BMW Luxury Lounge: inside the 8 Series Coupé, and upcoming X7

We hear about luxury a lot, and sometimes it’s clear what it means, but for different brands, does it mean the same thing? Last week, BMW Canada launched their BMW Luxury Lounge in Yorkville (151 Bloor Street West), and with the opening, they took some time to discuss luxury with a few other brands, including Air Canada, Sotheby’s, and interior designer Shai DeLuca.

Inside the BMW Luxury Lounge, BMW had their gorgeous, seriously luxury 8 Series Coupé on display, with the first-ever BMW X7 tucked away inside a special viewing room at the back. The X7 hasn’t been unveiled yet, and we couldn’t take any photos of it, but it’s an impressive vehicle that shows what modern luxury represents in an SUV, from design and layout, to features and technology.

During the discussion, Sebastian Beuchel, director of brand management, BMW Canada talked about what their customers have come to expect from the company, and how they are making modern luxury a unique experience for their brand.

“We take the hyper-targeted approach,”  Beuchel  said. “I think it’s about offering meaningful and relevant experiences.”

As an example, he said, “If you’re a car enthusiast [and] you’re an owner of a BMW M car, which is our high performance brand, you might appreciate the opportunity to go on a trip that we define, that starts in Munich, with the handover of your new BMW M car, at the heart of the BMW brand.”

“You then embark on a journey, that involves a couple of European countries, that combines the greatest driving–on the track and on city roads–with restaurants and some of the best hotels in the world.”

Anton Vidgen, director, brand experience at Air Canada spoke about the two sides of luxury at the airline. On the one hand, he said, “where it was unheard to ever buy up to anything more than basic economy, we now have economy seats with more leg room, we now have premium economy, and also with people collecting a lot of points, they are able to access the business class cabin more than they have in the past.”

At the same time, Vidgen also spoke about how they are prioritizing their high-end luxury customers, including the latest offering in Toronto, the Air Canada Signature Suite, which is their new flagship lounge.

Christian Vermast, senior vice president of sales, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, talked about how luxury, for some of their customers, doesn’t always mean that the property is extremely expensive. Often, the idea of a luxury property is about the location and the space itself.

Aside from the excellent food at the event by Eatertainment, the other highlight was the opportunity to sit down in the BMW 8 Series Coupé with BMW Canada’s technology expert to find out more about the updated features inside the car. With the latest user experience in the car, it’s possible to not only change what displays on the driver’s dashboard, but also customize the main display, to truly make it your own, with numerous widgets that can be shown up to four per screen.

The BMW Luxury Lounge ends today, so head down to see the beautiful 8 Series Coupé, and take a look at some of the highlighted items with partner brands, including one of my favorites, Montblanc, who designed a number of special pieces for BMW.