BMW’s coupe range is smaller than it was and named differently than it used to be. The two-door 3 Series became the 4 Series in 2014, the 6 Series became the 8 Series in 2019, and a body style called Gran Coupe has four doors. This page sorts out what is currently sold, what each name means, and which coupes have gone.
The current coupe lineup
Model years below are from EPA filings for the US market.
Length, curb weight and horsepower are drawn from the same records as our specification pages: dimensions and weight from Transport Canada, which measures every vehicle sold in North America; horsepower from EPA certification test records; fuel economy from EPA. Where a row covers several versions, the figures give the range across them. A dash means the figure is not published for that car.
| Model | US model years | What it is | Length | Curb weight | Horsepower |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Series Coupe | 2017–present | The compact rear-drive coupe | 178.7 in | 3,891 lb | 255–382 hp |
| 4 Series Coupe | 2014–present | The two-door 3 Series | 187.8 in | 3,708–4,171 lb | 255–375 hp |
| 8 Series Coupe | 2019–present | The large grand tourer | 191.3 in | — | 335 hp |
| M2 | 2020–present | M version of the 2 Series Coupe | 180.3 in | 3,814 lb | 473 hp |
| M4 | 2015–present | M version of the 4 Series Coupe | 188.6 in | 3,748 lb | 523 hp |
| M8 | 2020–2025 | M version of the 8 Series | 191.3 in | 4,303–4,570 lb | 617 hp |
What the numbers say about size and weight
The coupes span 178.7 inches for the 2 Series to 191.3 for the 8 Series — about
a foot, which is a narrow range next to the SUVs. What separates them is less about size
than about what the size is used for: the 2 Series puts a short wheelbase under a small
body, while the 8 Series uses similar overall length to the M8 but carries it very
differently.
The weights are worth reading against the SUV article. An M4 at 3,748 pounds is lighter than the X2, the smallest BMW SUV with a published curb weight. An M8 at 4,303–4,570
pounds is heavier than an X3. The coupe body does not automatically mean a light car, and
by the time you reach the top of the range it means the opposite.
Why the 3 Series coupe became the 4 Series
Until 2013, the two-door 3 Series was a 3 Series. From the 2014 model year the body was given its own number, and the pattern was set: odd numbers are the four-doors, even numbers are the two-doors derived from them.
- 3 Series sedan → 4 Series coupe and convertible
- 5 Series sedan → 6 Series coupe, and later the 8 Series
- 2 Series is the two-door counterpart to the 1 Series, which is not sold as a sedan in America
EPA filings show the handover cleanly. The 3 Series coupe appears through 2013; the 4 Series appears from 2014. The M3 coupe runs 2008–2013 and the M4 starts in 2015 — same car, new badge, one year of gap.
The same logic runs through the whole naming system, which we take apart in BMW model names explained.
Gran Coupe has four doors
The most confusing name in the range. A Gran Coupe is a four-door with a coupe-like roofline — not a coupe.
BMW sells the 2 Series Gran Coupe, the 4 Series Gran Coupe and the 8 Series Gran Coupe in the US. The electric i4 uses the 4 Series Gran Coupe body, which is why an i4 has four doors despite the name of the body style it shares.
If you are shopping by body style rather than by badge, treat Gran Coupe as a sedan with a sloping roof and you will not be surprised at the dealership.
The coupes that have gone
Several nameplates have left the US price list, and the pattern is the same one that removed the wagons.
| Model | US model years | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Z3 Coupe | 1999–2002 | The hatchback-roofed Z3, known for its shape |
| Z4 Coupe | 2006–2008 | The same idea on the next generation |
| 3 Series Coupe | through 2013 | Renamed 4 Series |
| M3 Coupe | 2008–2013 | Renamed M4 |
| 6 Series Coupe | 2012–2017 | Replaced by the 8 Series |
| M6 Coupe | 2013–2017 | Replaced by the M8 |
| M8 Coupe | 2020–2025 | Last appears in the 2025 filings |
The Z3 and Z4 coupes are the interesting entries. Both were built in small numbers, both had a shooting-brake roofline over a roadster chassis, and both were on sale for three or four years. They are the closest BMW has come to a deliberately impractical body style in the modern era.
