Hours before its official reveal at the 2023 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, the BMW Concept Touring Coupe has emerged on social media. As expected, the gorgeous one-off is based on the Z4 in its M40i flavor with the inline-six engine, judging by the dual exhaust finishers. Gone is the electrically folding fabric roof as the sporty roadster has been transformed into a two-door wagon usually associated with the “shooting brake” term.

In essence, BMW has revived the spirit of the E36/8 Z3 that saw the light of day in the late 1990s and was crowned by the M Coupe. The G29-based creation shows the Bavarian marque still knows how to make attractive cars, which isn’t all too surprising considering the regular Z4 M40i was already a looker. With a fixed metal roof and an elongated rear, the Concept Touring Coupe reminds us of why shooting brakes are so aesthetically pleasing.

The hardtop isn’t the only modification made to the Z4 as we can also observe a fresh take on the kidney grille with double vertical bars finished in copper to complement the body finish. The closed two-seater rides on a set of beautiful wheels with a design that seemingly takes inspiration from the Z8’s alloys. Flared wheel arches make the concept look more imposing despite the car’s compact size while the Hofmeister kink accentuates this is a BMW design through and through.

Overall, the Concept Touring Coupe is a worthy follow-up to the 2012 Z4 Zagato Coupe unveiled at the same Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este back in 2012. Should it go into production? Definitely. Will it happen? It’s unclear. BMW has expressed its desire to release more coachbuilt cars after the 3.0 CSL but let’s keep in mind the Z4 is actually built by Magna Steyr in Austria.

A low-volume production version would probably have to be shipped to Germany for BMW to perform the conversion. That sounds awfully expensive, and we’re not so sure there would be enough interest from customers to convince the higher-ups to give the project the proverbial green light. Then again, the 3.0 CSL cost €750,000, and all 50 units have long been sold, so who knows what the future will bring.

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