| Launch Report BMW 6-Series |
||
 |
||
|
Munich's New Flagship Coupé This ploy unfortunately hit problems, because the roads I selected from various long-gone rally routes start getting interesting at about 1200 feet above sea level, and the launch-day cloud base, during a spell of very poor weather, turned out to be something like 1150. No heroics, then, in the misty gloom, but more of a general impression of a formidable new model which has attracted such a level of buyer attention that the missed chance to give it the works up on the high, open mountain roads may not be a major problem here. Anyway, we hope to return to it later - in the blinding sunshine, if possible. So many people have already put down orders for the 645Ci, which goes on sale in March of next year, that the whole 1700-car allocation for 2004 is pretty much spoken for. However, the March sales launch will also include a hitherto untried convertible; so there will be more 6-Series cars available than was previously thought. Like all Chris Bangle-designed BMWs, the 6-Series has much more complex front styling than the cars which went before. You either like that or you don’t; there are very few people with an in-between position. The side-on view is very sleek, with the single reservation that here’s another new BMW with a boot line which may be aerodynamically effective, but ends up looking like a complete afterthought on somebody‘s drawing board. No Surplus Weight It’s worth studying the 645Ci bodywork in some detail. As part of the BMW campaign to keep the car a lot lighter than it looks, as well as aiming for the 50:50 weight distribution which is a matter of faith in Munich, the car employs quite fancy bodywork materials.
The front end of the car, built of these lightweight materials which allow it to be much more dramatically sculpted, hides an ingenious technical feature. When the engine management system senses that it doesn’t need any more cold air coming through, thank you, it closes the unseen flaps behind the familiar kidney grilles. With nowhere else to go, the air doesn’t continue to try to force its way into the engine compartment, but wafts in an aerodynamically superior way over the bonnet. Equally careful attention has been given to routing the airflow underneath the car, and this is all further evidence of BMW’s awareness that developing a new high-performance model involves a lot more than simply cramming a really powerful engine under the bonnet.
There’s a very healthy 333lb/ft of torque at 3600rpm, and the maximum speed of an ungoverned 645Ci would be goodness knows how much above the electronically limited 155mph. Even after a modest amount of low-level off-the-leash driving, it’s clear that this is a coupé with very strong performance and response all the way to the red line, with the kind of pure, seamless acceleration not generally achieved, even yet, with turbo engines. Civilised Continental And, of course, you get quite different sound effects from a refined BMW V8 than are offered by American engines of the same layout. You can hardly hear the 645 engine when the car is behaving itself in traffic, and when the revs really start pouring on, with the V8 beat in the background, it’s still all very civilised.
I wouldn‘t, for one, not with my head against the roof lining. No complaints, though, about the coupé-style luggage accommodation.
I found during some low-speed over-the-brow manoeuvres that there are times when you have to trust exactly where the leading edge of the nearside front wing is located in relation to front-quarter obstructions, and there’s a certain amount of annoying reflection from the light-coloured parcel shelf in the rear screen. Extras And Options Galore This is another BMW with a strong standard specification and the capability of being loaded to the limit of the buyer’s wallet with high-tech options. Active Steering, which has proved its worth on the new 5-Series saloon, Dynamic Drive anti-roll Suspension as introduced on the current 7-Series, Dynamic Stability Control, Dynamic Driving Control for the automatic transmission, and D*****C (go on, guess!) Traction Control are all available, although there’s a point at which you feel it would all be a lot simpler if the driver just kept the car within its limits and didn‘t have all these electronic gremlins monitoring its behaviour. The Adaptive (swivelling) Headlamp system is available, and BMW has made the point that, because of the way it’s set up for right-hand drive cars, it should be switched off when a British-market 645 ventures onto Continental roads.
Next September, a head-up display which projects relevant information like road speed and navigation instructions onto the windscreen will be available. BMW says this is a technology transfer from the Williams-BMW Formula 1 team, and shouldn’t interfere with the 645 driver’s view of the road ahead. In standard form the 645Ci costs £49,855, although it’s a fair bet that most owners will go for a number of extra-cost options, from Tracker systems, a heated steering wheel and high-gloss birch wood interior trim right up to the £2470 package which includes Dynamic Drive, Active Steering and twin-spoke alloy wheels. |
Having pottered a Steptronic model on mostly low and middle-altitude roads around Vence, Antibes and Grasse (another exercise of the "tough job but somebody has to do it" persuasion), with opportunities to give it its head thereabouts on only a few occasions, I meant to take a six-speed manual version of the new BMW 6-Series Coupé up onto higher, quieter and much more sporting passes in the hills behind.
