BMW 8 Series Gran Coupé review

A coupé is something that traditionally has two doors, so adding two more seems to defy convention. But four-door coupés like this BMW 8 Series Gran Coupé have been a big hit ever since the Mercedes CLS burst on to the scene in 2004. 

It could be argued that four doors on a low-slung coupé is still an agreeable blend of elegance and practicality. So, you could say that the 8 Series Gran Coupé belongs to a rarified club: a car that lets you have your cake and eat it.

Where, then, does the 8 Series Gran Coupe fit in the market? Well, according to BMW, it’s deeper into the luxury sphere than the previous 6 Series Gran Coupé and the more powerful versions align with the Porsche Panamera on price. 

In essence, the Gran Coupé is a BMW 8 Series that’s been stretched on a rack, and both bodystyles offer the same engines. There’s a 3.0-litre, six-cylinder petrol engine with rear-wheel drive, or a V8 petrol with BMW’s xDrive four-wheel-drive system.

Read on to see which of those engines we think is the best fit for the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupé and how it matches up to rival luxury cars...

The BMW M850i Gran Coupé proves highly responsive, muscular and extremely rapid in any scenario (0-62mph officially takes just 3.9 seconds). It's certainly the engine to choose if performance is key to you (unless you want to step up to the BMW M8 Gran Coupé).

But for the best blend of performance and economy, we'd suggest the 840i. It pulls consistently at low to mid revs, but compared with the M850i, you have to work it harder to find its absolute turn of pace.

Still, in a sporty car, revving the engine is all part of the fun, and while a Porsche Panamera 4S is quicker, the 840i will dispatch the 0-62mph dash in a highly respectable 5.2 seconds. In any iteration, the Gran Coupé's standard eight-speed automatic gearbox is quick, smooth and highly adept at picking the right gear for any given situation. 

The Gran Coupe isn’t quite as agile as the regular BMW 8 Series or as flighty as a Panamera 4S. It’s softer and leans a little more through turns. It feels beautifully balanced on flowing roads though.

In the dry, the 840i is hardly compromised by its lack of four-wheel drive – there’s still good traction off the line, and as far as cornering is concerned, there's oodles of grip. That said, the M850i xDrive has four-wheel drive, as does a Panamera 4S, helping them to lay down their power more cleanly on very slippery surfaces.

The Gran Coupé's steering is sweet but not quite as direct as a Panamera’s. It’s light (although you can ramp up its weight should you wish by engaging the sportiest of the driving modes), but because its weight builds progressively from the start of every turn, it still endows you with heaps of confidence.

The adaptive suspension has a Comfort mode that allows the Gran Coupé quite a lot of float to help it deal with gently heaving roads in a relaxed fashion. If you fancy a bit more control, simply pop it in the midway Sport or most extreme Sport Plus mode and it’ll hunker down. 

Sharper ruts, which are getting more prevalent on our UK roads, do cause it to jolt more abruptly. If you want the best ride quality, avoid the stiffer-sided Performance Tyres (optional on the 840i and standard on the M850i), which exacerbate any surface imperfections.

In terms of wind and road noise at motorway speeds, the Gran Coupé keeps them at bay just as well as a Panamera.

The BMW 8 Series Gran Coupé is relatively understated inside. Its dashboard is more swooping than the angular design found in the Porsche Panamera, while being less flamboyant than that of the Mercedes CLS. The materials used are of very high quality, and it feels as solid as a mature oak. That’s not something you can confidently say about every element of the CLS. 

The infotainment system is a masterpiece of integration and usability. BMW’s latest-generation iDrive betters its rivals’ systems by a mile in two important ways. Firstly, its menus are generally logical and very responsive.

Secondly, by sticking with a rotary controller and shortcut menu buttons (instead of the touchscreen-only interface the Panamera employs), it’s much less distracting to operate on the move.

You can still use its 10.3in display as a touchscreen if it suits, or the optional gesture control feature instead. That enables you to turn up the stereo volume or answer a call, for example, with a flick of the wrist.

There’s always BMW’s Intelligent Personal Assistant as another alternative. It’s like Amazon Alexa, except you shout out “Hey BMW” for a response. You also get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay so you can mirror your smartphone on the main touchscreen.

Just like in a regular BMW 8 Series, the Gran Coupé’s driving position is highly adjustable. The steering wheel moves extensively and joins the comfortable driver’s seat in being electrically adjustable.

The only omission is adjustable lumbar support, which is available only as part of the M Sport seat upgrade. Nothing feels out of kilter. The dashboard’s buttons are easy to see and reach, you get configurable digital dials and there’s a head-up display, which beams plenty of information into your sightline. 

Visibility isn’t perfect though. The front pillars are quite fat and tend to obscure your vision through tight corners (although its rivals aren't much better in this regard), while the rear screen is fairly shallow.

Front and rear parking sensors are standard, though, as is a rear-view camera. You also get ultra-bright, adaptive LED headlights. Laser lights are an option.

Space in the front of the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupé is fine for two taller adults and certainly on a par with the competition. It’s quite broad inside so you can spread out across the centre armrest without spilling into your passenger’s space. There are also plenty of storage options for your odds and sods dotted about the interior.

Now for the important question: how spacious is the rear? Well, you get two proper seats and an occasional middle seat that’ll be quite awkward to sit on for long periods. Its occupant has to straddle a large hump in the floor.

The two outer seats, meanwhile, are supportive and offer similar space to the Mercedes CLS. In other words, there isn’t a lot of under-seat foot space, but six-footers will have enough leg room to sit behind tall front seat occupants.

Head room is marginal, but so far we’ve tried only examples fitted with a space-sapping sunroof. The Porsche Panamera offers more all-round lounging room.

You can fold down the Gran Coupé's rear seatbacks in a 40/20/40 configuration using handy release levers in the boot.

Doing so gives you a fairly flat extended load bay, and with the rear seats up there’s room for around five carry-on suitcases. There isn't as much boot space as in some luxury cars. It also has quite a high load lip and narrow aperture.

The 840i is the cheapest version of the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupé while the M850i is a whole different ballgame, and more closely aligned on price with the Porsche Panamera. Meanwhile, you'll need a six-figure sum to get your hands on a new BMW M8 Gran Coupé.

Whether you're paying cash or purchasing with a PCP finance deal, you'll need deep pockets. Long term, the 8 Series Gran Coupé will hold on to its value after three years less well than a Porsche Panamera. 

Both engines pump out enough CO2 to land them in the top bracket for BIK tax so you'll pay a lot to get one as a company car. In terms of efficiency, the official 33.2mpg for the 840i isn’t bad but the M850i will struggle to break out of the mid 20s at best.

You get lots of goodies as standard. In the 840i, that includes front and rear climate control, power-folding door mirrors, ambient interior lighting, a head-up display, Merino leather seat trim, 20in alloy wheels, an electric bootlid, keyless entry and heated seats front and rear. Options are plentiful, and include soft-close doors and cooled seats. The M850i has larger, 20in alloy wheels and adds a sports exhaust.

The Gran Coupé hasn’t been crash-tested by Euro NCAP but it does get a good crop of safety features, such as automatic emergency braking (AEB) and lane-change warning. Blindspot monitoring and lane assist (where it'll actively steer you back into your lane) are optional as part of the Driver Assistant Professional Package. 

BMW did quite well in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey, finishing eighth out of 31 brands – well above rival Porsche. You get a three-year, unlimited mileage warranty with the Gran Coupé.

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