The first-ever BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe has now got the M8 Gran Coupe and M8 Competition Gran Coupe siblings. As always, the photos here showcase the latter.
Visual enhancements include Kidney grille in black chrome, gills in black chrome, high-gloss black treatment for the mirror caps, rear spoiler and rear apron inlays, 20-inch M light-alloy wheels, and black chrome tailpipes of the M Sport exhaust system. As on the M8 Coupe and M8 Competition Coupe, the roof is made from carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP). The optional M Carbon exterior package, comprising inserts for the front air intakes, mirror caps, M gills, rear diffuser and rear spoiler are all made from CFRP.
While the Adaptive LED headlights are standard, buyers can go for BMW Laserlight with Selective Beam (standard in Germany), which generates a high-beam range of up to 600 metres.
Concept
First Edition
At launch, there’ll be M8 Gran Coupe First Edition model, limited to 400 units. It gets Aurora Diamond Green metallic finish with Gold Bronze accents for the M8 badging, side window surrounds and M gills. Exclusive M light-alloy wheels with special color highlights, Gold Bronze finished door sills, and interior appointments including Merino full-leather trim in Taruma Brown are some of the other highlights of the Edition. It’ll most likely look similar to the M8 Gran Coupe concept that we saw last year.
Interior highlights of the M8 Competition Gran Coupe includes M leather steering wheel with red M buttons, Live Cockpit Professional comprising of a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 10.25-inch infotainment system, Head-Up display, M Sport seats with perforated 3D quilting, illuminated M8 badging for the seats, M seat belts, and 40:20:40 split/folding rear seat backrests.
Other standard features include the BMW Display Key, wireless smartphone charging, and ambient lighting. Options list includes four-zone automatic climate control, seat ventilation, and 16-speaker Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System.
Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go function, Night Vision system, and Driving Assistant Professional package which includes Steering and lane control assistant, Lane Keeping Assistant with active side collision protection, Evasion Assistant, Crossroads warning, Wrong-way warning and Front Cross Traffic Alert systems are all part of the options. The standard Parking Assistant also includes a rearview camera, while upgrading to the optional Parking Assistant Plus adds the Top View, Panorama View and 3D Top View functions.
The car also gets M-specific adaptive suspension with electronically controlled dampers; the setup can also be varied at the touch of a button, with Comfort, Sport, and Sport Plus modes.
The M compound brakes are fitted as standard while buyers can go for the optional M carbon-ceramic brakes. Either way, both brakes come with an integrated braking system, which brings together the brake activation, brake booster and braking control functions within a compact module. The driver can choose the Comfort or Sport mode to alter the amount of pressure on the brake pedal required to slow down the car.
As with other Competition models, the M8 Competition Gran Coupe gets a specific chassis tuning. BMW said that the stiffer engine mounting, the increased camber at the front wheels and the use of ball joints instead of rubber mounts for the rear axle’s toe links all have a positive impact on steering precision, transitional responses and cornering dynamics.
Moving on to the business end of the story, both the M8 Gran Coupe and M8 Competition Gran Coupe are powered by a 4.4-litre (4,395 cc) TwinPower Turbo V8 petrol engine, paired to an 8-speed M Steptronic transmission that sends power to all four wheels via M xDrive AWD system. The torque is fully variable between the front and rear axles. Active M Differential is included too.
When DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) is deactivated, the 4WD, 4WD Sport and 2WD (pure rear-wheel drive) settings for the M xDrive AWD system comes into play.
As for the outputs, the 4.4L V8 biturbo in the M8 Gran Coupe is tuned to produce 441 kW (600 hp) at 6,000 rpm and 750 Nm of torque between 1,800 – 5,600 rpm. The M8 Competition Gran Coupe on the other side packs 460 kW (625 hp) at 6,000 rpm and 750 Nm of torque between 1,800 – 5,800 rpm.
The latter is claimed to sprint from 0 – 100 km/h in 3.2 seconds, which is 0.1 seconds quicker than the M8 Gran Coupe. The limited top speed of 250 km/h can be upgraded to 305 km/h with the optional M Driver’s Package.
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