BMW Concept Gran Coupe: Beijing Show Debut for Mercedes CLS and Porsche Panamera Rival

The BMW Group took us by surprise today with the world premiere of the Concept Gran Coupe. The Bavarian automaker calls it a four-door coupe which is fancy marketing talk for a saloon with sportier body proportions.

The car looks extremely production ready and it could very well enter the market within a year or two offering BMW a competitor the Porsche Panamera, the next Mercedes-Benz CLS and the upcoming Audi A7, possibly with the 8-Series badge on the boot.

The five-meter long Gran Coupé, which is a follow up to BMW's much more aggressive and unique 2007 Concept CS, comes with a very low body height of just under 1,400mm making it up to 100mm flatter than the 5 Series or the 7 Series sedans.

BMW also talks about "striking dynamic proportions", "sporty, flat silhouette" and "sculptural shaping" that fuse "the exclusivity of a Gran Turismo with the fascination of a high-performance sports car".

We may be wrong, but all we see is a squatted 2010 5-Series / 7 Series with a Lamborghini-styled front bumper. Feel free to agree or disagree with us in the comments section below.

Custom Made BMW 850i Convertible up for Sale

Even though it may have crossed the minds of BMW officials at some point, the Bavarian automaker never actually built a convertible version of the 8-Series Coupe. But when there's a will (aka; plenty of cash), there's a way. Erik Williams, a former American football offensive tackle in NFL who played most of his career with the Dallas Cowboys, is (or rather was) the original owner of this custom made 1991 BMW 850i Convertible that is up for sale now by a Texas dealer located in New Braunfels.

In terms of styling, we would have anticipated a higher level of workmanship as the fine details are not up to standards. Not that it's unacceptable, but all those visible rivets seem out of place in a high-end GT like the 850i. In any case, if you're interested, the V12-powered 8-Series Convertible could be yours for $25,900.

Link: Automaniacs

BMW Wont Build the CS Sport Sedan After All - Official Statement Released

The car that was supposed to offer BMW a worthy rival to the Mercedes-Benz CLS, Porsche Panamera and Maserati Quattroporte sports sedans, the production version of last year's CS Concept has fallen victim to the economic downturn and will not be produced after all. The announcement was made during a conference call on the Bavarian automaker's third quarter report. "The sharper focus on profitability will result, amongst other things, in product decisions being revisited. As a result, the BMW Group will no longer produce a series version of the Concept CS since this vehicle does not meet the internal requirements for rates of return," said BMW in a statement.

Fortunately, other future products of the BMW Group will not be affected by the firm's cost cutting strategy. This means that the launch of the production versions of the BMW Concept X1 SUV, BMW Concept 7 Series Active Hybrid, BMW X6 Active Hybrid and the MINI Crossover Concept will proceed ahead as planned.

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