Audi and Mercedes are playing relatively safe, but BMW is the first major German automaker to adopt an extremely bold design language. And while critics have gone after the way the new M3 looks, sales of almost all their “ugly” cars are going well. So there’s no reason to believe the styling of the X7 isn’t going to affect the flagship 8 Series model range as well.
Yesterday, we showed you what the X6 would look like if it adopted the styling of the new X7 M60i, with narrow headlights and a square grille. It looked like an acceptable upgrade. However, the styling idea works even better on the 8 Series Gran Coupe.
The same rendering artist, Sugar Design, demonstrates this perfectly with another great 2D/Photoshop digital creation. And just to make it clear, you’re not actually looking at a real BMW, just an inspired personal concept of his.
So why does this work so well? Many car companies use the split headlight design. It’s particularly effective on cheap crossovers because it tricks the eye into thinking the narrow band of LEDs at the top is the headlights, when in fact it’s just the daytime running system or the indicators.
The same thing could be happening here. An ultra-narrow band of LEDs basically creates headlights that are only 1-inch tall. And this makes the whole body of the 8 Series Gran Coupe look cutting-edge and modern. In addition, the main kidney grilles have become narrower, which makes the front end sporty.
Besides how many screens they can offer, the German luxury automakers seem to be battling in the headlight department. When it recently unveiled the A6 e-tron Avant, Audi boasted it has the narrowest front lights it’s ever built.
BMW has just released some actual updates on the 2023 8 Series, which were shown at this year’s Amelia Concours d’Elegance. The changes are pretty small, and you can check them out in the video at the bottom of the story. Essentially, they did a few small things with the grille and bumper.
There have been rumors of future powertrain changes as well, hybrid ones. An M8 prototype rumored to be a CSL was spied testing with a 3.0-liter instead of the usual V8. But the future of luxury vehicles is obviously going to be electric, a road the 8 Series might go down in three or four years.
