BMW M8 Competition Gran Coupe 2020 UK review

BMW M's flagship gains a four-door variant. Is it a more appealing prospect? We find out on UK roads Viewed in an entirely objective sense, quite an appealing prospect. The M8 Competition Gran Coupé is the latest four-door that aims to take the excitement and driver focus of a large, premium sports car and combine it with real everyday usability. Aimed smack bang at Porsche’s Panamera and the literally named Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé, the elongated M8 fulfils this multifaceted brief with the help of a 201mm wheelbase increase over the regular two-door model. Better still, you pay no premium for your additional length and extra pair of doors. In fact, it’s £2500 cheaper than the coupé – although that’s unlikely to matter a great deal to the average buyer when the car in question already storms past the £120k barrier before you’ve troubled the options list.Whether you prefer the classic large coupé design or this svelte four-door is a matter of taste. One thing's for sure, though: buyers tend to favour the four-door, which is why the large premium two-door market will soon lose another challenger in the form of the S-Class Coupé and Convertible, soon to be wheeled into retirement with no replacement planned. Underneath the bodyshell, the Gran Coupé is mechanically identical to the standard M8, with the same 616bhp twin-turbo V8 and trick four-wheel drive system that can be switched purely to rear-wheel drive as part of the bewildering array of drive modes. The only difference, of course, is the size (length is up to a touch under 5.1m) and weight (now over two tonnes and not far off the M8 Convertible).