Is the 6 Series Gran Coupe the Most Covetable Four Door BMW Ever?

With the CLS, Mercedes proved that there was a market. With the A7, Audi proved that there was room to make it interesting. Now with the Gran Coupe BMW has proven that they can produce something perhaps more covetable than either. When we first saw the test mules of the GC we wondered how a stretched version of the already large 6 Series could be anything less than ungainly. The thought of a 6 Series growing two extra doors made us think of those enormous four door trucks dotting American highways. Yet somehow the car (all 5,007cm of it) feels elegant and purposeful. But how do the looks stack up to the best sedans to wear the roundel? Or perhaps a better question is, how does it stack up to the best looking large coupes on the market.

There is something just wrong about a big coupe. It’s completely wasted space in the name of style. It’s very nature is to be inefficient and at odds with the increasingly socially conscious world we live in. And yet how come we all go weak in the knees when we see a well executed two door that just drips with the right amount of purposeful style and outright performance.

With the four door 6 Series BMW is aiming at pouring all those ingredients into one product. That sentence should raise our collective eyes as it generally leads to something that tries so hard at everything and succeeds at nothing. But BMW has seemingly carefully crafted the size and styling of the GC to not make too many promises.

What it gains in elegance over a 5 Series it lacks in efficiency of space. This is not a car you buy to transport lots of people and things and BMW is obviously not trying to make that point. This is a car that an empty nester will buy instead of the expected (and at times boring) 5 Series. Or perhaps they’ll choose the 6er GC instead of the 911 because they may someday need those extra doors and seats. Either way they’re getting a slice of utility with a healthy portion of style.

If it 6er GC possesses the same performance we loved in the 650i Coupe we think BMW will be hit a home-run. And if the rumors of a 600hp version wearing an M badge are true, we expect to be coveting the GC for a long time to come.