Ever since the first four-wheeled creation wearing a BMW badge came to the world, the German carmaker showed a conservative attitude when it came to classifying its vehicles. For BMW, coupes were coupes, sedans were sedans and so on. However, the Bavarians have dramatically changed this principle in the modern era, with the company now placing niches high on its list of priorities.
Thus, BMW couldn't resist not creating a model that would fall into what has to be the most popular niche of all times: four-door coupes. In fact, this area has expanded so much that it's starting to look more like a fully-grown segment.
The start-up credit goes to Mercedes, which relied on the first generation of the CLS to bring customers to this segment, but now the list of names that play this game ranges from the lower tier, where VW (with the CC) plays for the moment and Kia is set to arrive later (the K9 Concept), through the premium one, where we find the Audi A7 and the second-generation Mercedes CLS, as well as the Porsche Panamera, to the luxury one, which, for now, only includes the Aston Martin Rapide.
However, the Bavarians didn’t take any risks with the launch of their first four-door coupe. Like we said, the segment is now established, the new 6-Series Coupe was already on the market and the Gran Coupe is just a version of this that has gained a two doors. Or is it?
BMW’s Head of Design, Adrian von Hooydonk took this as a challenge and, together with his team, incorporated centuries of experience (no, they’re not vampires, that’s the final result you reach if you add up each designer’s years of work) into giving the Gran Coupe its own flavor. The engineers were also called in to make sure that, again, the car has personality and it’s not just a 6-Series Coupe built for China (read: long wheelbase).
Have all these efforts paid out? Install yourself in one of the individual rear seats, let’s go for a drive and find out. What? Yes, this is the diesel version (640d), so let's see if we can avoid the pump while going fast.
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