2020 BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe teased

A new tease of the forthcoming BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe has been teased over the weekend ahead of its official unveiling this June.

Created to replace the 6 Series Gran Coupe, the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe is designed to rival both the Mercedes-Benz CLS and more muscular Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door sedans, and will come with an extended wheelbase compared to the 8 Series coupe and 8 Series convertible to ensure it offers significantly more legroom.

Inside, expect an interior almost identical to the Gran Coupe’s two-door cousins, which arrives in Australian showrooms this week, dominated by a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel that’s flanked by a 10.3-inch infotainment system.

Previewed back in March 2018 at the Geneva motor show, the four-door Gran Coupe remains based on architecture lifted from the 7 Series limousine.

The original concept featured a mighty twin-turbo 6.6-litre V12, but when the big Gran Coupe goes on sale it will more likely come with either a 390kW 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 for the M850i xDrive or a 235kW 3.0-litre twin-turbo diesel inline-six-cylinder for the  840d xDrive.

Later on, expect an M8 performance flagship version of the 8 Series Gran Coupe that will get at least 460kW.

Both versions come with all-wheel drive and a BMW’s ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission.

We expect the M850i xDrive to easily hit 100km/h in less than four seconds – around two-tenths more than the lighter coupe.

It’s thought a flagship V12 version might also be on the cards to help BMW rival the Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door that could be offered with a monstrous 600kW hybrid powertrain.

Set to command a healthy price premium over the regular coupe, the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe is scheduled to launch in Europe in September, with Australian sales expected to commence before the end of 2019.