Less than a year after its debut in concept form at
the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, the BMW M8 Gran Coupe has been spotted in the wild.
The good news is that the production model sticks as close as possible to the
stunning study from a design standpoint. Naturally, unlike the study it does
have door handles and normal-sized side mirrors but not much seems to have been
lost in the transition from design study to production car.
The bumpers adopt a similar appearance to those of
the Concept M8 Gran Coupe although they do seem to have been toned down for
production; the vertical vents in the rear bumper are gone, as are the vertical
air intakes in the front bumper. Apparently, the fender vents had to go too and
that’s a shame.
Other than that, chances are the production M8 Gran
Coupe will indeed be a performance beast. The beefy brakes and typical quad
exhaust pipes hint at some serious power, as do the big wheels, which don’t
look that big on the massive body by the way.
While there are no photos of the interior yet, you
already know what it will look like if you have taken a peek inside the new BMW
8 Series. Sure, the cabin will be spiced up with M Division touches, but the
overall layout will remain unchanged.
The four-door M8 will use the same 4.4-liter
twin-turbo V8 gasoline engine as the M8 Coupe and Convertible and the standard
M xDrive AWD system with full RWD mode. BMW said the unit will have more than
591 hp on tap, so something around 617 hp looks likely. That’s
what the same engine makes in the M5 Competition and it fits with M Division
boss’ suggestions that the M8 will be more powerful than the M5.
We do know the regular M8 Coupe will come in a
Competition version as well, which should offer even more power. We see no
reason for the M8 Gran Coupe not to get such a version, too. Expect the BMW M8
Gran Coupe to debut at the end of this year or in early 2020, following the M8
Coupe and Convertible that should come this spring or summer at the latest.
