5 cool things you should know about the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe
The BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe was just launched in India, and it sits in a rather unique space. It delivers 7 Series levels of luxury but also has sporty cred trickling down from the mad M8 Coupe. Priced at Rs 1.29 crore for the base variant, it is expensive but it is also insanely desirable. With four doors, proper space for the rear passengers it combines the essence of a GT car with everyday useability and practicality. Here are five cool things you should know about the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe!
Slimmest headlamps on a BMW
The faces of BMW’s cars over the last few years have been rather questionable, but one look at the 8 Series and you know the design team has nailed it. The face, not only is it palatable, it is actually handsome — its been a while since I said that about a BMW. The grille is slim, thank heavens for that, but the grille is only one part of it. The headlamps are sharp too and go a long way in making the 8 Series Gran Coupe look striking. The interesting bit is the headlamps on the 8 Series Gran Coupe are the slimmest to ever be fitted on to the front end of a BMW!
The 8 Series Gran Coupe is sold in two variants in India — the base 840i and the 840i M Sport. The M Sport badge does exactly what it does on other cars in the BMW range. No it doesn’t add power, but it adds an angry-looking aerodynamic kit and more standard equipment. The headlamps for example — the 840i gets regular LEDs, but the M Sport variant gets the fancy Laser Lights.
Widest track of any BMW
The 8 Series Gran Coupe is identical to the regular Coupe up to the A-pillar, but beyond that things begin to change. Yes, it has two extra doors — that bit is obvious — but the changes are a little more intensive than that. The wheelbase is longer by a whole 201mm to make more legroom for the rear passengers, while the rear track has been widened by 28mm over the Coupe. At 1671mm it is wider than even the X6 M, making it the widest of any BMW on sale today! And we all know what a wider track means — better handling! But the wider rear track also fees up more space in the inside of the car, which brings to the next point.
It actually seats five!
And no, we’re not talking about when you throw your weirdo cousin in the boot. The photos may show a wide centre tunnel in the rear that holds the four-zone climate control but in reality, the portion between the two main rear seats is cushioned and even has a fully-functioning seatbelt system. Sure it is a compromise and would be rather uncomfortable for anything more than short journeys, but this is a proper 4+1 seater. This car is properly practical! Heck it even has a 40:20:40 split for the rear seats if you want to lug around serious amounts of cargo.
It is only a second-gen BMW
BMW’s cars have insane legacies — the 3 Series? It has a total of seven generations. Seven! The 5 Series? Seven gens, again! The 7 Series? Six generations! But then you look at the 8 Series, and you realise that this is only the second generation of the 8. You see, the first generation of the 8 was launched way back in 1990 — the E31 8 Series. It was a proper GT car — two doors, big V12 engine (from the same family of engines that BMW sold to McLaren for the F1!), pop-up headlamps and packed with tech. But come 1999, they killed the 8 Series and didn’t revive it for a long, long time. It was only brought back to life in 2018 — as a Coupe, Convertible and 4-door Gran Coupe while the full-fat M8 exists alongside it as well. It may not have the same depth in its history as the 3 or 5 Series, but it certainly has the cred from that epic first-gen car.
It has the heart of a sportscar
The engine in the BMW 840i is a familiar one — it is the same B58 motor that the BMW Z4 M40i that we drove last year gets. The engine is a straight-six turbo petrol engine, and in the Gran Coupe, it makes It makes 335bhp and 500Nm — outputs that are identical to the Z4. The Z4 was a proper hoot to drive when we tested it last year, and the fact that the 840i gets the same engine shows how serious BMW is about giving it sporty cred. The 840i sits in a space between a sportscar and sedan and this engine gives it the ideal performance too. 0-100kmph comes up in 5.2 seconds — any faster than that and you will need barf bags for the passengers in the back seats.
The BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe is a rather interesting car from BMW, then. We're itching for the lockdown to end so we can get our hands on the car and put out a review for you. Till then, check out our video where break down everything you need to know about the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe on YouTube.
