CAUGHT IN THE WILD! The BMW 840i X-Drive Gran Coupé Prototype

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Hunting exotic prey is pure dumb luck for some of us. Sometimes it just happens to fall right into our laps, as it did while we were refueling our review car of the week. Such was the case after a weekend of vehicular debauchery, where we needed to hit the neighborhood gas & go, complete with its delectable assortment of three-day-old cardboard pizzas and hot dogs that seemed like they had rolled around on their wiener rotisserie about a thousand-too-many times. When we finished paying, what caught our eyes was a BMW 840i xDrive Gran Coupe.

Blacked out and festooned with carbon-look tape over all corporate identifiers including the hood and rear deck-mounted roundels as well as “840i” and “xDrive” badging, was a nearly production-ready version of the new Gran Coupe.

The new 8 Series Gran Coupes are four-door versions of the 8 Series coupe and convertible that will offer seating for five, with three in the back, although from what we could see, it would be best if they were of the supermodel variety rather than larger, economy sized examples.

Uniquely designed from the windscreen back, the Gran Coupes are 9.0-inches longer than the two-door or topless variants, with a wheelbase that has been stretched an additional 7.9-inches. It will feature a standard panoramic glass moonroof that stretches from front to back. It can be substituted with an optional carbon fiber roof which replaces the moonroof, and in the process, lowers the Gran Coupe’s overall weight and center of gravity for improved handling.

It used to be that you could tell a BMW’s engine size by its name. No longer. In the case of the 840i xDrive, power will come from BMW’s TwinPower Turbocharged 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine producing 335 horsepower and 368 lb-ft of torque. With standard rear drive, the 840i will achieve 0-60 mph in 4.9 seconds. With all-wheel xDrive power, expect 0-60 in 4.6 seconds.

The higher performance BMW M850i xDrive Gran Coupe is powered by the latest version of the BMW TwinPower 4.4-liter (we told you numbers don’t matter) eight-cylinder turbo engine, making 535 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque. Zero-to-60 mph comes in 3.7 seconds. Depending on tires, both engines will top out at 130 mph (All-season) or 155 mph (performance).

Both engines will transfer power to the driveline by a new version of BMW’s Steptronic Sport Automatic transmission. The transmission can adapt shifting via “intelligent networking” with the standard navigation system, which has the ability to read the road in a planned route and adjust its shifts accordingly.

And oh yes, it’s almost a sure bet there will be a high-performance M8 Gran Coupe model sometime in the future.

The new BMW 840i Gran Coupe and 850i xDrive Gran Coupe will arrive at dealerships in early October. Contact BMW of Wyoming Valley for more information today.

 

 

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