New car news

14 March 2011 - 13:00

New BMW 6-Series Coupe revealed

First came the convertible and finally we get this: the new BMW 6-Series Coupe.

The first thing you'll likely notice is that it sports a new found elegance and a touch more styling restraint than its divisive predecessor. Which is good. This third iteration of the Six Coupe will launch later this year - after the convertible - in two guises: the 640i and 650i.

See more pictures of the new 6-Series Coupe

Sadly, labelling the two GTs appears to have been left to a workie as they no longer match the engine size: the 640i gets a twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-six engine with 238kW, while the 650i gets a detuned version of the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 currently startling regretful owners of the X6 and X5 M models. In the Six, it bangs out 303kW and 599Nm of torque.

Although ‘bangs' is probably the wrong word. We tested this engine in the convertible and found it's less of a singer, more a heavy-handed tour-guide. The 640i hits 100km/h in 5.4 seconds, tops out at 250km/h and returns 6.5l/100km, while the 650i does the 0-100 dash in 4.9 seconds, and emits just 243g/km of CO2 and returns 8.7l/100km.

Both cars get an eight-speed Sports auto gearbox as standard, together with Start-Stop, electric power steering and brake energy regeneration. There are some driver aids to keep you out of a hedge fund, including brake/traction/stability control and even a brake-drying function.

A trio of optional chassis control settings, including damper control, adaptive drive and dynamic drive (Normal, Sport and Sport+), are standard fit, while the instrument dials are angled towards the driver as in BMWs of old.

You get a bewildering array of Stuff you can option: Bang & Olufsen surround sound, a head-up display, DVD changer, TV module, DAB receiver and USB interface are just some. Though we hope that unlike the convertible, you don't have to option in some excitement too...

Your thoughts, please. This, the SL or the XK?