Days After BMW Unveiled the New 8 Series, Patent Drawings of The Convertible and Gran Coupe Versions Have Already Surfaced

TopSpeed

By Kirby Garlitos

Published Jun 21, 2018

It looks like the German automaker does have big plans for the returning flagship

The new BMW 8 Series is still fresh in our minds, and now there are reports of design registrations surfacing of the convertible and Gran Coupe versions of Bimmer’s new flagship model. The design registrations reportedly came from the Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property, and if you didn’t believe them, it appears that the German automaker is serious about branching the 8 Series beyond the coupé and convertible models that we already know about.

We already know that the BMW 8 Series Convertible is coming. Spy shots of the model have been taken, and we’ve seen it, so there aren’t any big surprises there. What the design registrations do is confirm that what looks to be the production shape of the 8 Series Convertible. As expected, the model will feature a two-piece rear deck that houses the trunk and another section to hold the soft top roof when it is lowered. As previous spy shots have shown, a third brake light will likely be integrated into the car’s rear spoiler. Other than these design elements, the 8 Series Convertible is going to look a lot like its coupé counterpart.

The 8 Series Gran Coupe, on the other hand, looks like its ready to hit production, too. The four-door nature of the Gran Coupe harkens us back to the 2018 Geneva Motor Show where BMW unveiled the M8 Gran Coupe Concept. It’s unclear if Bimmer plans to use the concept as the basis for the production model, but the four-door layout is expected to remain in place, giving potential buyers a more luxurious alternative to the performance-driven character of both the coupe and convertible versions of the 8 Series.

The design registration of the 8 Series Gran Coupe also suggests that it’s not going to look entirely different from other models of the 8 Series. It could be a little longer, though, on account of the space it needs to allocate for the full-sized rear section and the trunk lid for the roof. However it ends up looking, the 8 Series Gran Coupe could be Bimmer’s long-awaited answer to models like the Porsche Panamera Turbo S.

If that’s BMW’s goal, it needs to give the Gran Coupe the power and performance numbers to compete against the established Panamera. There’s no word yet on powertrain, but the likely scenario would be using the same 4.4-liter, bi-turbo V-8 that’s found on the 8 Series Coupe. That makes around 523 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque, impressive numbers that can definitely help the 8 Series Gran Coupe hold its own against the competition.

Neither 8 Series Convertible nor the 8 Series Gran Coupe has set launch dates, but if form follows our expectations, the convertible should make its debut first, followed by the Gran Coupe version after that.

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