BMW Concept Touring Coupe: The next-gen 'clown shoe'?

A successor to the Z3 M Coupe?

BMW vehicles, whether past or present, have always been a curious case of hit or miss in the looks department. Sometimes they come up with strikingly beautiful cars, but sometimes it also goes the other way around.

And speaking of which, their latest imagination of the Z4 as a hardtop two-seater is a definite win in that case. BMW held the world premiere of the one-off Concept Touring Coupe at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2023, transforming the Z4 from a roadster to a grand tourer.

For the uninformed, BMW did the same thing to the Z4's predecessor in the early 2000s when they came up with the Z3 M Coupe. While many praised the job BMW has done to make the Z3 M Coupe a proper driver's car, people weren't singing its looks the same praise and even dubbed it as the 'clown shoe'.

But this latest concept, however, is a much better looking 'clown shoe'. The low roof shooting brake silhouette gives better body proportions, plus the flared wheel arches at the back give off a muscular stance, reminding us a lot of the Ferrari FF and the GTC4 Lusso.

BMW put in a staggered set of wheels for the Concept Touring Coupe – 20-inch wheels in front, and 21-inchers at the back. To finish off the exterior, BMW painted the Concept Touring Coupe with the special Sparking Lario paint scheme, which is a gray-brown color with embedded blue glass flakes.

Inside, BMW retained the production Z4's dashboard design for the Concept Touring Coupe but decided to wrap the cabin in full Italian leather. They even made a custom set of weekender bags that matches the color of the vehicle's interior to give off the impression that it's ready for spontaneous out-of-town trips.

BMW says the Concept Touring Coupe shares the Z4's inline-six engine – a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six that produces 340 PS and 500 Nm of torque paired to an 8-speed Steptronic automatic transmission.

For now, BMW says there are no concrete plans to put the Concept Touring Coupe into production just yet. But if there's enough clamor for it, we may see the shooting brake being made in limited numbers, similar to the Hommage 3.0 CSL.