2020 BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe Is Luxury Fun With Two More Doors

BMW is taking no time fleshing out its 8 Series offerings. It was less than a year ago when BMW's top-tier two-door arrived. A few months later 2019 BMW 8 Series Convertible Loses Its Roof, Still Looks Lovely followed by the potent M8 in various flavors earlier this month. Now, BMW is unveiling the four-door 2020 8 Series Gran Coupe set to enter production in July.

To add two doors and seating for five, BMW lengthened the 8 Series Coupe by 9.0 inches with everything from the windshield back, which is more upright, having a unique design. The car is also 1.2 inches wider and 2.2 inches longer with 7.9 inches added to the wheelbase. The new design increases front and rear headroom by 0.2 and 3.4 inches, respectively. The biggest gain in space is for rear passengers, who see 7.1 more inches of legroom, and 7.7 inches of additional shoulder room. Rear seats fold down in a 40:20:40 configuration.

U.S. customers can expect BMW's twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8 under the hood making 523 horsepower (390 kilowatts) and 553 pound-feet (749 Newton-meters) of torque in the M850i xDrive Gran Coupe. BMW electronically limits the Gran Coupe's top speed to 130 miles per hour (209 kilometers per hour) when equipped with all-season tires. That jumps to 150 mph (241 kph) when equipped with performance tires. The engine will route power through the eight-speed Steptronic Sport gearbox to all four wheels.

The 8 Series Gran Coupe will also receive the 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six engine, which will produce 335 hp (249 kW) and 368 lb-ft (498 Nm) of torque. This will come in two flavors – rear- and all-wheel drive – with the BMW 840i and 840i xDrive. The engine pairs with the same eight-speed transmission. BMW says the V8-powered Gran Coupe can hit 60 mph (96 kph) from a standstill in 3.7 seconds while the six-cylinder RWD version takes 4.9 seconds. AWD shortens that by 0.3 seconds.

The 2020 BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe will begin arriving in September. Pricing starts at $84,900 for the 840i Gran Coupe, $87,800 for the 840i xDrive Gran Coupe, and $108,900 for the M850i xDrive. Prices exclude the $995 destination charge.