BMW 6 Series Convertible Review by Top Gear

Reviews come from different angles and perspectives. Thus, there are reviews that can highlight the negative aspect of the vehicle. Top Gear reviews the BMW 6 Series Convertible and finds it rather boring. Learn why in the excerpt below:

The body is well-controlled, the active damping is firm but usable – this is a very smooth road – and the engine has over 440lb ft of flex. And yet the new 6-Series seems to be a lightning rod for joy. It’s like driving around in a Laura Ashley console table; you may be aware that it’s well-made and expensive, but everything has been so very obsessively aimed down the middle of the road that it registers exactly nil for surprise and delight.

It matters more because this should be an exciting car from BMW. The serious stuff goes like this: from launch, there will be two engines, both petrol. We’ll get the 640i and 650i, the 640i a 3.0-litre TwinPower bi-turbocharged straight-six, the 650i a similarly twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8. So, lesson one, you can’t trust anybody’s badges to tell you what’s under the bonnet. Which makes everything trickier to remember, but scores bonus AutoGeekâ„¢ points against motoring novices. The 640i – which is a 3.0-litre, don’t forget – shoves out 320bhp and 332lb ft of torque, hits 62mph in 5.7secs and a limited 155mph. It makes peak power at a relatively low 5,800rpm, so this is no operatic BMW six, but despite the respectable figures, it produces just 185g/km and manages nearly 36mpg on the combined cycle, meaning that for what it lacks in tingle-range, it makes up for in blunt grunt and day-to-day efficiency, helped along by standard-fit stop/start.

Putting all that aside, we’re not really interested in the 640i. And not only because there were none available to drive at the launch (though I freely admit this might have something to do with it). Let’s be thoroughly honest with each other: if you’re going to go petrol, go big, and until the M6 version turns up with 580-odd bhp, we’ll have to make do with the only mildly whopping 650i. Now bear in mind that this is the same 4.4-litre bi-turbo due to see duty in that M6, the forthcoming M5, and already sees active service in SUV Xs 6M and 5M, detuned a bit and rejigged for cruise rather than bruise. So on paper, it’s a belter: 407bhp, 443lb ft, 62mph in five dead and the standard 155mph electronic guardrail. It will also crack 26.4mpg on the combined cycle and emit just 249g/km – which is going some for an eight-cylinder with a pair of turbos nestled in its cylinder cleavage.

Both come with a standard-fit eight-speed automatic – due for introduction to the 1-Series range, oddly – a gearbox that, despite carrying a couple of spare ratios around apparently for the hell of it, nevertheless constantly impresses, both in terms of shift quality and speed. It really does do both town loitering and responsive-enough paddle-shifting. It’s not necessarily a sporting gearbox, but its breadth of ability is very satisfying.

Source: Top Gear