[ezmaass]

It's certainly a high-end car, and I won't say it's ugly (it's not)... but does it look as good as the 6GC? No, no it doesn't.

Front:

The front is aggressive, and the slim headlights certainly add to that appearance. But the 6's swept back, larger lights still look more unique to me. Likewise, I really love the shark-nose styling on the 6 - protruding and pushing the front grille out and low. That's been lost on the 8 - a real shame. I'm also not a fan of the new angular grille design. The concept looked fantastic, but this watered down version is just meh.

Side:

Again, it's OK, but it lost the elegance of the 6GC. Where, exactly? Well, the 6 just has a beautiful, clean shoulder line that goes down the side of the car. The 8GC loses this.

The "fastback" roofline is also unappealing to me. Yes, this is what gives the coupe a resemblance to a Ford Mustang, and it's what's giving the GC resemblance to an A7. The rear decklid is almost non-existent and makes it appear like a hatchback. It technically has a conventional trunk, but it's heavily sloped downward toward the rear, which to me is just not an appealing design element.

Rear Quarter:

One of the neatest things on the 6GC design is just how heavily raked the "tumblehome" is towards the rear. Said another way, the wide hips on the car are heavily tapered up towards the roofline through steeply raked side glass. It looks very sporty, accentuating the width of the car at the shoulder but aggressively tapering up towards the roofline. The 8GC completely loses this design element, and the shot above of the man looking down the length of the car emphasizes how "normal" the angle is on the 8GC's tumblehome.

Rear:

The rear is aggressive. I don't necessarily have any problems with it. The duck tail is a bit much, though, and therefore it loses a bit of the 6's elegance.

Interior:

The interior looks top-notch. It's oozing premium finishes. Having not seen it in person, and only commenting on the pictures, I'd say the seating surfaces look to be a definite upgrade. However, the dash design is not as striking. The asymmetrical waterfall dash, strewn with leather, on the 6 is more unique to me. Likewise, the 6's unique door-to-dash design, which goes from 3D to flat once up to front of the dash is also much more unique. Overall, the 8's interior looks very premium as far as materials go, but the design feels a bit less inspired.

Verdict?

I like the 6GC considerably more. It's a more fluid, elegant, and unique design. I think BMW really went ALL out on the 6GC as this was their first "Gran Coupe," and being late to the premium 4-door coupe market at the time, they had to make real big splash. They did so. The 8GC looks like a natural evolution, but it's missing some of the beauty that made the 6GC a must-own car for me.

I'll probably be passing on the 8. If I did ever buy one, it might actually be the coupe. With the 6, I always felt the GC was the better looking of the two. With the 8, I think we may have flip-flopped back to the coupe as the better design.