The M8 Gran Coupe is a good looking BMW
As if buying a German sports saloon wasn’t already tricky enough. The BMW M5 and Mercedes E63 have reached some sort of 1,200bhp dead heat, the Audi RS7 Sportback is all of a sudden good, and the AMG boys have concocted something else entirely in the shape of the complex but wonderful AMG GT 4-Door.
A car which BMW’s now made a direct rival for in the shape of the M8 Gran Coupe. Yep, it’s a replication of that M5/E63 stalemate for those with another £30,000 (approx. RM153,866) stashed in their wallet.
It’s a mighty looking thing though, right? One of the best-looking BMWs on sale, though plenty might argue that’s not difficult these days. Regardless, we think it looks spiffing, especially in metallic aubergine.
A special First Edition – limited to just five cars in the UK – will come in green and gold, in a delightful nod to the M8 Gran Coupe concept of 2018.
Beneath the surface it’s all as you’d expect – the 616bhp 4.4-litre V8 of the M8 Competition sits up front and there’s four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering beneath, the former switching to rear-drive only when you press the hooligan buttons to activate its drift mode. Y’know, just like in that AMG GT 4-Door.
Performance is startling: BMW claims a 3.2-second sprint to 100kph, which ought to utterly shatter the peace inside. Almost all of its extra 231mm over a two-door M8 is contained within the wheelbase, see, with two big comfy seats in the rear and air con controls and USB ports aplenty for their inhabitants to fiddle with. When they aren’t having their face melted by the acceleration. A third seat is kinda there, if its inhabitant doesn’t mind straddling some buttons and screens.
“The M8 is a really grand, grand tourer,” says TG’s Paul Horrell of the two-door M8 Competition. “It looks and operates as you’d expect of a peak BMW.” The Gran Coupe ought to be even grander still, then.
Prices start at £120,935 (approx. RM620,258), a surprising £2,500 (approx. RM12,823) cheaper than the two-door. More for less. It’s practically a bargain. Enough to sway you from its numerous rivals, though?
