The study car, to be unveiled at Italian concourse Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este today, will serve as a preview of the actual car, slated for launch in 2018.
BMW touts the 8 Series Coupe as setting new benchmarks in the luxury coupe segment, also populated by the Mercedes S-Class Coupe.
The exterior displays new design ideas and form-building techniques for a driver’s car. The design provides a new interpretation of the iconic BMW styling cues, with a new approach to the use of forms that are reflected in the car’s surfacing. A handful of crisp lines mark out clear surfaces, and the car’s volumes are sculpted to evoke power.
Expansive surfaces set within a sporting outline define the flanks. The silhouette of the concept car spreads low and powerfully over the road. The interplay of a long bonnet and flowing roofline bring allure to the car’s flanks, while the striking upward sweep of the concept’s trailing edge provides a crisp finish to the car’s rearward flow and adds another sporting flourish.
Within the car’s silhouette, the clean yet dramatic arrangement of surfaces and forms catches the eye and creates a crisp, modern look. The sharply drawn lines coursing over taut volumes represent a visual promise of the dynamic driving experience that awaits.
A look at the details reveals two expressively styled character lines providing the border for surfacing that appears to be formed by air rushing out of the Air Breathers. Further back, the eye is guided to the pronounced flaring above the rear wheels. The flanks as a whole draw attention to a new aspect of BMW’s expertise in the execution of surfaces.
Skilfully moulded line sources and flowing highlights accentuate the athletic contours of the concept car. The car gets a special exterior paint finish Barcelona Grey Liquid – a greyish-blue with iridescent pigments – shows off the surfacing to optimum effect. Large (21-inch) light-alloy wheels feature a sporty and exclusive multi-spoke design and aero elements, generate visual depth and set the seal of the compelling appearance of the car when viewed in profile.
A large kidney grille, slim twin headlights and large air intakes form a striking, sporty front-end graphic. The classic BMW template has a fresh interpretation here, taking the company’s design language in a different direction. For example, the two kidneys are very low to the road and spread broadly across the front end.
Taking inspiration from BMW coupes of years past, the kidneys are brought together by an unbroken frame to form a single large element. The grille widens as it extends downwards, emphasising the dynamic character of the concept car. Bringing a focused look to the front end are slim laser headlights.
The large side air intakes in the front apron intensify the car’s wide, sporting stance on the road, underlined by carbon-fibre element between them.
Emotional surfacing also dominates at the rear of the car, creating a low, highly sculpted tail. The rear is defined by the interplay between volumes and lines, which extend around from the flanks and shape the rear section of the car. The powerful wheel arches hint at the car’s dynamic talents and advertise its rear-wheel drive. And the tapering of the passenger cell and the car’s wide track shine a spotlight on this area of the car.
The slim, stretched-out rear lights extend far into the sides of the car and provide a connection between the rear and flanks. The lights themselves take the form of L-shaped blades and project out from the rear. They emphasise the width of the car and its muscular stance on the road, and their slender form gives the rear a sporty and modern flavour.
The dark, stylised carbon-fibre diffuser in the lower section of the rear apron adds extra lightness and a sportier feel to the rear graphic. Large, trapezoidal exhaust tailpipes frame the rear section and point to the dynamic driving experience to come.
The interior focuses on the essential: the task of driving. Once behind the wheel, the driver is wrapped in the tightly enclosed ambience typical of sports cars. The surfaces and lines all gravitate forwards and underscore the dynamic driving experience. The grouping of functions into control clusters, e.g. in the centre stack, the centre console and the doors, gives the interior a clear graphic structure.
Among the standout design elements in the interior are the fluid transition from the instrument panel into the doors and the sporty, enveloping feel of the interior. This impression is magnified by the smooth connection between the centre console and instrument panel, which together form the nucleus of the interior. The high centre console and the instrument panel’s low visual focus add further emphasis to the snug and sporty feeling of space.
The interior of the BMW Concept 8 Series explores the contrasts between emotion and engineering, dynamic flair and luxury; its form suggests supreme sportiness, while exquisite materials exude exclusivity and high-grade design.
For example, all of the driver’s contact points with the car are brimming with sporting accents. The exclusive sports seats are slim in design, the carbon-fibre shell providing the basic structure and the finest leather making them the perfect place to sit. The steering wheel continues along similar lines, its hand-polished aluminium spokes arrowing forward purposefully, and the red-anodised shift paddles bring the race track to mind. The contrast of aluminium and dark leather on the gripping surfaces emphasises this luxurious sense of sportiness.
Merino leather in Dark Brown and Fjord White lends the interior a high-quality ambience. Accent surfaces in carbon fibre and hand-polished aluminium create deliberate contrasts and radiate a sporty and technical feel. Plus, a faceted ground gearshift lever and the iDrive Controller made from Swarovski glass with a smoky quartz look treat the interior to some modern and classy finishing touches.
“The BMW Concept 8 Series is our take on a full-blooded high-end driving machine,” said BMW Group Design senior vice president Adrian van Hooydonk. “It is a luxurious sports car which embodies both unadulterated dynamics and modern luxury like arguably no other. For me, it’s a slice of pure automotive fascination.”
