BMW 6-Series Gran Coupe unwrapped

You’ll recognise the snout, face and bonnet of the newest 6-Series family member, the grandly-titled Gran Coupe. But, from the windscreen back, it’s slightly longer and ever so slightly taller than the 6-Series Coupe and convertible models, with less of a pronounced roof-angle-dive towards the boot. As we can see from these official BMW pictures, it’s long and lean and deceptively sleek. Dare I say it’s the best-looking 6-Series. Oh, I just said it.

Girth is the same but the allowed extra inner space that a few millimetres here and there deliver means four full-size seats and a middle spot in the rear bench seat that could take a smaller extra body. BMW call it 4+1 seating. 

Priced at around £60k for the entry-level 640i, you’ll be expecting a pretty decent dose of standard hit, and here’s what you'll get. An 8-speed automatic transmission, Auto Start-Stop, Dynamic Damper Control, 18-inch light-alloy wheels, xenon headlights with LED daytime running light rings, cruise control with braking function, electrically operated, automatically folding and heated exterior mirrors, Dakota leather upholstery and heated front seats, electric seat adjustment with memory function for the driver and front passenger, 2-zone automatic climate control, automatically dimming exterior and rear-view mirrors, electric steering wheel adjustment, and the “Radio Professional” with HiFi loudspeaker system and USB audio interface. 

Three engines – two petrol, one diesel; all turbocharged - will be offered on the UK launch next July, with the cherry-on-top M6 Gran Coupe coming late in 2012 with the same engine as the current M5; a snorty 4.4-litre, twin-turbo V8 with over 550bhp. 

The 640i Gran Coupe is powered by a 3-litre, straight-6 twin-turbocharged motor making 320bhp, or the 650i variant can be yours with the familiar M5 4.4-litre V8, detuned to 450bhp. Using the word “detuned” sounds almost ridiculous in the same sentence as 450bhp! 

All Gran Coupes will be limited to 155mph, but even the entry-level 640i is said to be able to hit 62mph in an impressive 5.4secs while consuming to the tune of around 36mpg, with CO2 at 183g/km. The 650i ups the ante to 4.6secs to 62mph, with economy at around 30mpg. CO2 is at 219g/km. 

Fans of the frugal will be pleased to see the latest in BMW diesel-tech, with the 3-litre, straight-6-powered Gran Coupe told to turn in around 50mpg and 149g/km of CO2, all the time ready to sprint to 62mph in a healthy 5.4secs. 

There will happily also be some tempting extra options to sharpen style, suspension and alloys with M Sport package goodies available from launch.

www.bmw.co.uk












































By Daniel Anslow

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