BMW Concept Gran Coupe

With its Concept Gran Coupe, BMW aims to demonstrate its future design direction. According to the press release from the automaker announcing the car, which was revealed at a special event in Beijing, the Gran Coupe "presents the vision of a four-door with the exclusivity of a Gran Turismo and the fascination of a high-performance sports car." The concept is also supposed to show BMW's adherence to its core values, listed as "dynamic performance and high-quality elegance," as its design pushes ever forward.

BMW head designer Adrian von Hooydonk says the Gran Coupe is the logical successor to the four-door CS Concept unveiled in Shanghai three years ago. "Cars for this market should have four doors," he says. "If it has four seats, it should have four doors, as the Chinese put a lot of emphasis on family and friends."

But, "This is not a concept only for China - this is an international concept," von Hooydonk adds. "It will be a driver's car, despite having rear seats. It is more athletic than the 7 and 5 Series. The driving dynamic will be different."

BMW Design DNA follows two slogans: "One family, different characters" and "Rooted in history, moving forward in design." To this end, the design team focuses on three elements: Proportions, Surfacing and Details, and historical characteristics like the Hofmeister kinked side glazing, shoulder crease and finely tuned surfacing.

The brand's classic design staples are included in the Gran Coupe, which include a long wheelbase, domed hood, a setback greenhouse, coupe-style roofline, and short front overhang. The concept also has what BMW somewhat confusingly calls a "flat silhouette" that, when combined with coupe-like proportions, aims to evoke a high-performance aesthetic.

The LED, double round headlights work in combination with BMW's modern interpretation of its hallmark kidney grill (for sportier cars, the more dramatic headlamp eyebrows will be used to give the car a focused appearance). The grill sits flat on the nose, which itself carries an extension that aims to create a "forward-pointing dynamic." Air inlets stretch into the side section, which BMW says gives the front a wide appearance.

The side boasts flowing lines that stretch 16.4 feet, the entire length of the vehicle. The lines reach across the frameless doors and shape the flared wheel arches. Wrapped with 245/40/20 and 275/35/20 Michelin Primacy rubber, the wheels boast relief-milled spokes that extend into the middle of the rim. At 4.6 feet tall, the Gran Coupe is almost four inches shorter than the new 5 Series, according to BMW. Von Hooydonk says the wheelbase is not from a 7 Series, but wouldn't give any more detail other than that the Gran Coupe has a long wheelbase, but is wider, lower, more fluid, and has a lower roofline.

The Hofmeister kink appears as the roof tapers off into the rear. Out back, BMW says only the curved, L-shaped lights and tailpipe trim are visible at first. The third brake light uses LEDs and sits right at the kink in the roof, illuminating the entire width of the rear window.

No word yet on whether the Concept Gran Coupe will see production in revised form -- von Hooydonk demurred on all questions regarding its production future, telling inquirers to ask development chief, Dr. Klaus Draeger -- but given BMW's recent niche-busting ways, we wouldn't doubt it for a moment.

As a further development of the classic design of a notchback sedan, the BMW Concept Gran Coupé shows the classic features of all BMW coupes like the long wheelbase, the vaulted bonnet with forward-pointing lines, the set-back greenhouse, the flat silhouette, the coupe-style roof line, and the short front overhang. The BMW Concept Gran Coupé front section is defined by the BMW kidney grille, which has a flat appearance, with an asymmetrical side...

e flat silhouette, the coupe-style roof line, and the short front overhang.

The BMW Concept Gran Coupé front section is defined by the BMW kidney grille, which has a flat appearance, with an asymmetrical side view. The central section with the kidney grille is formally separated from other BMW icons such as the headlights and air inlets. The body is flatter up to 100 millimeters than the BMW 5 Series or the BMW 7 Series Sedan. At the rear, only design elements such as the lights and tailpipe trim appear to be visible at first sight. The entire rear section of the concept car appears slimmer and lighter at the center.