BMW's 6 Series has always required two things: style and pace. Good news: It finally has enough of the former to keep up with the latter. No, the 2012 BMW 650i isn't the best-looking 6 Series ever built (that credit would go to the shark-nosed, Bracq-penned 1976 original), but it's far and away a triumph over the frumpy second-gen car it replaces. From every angle, the new 6 Series Coupe and Convertible is a sleek, svelte road rocket -- a true gentleman's express for eating up miles of wide-open road one huge mouthful at a time.
Gone are the awkward Bangleisms of the bland-o-riffic second-generation car. The trunk no longer juts awkwardly from the rear of the car, and the nose has a new sense of purpose, with its snorting, upright twin grilles and wide-mouthed lower intake. On the coupe, that trademark Hoffmeister kink is still intact, emboldened by a wider, shiny metal trim strip, and the package as a whole is longer by nearly 3 inches, lower by a bit under half an inch, and wider by an inch and a half. It looks even better in the sheetmetal than it does in photos. The convertible has a slightly frumpy look with the top up, typical of so many soft-roofed convertibles, but does look rather striking when the top is stowed.
The interior of the all-new 6 Series is another marked improvement over the previous-generation car. Upscale touches are everywhere, from the semi-digital gauges to the larger center display and aluminum accents, to the finely stitched leather surfaces. The seats are comfortable and supportive, and there's plenty of room for driver and passenger up front. While BMW claims there's actually improved headroom front and rear, the small plus-two packaging and sloping roofline means that for adults, the rear seat is strictly for very occasional use, and even then, rear passengers taller than 5'10" will find themselves slouching to avoid head contact with the roof. Rear passengers in the convertible will be happier, with the more upright roof providing an additional inch or so of noggin space, and an infinite amount with the roof lowered.
The interior is also quite high-tech, and gets even more so when one starts loading up the options list. One option BMW is particularly proud of is its $1300 head-up display, which gives the driver speed, warning notification, and navigation information straight ahead in the windscreen. The display is clear and easy to read, and we expect to see it integrated into a broader range of future vehicles. We also enjoyed the optional $3700, 16-speaker Bang & Olufsen stereo, which we found to be at least on-par with competitor's high-end stereo offerings. Though we didn't sample the optional Night Vision package, we suspect it makes the driver feel more than a little like James Bond.
Those too impatient to wait for the new M6 can bide their time by checking the M Sport package option box on their order form. The $4400 package includes special 19-inch wheels with summer tires, a rich-looking Alcantara headliner, an M-badged leather sport steering wheel, and a front/rear valance and rocker panel combo that give a nod towards the M division's design philosophy.
But wait, things get even better. BMW has ousted the 4.8-liter V-8 that used to sit underhood, replacing it with the brand's new 4.4-liter, twin-turbocharged eight-cylinder engine. BMW claims the new engine is more efficient than the outgoing version, but frankly, who cares, when it also makes 400 horses and 450 lb-ft of torque (8- and 20-percent gains, respectively). Two transmissions are available, so we rounded up a 650i Coupe with the M Sport package and a good old-fashioned six-speed manual gearbox, along with a 650i Convertible with an eight-speed automatic, and headed for our test facility.
And that's where things got really interesting. The slushbox convertible, designed from the ground up as an open car with a unique body-in-white, managed to just eek out a lead over the manual-equipped coupe. Just to reiterate, there's no dual-clutch or automated manual action going on here. The automatic transmission is a true torque-converter auto, designed and built by ZF and equipped with paddle shifters. So quick and smooth is the unit that we recorded a 0.1-second advantage over the manual-equipped coupe in the 0-60 mph sprint and the quarter-mile run, despite a weight disadvantage of somewhere north of 200 lbs.
For the disbelievers, we're ready with a brief explanation and some graphical evidence. First, it's worth noting that the M Sport package fitted to our Coupe features larger, heavier 19-inch wheels than the Convertible's 18s. Beyond that, the ZF eight-speed auto was fast and smooth enough that at least one staffer had to check that it wasn't a trick dual-clutch unit. A glance at the adjoining chart reveals that where the manual requires a few tenths of a second for every shift and a corresponding loss in forward momentum, the automatic's shifts are nearly imperceptible, resulting in significantly less lost time. Combined with the advantage of two additional gears, the eight-speed also has the luxury of providing four shorter gears for strong acceleration, coupled to four taller gears for reduced revs at cruising speeds, giving better fuel economy.
Also interesting is that the Convertible managed to out-brake our M Sport coupe, though only by a mere foot. On the figure-eight pad, the Coupe managed to snake its way around the course with a slightly faster run by 0.4 seconds, but equal average g-load of 0.74 g. While the convertible is exceptionally stiff for a roofless vehicle, the coupe did ultimately feel more of a piece when the g's piled on or when the road got bumpy.
Still, precious tenths of seconds mean little when getting on with things on a proper bit of two-lane highway. Some may lament the current trend of engine downsizing and turbocharging, saying that it takes away much of the character and linearity that a good naturally aspirated engine gives. Rest assured, this new 4.4-liter twin-turbo lacks neither and it's found in both Coupe and Convertible. It starts with a guttural, yet still somewhat subdued bellow from the exhaust (crack a window for maximum effect) that can only be made by eight cylinders in a V configuration. The torque starts feeding in immediately, running the red-orange tach needle up to 4500 rpm before peaking. Horsepower peaks much closer to redline at 6500 rpm, giving no real reason to keep your right foot firmly planted to the floor other than to hear that fantastic engine for a little longer.
The eight-speed automatic is quick and responsive, dropping multiple gears when called on for a sudden blast of torque. Sport mode quickens things up even more and does a better job of staying in lower gears, preventing the constant upshifts to top gear that Normal and Comfort settings provide. There's no question the auto is the faster and more frugal gearbox, but the driver's choice will still be the six-speed manual. The new three-pedal option features a neat little party trick pioneered by Nissan's 370Z: automatically rev-matched downshifts. It does a good job of them, too, though we'd prefer if there were an actual on/off switch for the assistance. We found that if we rev-matched our own downshifts, the system would turn off automatically, but it took a few shifts without DYI rev-matching before it automatically turned back on again. Clutch action is progressive and not overly heavy, while shift action is slightly notchy but so much more positive than typical BMW manuals.
We never found the previous 6 Series to be particularly involving to drive, but the new car changes that. There's a personality to the new 650i that makes it feel like a trusted companion. It's the kind of car you feel immediately comfortable driving home late at night after a long day at the office. It feels secure, safe, on your side. It doesn't attract untoward attention, but you'd feel it's worthy of having the valet park it at the local Haus of Snobby Eats. At a base price of $83,875 for the Coupe and $91,375 for the Convertible, the 650i isn't cheap. But for those looking for a well-rounded, do-it-all luxury grand tourer, this may the one to beat.
