As all you BMW fans know, the 6 Series is not long for this world. They might use the name for the next 5er GT, but a new coupe is going to arrive under the 8 Series name next year. By the look of its preview concept, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe is in big trouble.
Some BMW concepts have a tendency of not sticking to the look we know designers are going to look. For example, the Gran Lusso Coupe came out in 2013, but the 7 Series that followed it has different headlights. We've seen enough Nurburgring spyshots to know this isn't the production 8 Series with different wheels.
But the Bavarians are trying to adapt to the future. They are forcing themselves to look beyond the Ultimate Driving Machine to the Tesla Model S. We see that a lot in this concept, which has screens on top of screens and capacitive controls everywhere.
"The forthcoming BMW 8-Series Coupe will demonstrate that razor-sharp dynamics and modern luxury can go hand-in-hand. This will be the next model in the expansion of our luxury-car offering and will raise the benchmark for coupes in the segment. In the process, we will strengthen our claim to leadership in the luxury class," says BMW Chairman Harald Krüger.
There are no official figures for the concept, just ones that BMW might have intentionally let slip. For example, the production car is supposed to be bigger than the outgoing 6 Series and priced somewhere between the 760i and a Rolls-Royce Wraith. So the Bavarians are going to ask a lot of money for their beauty.
Two powertrains are being discussed, a V12 for the regular model and a V8 for the performance one. Weird, right? The concept car is supposedly propelled by a 6.6-liter twin-turbo while the M8 (recently trademarked) packs an M5 drivetrain, complete with AWD and 4.4-liter engine. There's not going to be an M6 anymore, so they're like twin models now, the M5 and M8. Of course, we could be wrong, as BMW has trademarked a bunch of models - 825, 830, 835, 850, 845, and 860, along with M850 and M8. But an 830i would be cheaper than the 760i, wouldn't it?
Laser at the front, OLEDs at the back and a drive made pointless in the middle, as this flagship is likely to do many things by itself. It could be quite a controversial car, but there's just so many people who want to pay even more for a BMW that it doesn't matter.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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