be the sole M offering, as there will likely be a 400-horsepower M850d quad-turbodiesel six-cylinder model for select markets. Both cars are expected to have all-wheel drive and all-wheel steering.
Underneath those top models will be an 840i with the same three-liter unit as the current 5 Series, and a 840d with a 320-horsepower twin-turbo diesel. Don't expect that one in the U.S. market.
Along with the aforementioned Panamera, the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe is also aimed at buyers of four-door AMG GT models. And we'd imagine some Aston Martin Rapide drivers taking a second look at BMW's new offering. The car looks complete enough to see a full reveal quite soon, which would mean it could be introduced as a 2020 model.
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