► New BMW Concept Touring Coupe review
► A quick drive in BMW’s shooting brake
► Breadvan could make limited production
It’s raining cats and dogs on the eve of the 2023 Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza in Cernobbio on the banks of Lake Como, where the unusual-looking BMW Concept Touring Coupe made its world debut.
The foul weather does not stop the paparazzi from zooming in on the metallic brown design exercise. Head-on, the new three-door fastback looks exactly like the recently facelifted BMW Z4 roadster. But the front three-quarters view shows a different animal altogether: sleek and muscular, the restyled silhouette turns out to be a crowd-stopper par excellence.
Instead of the roadster’s trad canvas top, the BMW Concept Touring Coupe sports a long roof made of metal and aluminium which fuses with a neatly sculptured, nearly vertical tailgate. Although it is effectively a shooting brake, BMW chose to badge its latest creation Touring Coupe, thereby paying homage to the very first touring model launched in 1971 which was based on the 02-series.
BMW Concept Touring Coupe review: the background
Although the 2023 show car was completely redone from the B-posts backwards, the well balanced recommissioned two-seater is still cast from one mould. While the stubby rear end of the soft-top is quite busy and cluttered, the tail of the coupe appears prettier and more practical.
The side view shows the indispensable trademark Hofmeister kink at the foot of the C-posts which is, like the frame of the BMW kidney and the exhaust tailpipes, finished in matte gold bronze. The slowly dropping roofline terminates in a full-width drag-cutting and downforce-enhancing spoiler. This air deflector, the bulging tailgate below it and the proud rear bumper form an aggressively contoured triple- decker panel pack which looks fast and furious even in the parking lot.
There is plenty of room on both sides of the rear door for the bulging buttock-like wings to flex their metallic muscles. Inside the flared fenders rotate 21in wheels shod with Pirelli P Zero tyres. Up front, the Z4 runs on 20-inchers.
The broad-shouldered plan view suggests that this convertible turned coupe will eat an M4 for breakfast, but to honour the still-fragile business case, engineering fitted the base 340bhp 3.0-litre inline six mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission courtesy of ZF – which is a shame: the 510bhp M motor and the matching manual gearbox would have made a much more compelling choice.
Part design study, part Z4 DNA
Like the drivetrain, the M suspension is an unchanged carryover item from the regular BMW Z4 roadster. Despite the short rear overhang, the BMW Concept Touring Coupe easily eclipses the roadster for luggage space and versatility. On the debit side, we noted the tall loading lip, the relatively narrow cargo deck and the substantial blindspots caused by the sexy ultra- wide C-posts.
The bespoke paint has tiny glass fragments mixed in for extra depth and lustre. As you would expect, the cockpit is leather-trimmed from wall to wall.
The tri-tone colour scheme blends a brownish grey with an ochre saddle tone in the centre and contrasting black accents like the fully hide-trimmed floor mats.
While the supple cow skin was provided by the renowned furniture company Poltrona Frau, Schedoni – maker of bespoke Ferrari luggage kits – created the three zipper bags. They comfortably fit in the boot which is fully leather-lined almost up to the window level.
The reinforcing crossbeam mounted between passenger cell and cargo deck which seriously compromised seat travel in the Z3 Coupe is no longer an issue. The upholstery feels more supple now, and the leather is braided together in a highly elaborate fashion reminiscent of the baseball pattern used in the first Audi TT Roadster. Nice.
BMW Concept Touring Coupe review: a low-speed test drive
We would have loved to put this special Z4 through its paces on the roads around Lake Como, but there was no way BMW would let us leave the Villa d’Este premises in a handbuilt vehicle worth as much as a small fleet of 7-series saloons. But CAR did manage to wrestle the keys to this box-fresh concept car for a quick drive around the grounds of Villa d’Este.
Take our star ratings with a pinch of salt: this was a low-speed BMW Concept Touring Coupe review – but one that allowed CAR magazine to understand the merits of the Z4 shooting brake and to get a taste of what a possible production version could be like.
The challenge was to find a reasonably long straight, two corners tight enough to make the photographer happy, and enough space in between to feel, hear and digest the first impressions of a car with exactly 2355 metres on the odometer.
Under the surpervision of one PR guy and three minders, we can now tell you that the BMW Concept Touring Coupe does accelerate, turn and brake to order, but what makes all the difference is of course the added emotional value it oozes out of every freshly polished pore.
The cabin smells like a £5000 antique chair, the hand-crafted materials are positively special to the touch, the ambience shouts ultimate luxury, the exhaust sounds as if it never fought a type approval battle, and the exquisite craftsmanship deserves a 10 from Len.
A head-turning crowd-pleaser – but will the new Z4 coupe ever see the light of day?
Onlookers, YouTubers, jury members and BMW aficianados gave the car their unanimous thumbs-up, but the firm’s board of directors is apparently less convinced. After all, the only energy cell on board this neo-coupe is the starter battery – there is no hybrid version in sight, let alone a fully electric derivative. To make matters worse, the remaining lifespan of the Z4 is a paltry three years, and when production ends there is no replacement in the offing.
Comments Domagoj Dukec, head of BMW brand design: ‘We still feel that this is the right car at the right time. The shooting brake remains a convincing synthesis of sportiness and style. We are going to monitor the response before making a decision, and when doing so, we shall also consider the impact such a model would have on the marque and our image.’
The Z4 Touring (project name: California) was inspired by the very first Z3 Coup built between 1998 and 2002, which was dubbed clown shoe for its extreme proportions. The metal-top Z4 that followed never attained icon status, and the same applied to the poorly packaged folding hard-top.
If it hadn’t been for the cooperation with Toyota, the Z4 would have bitten the dust in 2018, but sharing the investment with the Supra enabled BMW to kick off the current fourth generation, and capacity at Magna Steyr in Graz would allegedly permit build of a batch of 3000 to 5000 touring coupes on top of the agreed roadster allocations.
Question is, are enough markets willing to go the extra mile on a model which is not exactly selling like hot cakes? Or would it perhaps be wiser to proceed with a small batch of 50 to 100 of highly bespoke limited-edition collector items, priced north of €150,000 (£130k) apiece? Watch this space for the final say expected in Q4.