Heir to BMW's Concept CS will debut at Geneva show
Okay: It was a stunner three years ago in Shanghai, but a no-show at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September, where we expected to see what BMW calls the 6 Series Gran Coupe—but which is clearly derived from the BMW Concept CS.
Now it’s here. Take that, Mercedes!
The three-pointed star has been adorning a swoopy Mercedes four-door for several years now, and it is selling reasonably well despite the obvious pain of back-seat passengers over five feet tall. Abandoning all linguistic logic, BMW, too, has stretched the new Sixer coupe to add rear doors, and sure enough, they’re still calling it a coupe, even though the very phrase “four-door coupe” gives purists a headache.
Migraine or not, the Gran Coupe is a stunner. The new 6 Series coupe—the real coupe, the one with two doors—pulled off the neat trick of being nicely proportioned despite its length (twenty-inch wheels helped significantly). The Gran Coupe, at a length of 197 inches (5,007 mm) and wheelbase of 116.8 inches (2,968 mm), is 4.4 inches (111 mm) longer than its two-door coupe sibling, mostly for the benefit of those back-seat passengers. At 74.6 inches (1,894 mm) wide, the car is 54.8 inches (1,392 mm) in height—four inches (102 mm) longer, 1.3 inches (34 mm) wider, and 2.8 inches (72 mm) lower than a BMW 550i.
Powered by the turbocharged N55 engine, the Gran Coupe makes 315 horsepower. It will be followed by twin-turbo V8 versions for those intent on humiliating their Mercedes-afflicted neighbors, and an X-drive version if you want to beat them up in the snow.
The Gran Coupe will make its debut at the Geneva Auto Show, followed by an appearance at the New York Auto Show in April. No prices have been announced, but would-be buyers with skinny wallets will be politely shooed away; depending on the engine and options, figure $100,000 to get you in the Gran Coupe Club. And if they figure out a way to make a four-door convertible out of this slick ride, it’s sure to cost at least another ten grand—Satch Carlson
