BMW took the wraps off the Gran Coupe concept at an exclusive event in Beijing, marking an increasing trend towards unveiling new cars outside of the typical motor show venue. Shown as an exterior only hard model, the four-door luxury sedan is akin to the Mercedes-Benz CLS in its tapered roofline and coupe-like design characteristics, but the Gran Coupe's design elements are typical of BMW and allude to the Concept CS revealed in Shanghai in 2007. The large kidney grille and air inlets at the front join headlamps that stretch onto the fenders, while the hood accentuates the dynamic attributes through lines that point forward. The rising shoulder line and central bone line intersecting the door handles define the profile, mixing convex and concave surfacing to accentuate the body side highlights. Above this, the narrow DLO and rearward-oriented glasshouse further emphasize the Gran Coupe's sporting pretensions, while the rear splits the difference between the more avant-garde CS concept and the current 7 Series design.
The Gran Coupe measures nearly 5m in length — 75mm longer than the CLS and 76mm shorter than the 7 Series — and stands 1400mm tall, 100mm shorter in height than the current 5 and 7 Series sedans.
