What's all this about?

We've got a new addition to BMW's 8 Series family. Following on from the Coupe and Convertible models, now we've got a Gran Coupe variant.

So extra doors at the back and not much more room to go with it?

Umm, not sure where you get the second bit of that statement from. Because, in this instance for certain, there's acres of the stuff in the back. The 8 Gran Coupe is 231mm longer than an Eight two-door and fully 201mm of that is taken up by an elongation of the wheelbase. All this space seems to have been granted to the rear-seat passengers, which is nice. But as the Gran Coupe is 61mm taller than the Coupe and 30mm wider, everyone benefits from more shoulder- and headroom. Out the back is a 440-litre boot, which can be enlarged by folding down the 40:20:40 split rear seats.

The 8 Series isn't exactly small in the first place. How huge is the Gran Coupe?

It's most definitely imposing. At nearly 5.1 metres long and with all models weighing at least 1,875kg, the Gran Coupe is a big old beast. However, we happen to think it looks pretty good, with decent proportions and all the elegant styling of the regular 8 Series models.

What have we got in terms of motive power?

From its September launch, there will be three familiar engines: a 340hp/500Nm 3.0-litre turbocharged straight-six petrol unit in the 840i and 840i xDrive, this being the unit you'll find in any '40i'-badged Beemer such as the Z4 M40i; then there's the 3.0-litre bi-turbodiesel as seen in the 840d xDrive, with 320hp and 680Nm; and finally, there's a hot M850i model, with the 530hp/750Nm biturbo petrol V8. Presumably, given its announcement in Coupe and Convertible formats, the M8 Gran Coupe can't be too far down the line. Performance is strong on all Eight Gran Coupes, with every model limited to 155mph at the top end and the cars capable of anything between 3.9 seconds (M850i) and 5.2 seconds (840i with rear-wheel drive) for 0-62mph. On the economy and emissions side, expect between 28.5- and 45.6mpg combined from the 8 Series Gran Coupe launch range, with concomitant CO₂ emissions of anything from 162- to 229g/km.

Matt Robinson - 18 Jun 2019