By Staff Reporter

BMW has officially taken the covers off the new BMW 8 Series Gran Copue. This follows a leak on the internet ahead of the official world premiere at the BMW Group #NEXTGen event on 25 – 27 June 2019 in Munich.

The Gran Coupe is taller (61 mm), longer (231 mm) and wider (30mm) than the Coupe. This means the Gran Coupe is able to offer rear passengers more leg, shoulder and headroom than the Coupe. Standard specification includes sports seats and Vernasca leather trim, shift paddles on the steering wheel, ambient lighting, and full leather trim for the instrument panel and door shoulders. Outer rear seats are styled as individual seats with integral head restraints and the third rear seat is suitable for use on short journeys.

Automatic boot lid operation and Comfort Access (including hands‑free opening and closing of the boot lid) are standard. Boot capacity of 440 litres is big enough to accommodate three golf bags. 40:20:40 split-folding rear backrest offers extra flexibility for carrying luggage.

At launch there will be four model variants: the BMW M850i xDrive Gran Coupe (with 390 kW from a V8 engine), BMW 840i Gran Coupe and BMW 840i xDrive Gran Coupe (both with a new 250 kW six-cylinder in-line petrol engine), plus the BMW 840d xDrive Gran Coupe (with a 235 kW six-cylinder in-line diesel engine). Power is transferred via an eight-speed Steptronic Sport transmission to all four wheels thanks to BMW’s xDrive intelligent all-wheel drive or to just rear-wheels (on BMW 840i Gran Coupe).

Only the BMW M850i Gran Coupe, BMW 840i Gran Coupe and BMW 840d xDrive Gran Coupe will be available in South Africa in the fourth quarter of this year.