One more pattern is visible in the model-year column. Every coupe BMW has withdrawn
from the US since 2013 was replaced by a bigger, more expensive one or by nothing at all:
the 3 Series coupe became the 4 Series, the 6 Series became the 8 Series, and the two Z
coupes had no successor. Nothing has moved down. The cheapest two-door BMW certified for
US sale today is the 2 Series Coupe at 178.7 inches, which is longer than the E36 3 Series
coupe it is often compared with.
What the brochures recorded
EPA never collected horsepower or weight. Those figures survive only in the factory brochures, and the ones below come from US-market brochures held in our archive.
| Car | Power | Curb weight |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 328i Coupe | 230 hp | — |
| 2011 335i Coupe | 300 hp | — |
| 2010 M3 | 414 hp | — |
| 2018 M4 | 425 hp | — |
| 2007 650i | 360 hp | — |
Where a cell is blank the brochure for that year did not print the figure, and we have not filled it in from another source.
The M3 to M4 step is the one worth noting: 414 hp from the E92’s naturally aspirated V8 against 425 hp from the F82’s turbocharged six. Eleven more horsepower, two fewer cylinders, and a considerably different noise.
Coupe versus convertible: what the roof costs
Most BMW coupes have a convertible twin sold alongside them, and it is always heavier.
How much heavier is answerable rather than a matter of impression: our specification cards
hold 61 pairs of US-certified versions that share a model year, a model and a trim name
and differ only in the roof.
| Model | Pairs compared | Median weight the convertible adds |
|---|---|---|
| M4 | 6 | +514 lb · 233 kg |
| 4 Series | 24 | +470 lb · 213 kg |
| 3 Series | 2 | +452 lb · 205 kg |
| M3 | 4 | +441 lb · 200 kg |
| 2 Series | 12 | +403 lb · 183 kg |
| M8 | 1 | +267 lb · 121 kg |
| M6 | 5 | +253 lb · 115 kg |
| 6 Series | 7 | +241 lb · 109 kg |
The median across all 61 pairs is 403 lb · 183 kg, and the range runs from 194 lb to
576 lb. The heaviest penalty in the set is the 2015–2016 428i: 3,419 lb as a coupe,
3,995 lb as a convertible.
The split in that table lines up with the roof mechanism, and our archive documents
which car had which. The 2018 4 Series
brochure opens its convertible section “With a power-folding hardtop”; the
2007 6 Series brochure specifies a “Fully
lined fabric softtop with glass rear window and electric rear-window defroster”, and the
2018 brochure still describes “advanced BMW
soft-top technology”. The three models with a folding metal roof sit at the top of the
table at 441 to 514 lb; the three with fabric sit at the bottom at 241 to 267. A steel
roof that folds into the boot costs roughly twice what a fabric one does.
The lightest pair in the whole set supports the same reading from the other end. The
M440i xDrive Convertible of 2022 onwards adds only 194 lb over its coupe — less than
half the penalty of the 428i it replaced, and closer to the fabric-roof cars than to the
hardtop ones.
What the roof does not cost is fuel. Across 147 comparable pairs of EPA
ratings the median difference between coupe and convertible is zero combined mpg. Half a
ton of roof mechanism and reinforcement is invisible on the test cycle even though it is
very visible on a weighbridge.
That weight also sits high and behind the front axle, which is the real argument for
the coupe if the way the car drives is the point. The 4 Series and 8 Series are both
offered in both bodies; the 2 Series Coupe currently is not.
Common questions
What is the difference between a 3 Series and a 4 Series?
The 4 Series is the two-door version. Until the 2014 model year both were called 3 Series; BMW then gave the coupe and convertible their own number.
Is a Gran Coupe a coupe?
No. A Gran Coupe has four doors. It is a sedan with a coupe-like roofline.
What replaced the BMW 6 Series?
The 8 Series, which appears in US filings from 2019. The 6 Series coupe last appears in 2017.
Which BMW coupes are still sold in the US?
The 2 Series, 4 Series and 8 Series coupes, plus the M2 and M4. The M8 last appears in the 2025 model year.
What was the BMW Z3 Coupe?
A hatchback-roofed version of the Z3 roadster, sold in the US from 1999 to 2002. The Z4 Coupe repeated the idea from 2006 to 2008.
Sources
- EPA fueleconomy.gov: US model years and trim names for every model listed.
- Original US-market BMW brochures held in this site’s archive, source of the horsepower figures.