Tasty!

Yes, it is, rather, isn't it? These are the first pictures of the new BMW Concept 8 Series, which makes its world debut this week in Italy at the annual Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este event, and BMW openly confirms that it previews a new 8 Series Coupe that will hit the market at some stage in 2018.

Fantastic news. What's under the bonnet?

Apologies, but we don't actually know... BMW doesn't want to talk about the production car as yet so this is a design study only. Indeed, the only reference to the concept's mechanicals suggests that it will be rear-wheel drive and BMW talks a lot about how the 8 Series will mix genuinely enthralling dynamics with ultimate luxury. Nonetheless, we can take a bit of a guess based on BMW's existing powertrain mix, can't we? There'll probably be a fast diesel option, called the 850d, while the 840i could use a 3.0-litre six-cylinder petrol engine as the entry-level variant. Above that, expect a V8-engined 850i, an 860i with a V12 under its bonnet and, we hope, a full-on M8 Coupe using the advanced M xDrive four-wheel-drive system from the 2018 BMW M5. A mouth-watering prospect.

Lovely. What about the interior?

It's all very show car inside, unsurprisingly, and BMW's designers have taken the free rein to mix high-tech and sporty materials such as carbon fibre and aluminium with super-soft Merino leather in brown and white and even Swarovski crystal for the iDrive rotary controller.

When can we see more?

After the Italian debut, we expect BMW to ship the Concept 8 Series to the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, but it's unlikely we'll see the production-ready 8 Series until early 2018.