SIX degrees of Acceleration

By Nicholas Frankl

Senior Editor

It has been a long time coming, but the new 6 Series is at your dealer and ready to add some civilized excitement to your life. It follows in the tire treads of some distinguished predecessors; the BMW 327, launched in 1937; the 503 of the late

BMW has enjoyed great success and practical ‘ownership’ of the small coupe and cab market with the sublime 3 series and M3, so why not take on the big coupe market where prices and profits are higher and the all important brand ‘halo’ effect more valuable? For a ‘small’ manufacturer BMW is on both a design and product roll. Already, in the past few months, we’ve seen the all-new 5 series, an X5 update and the new X3. Still to come is the 550bhp

Next morning it was time to get acquainted with the coupe, BMW wisely listening to their media maestro Dave Buchko and leaving the convertibles till after lunch, for some afternoon tanning. The first thing you notice about the new 6 is that it’s sooo much better in person than on paper. This appears typical of recent BMW designs – although not the 7, which is still not right in my mind. This car sits with great presence. Demanding detailed inspection, lined up outside the front of the hotel, it’s the black car (not normally my first choice) shod on optional 19-inch sport wheels that works best with the flowing angles and shut lines. Inside, the black leather and gray dash features are not very charismatic. It works only because it’s a BMW, but I prefer less somber dashboards with lots of polished timber and the CLK500 and Jaguar XKR do it better. It’s purely personal but I’d likely go with the black exterior and light beige leather with light birch inserts. The cabin is light, benefiting from an enormous sunroof, which surprisingly doesn’t open rearwards only upwards about 2 inches. I understand the reasoning – that the roofline is too contoured to allow for a retracting sunroof – but that doesn’t make me like it.

The steering wheel is thick and the instruments bold and simple. And then there’s the I-Drive right in the center of the consul, baiting you to try it and see if you too are one of the chosen few to master the

Back to the business of driving the ultimate driving machine, if not the ultimate intuitive technology machine. The 6 comes in six different configurations, not counting wheel and package options, which include a six speed manual, six speed Steptronic auto and 6-speed SMG version of the manual with the cool F1 paddle shifters. All these are available in both coupe and convertible. Driving out to Pacific Coast Highway on Sunset is long and twisty and mostly clogged with traffic and, at rush hour speeds, the car certainly turned eyes in this auto fashion Mecca. I even had a couple of 7 series owners all around the car as we sped quickly to the ocean. Weighing in at 3781 for the coupe and 4178 for the convertible it does feel light on its feet. The adaptive steering works well, tightening up securely and allowing you to know what’s going on up front, whilst making parking offensively easy. The exhaust sounds are great, too, thanks to some clever engineering and active exhaust resonator. These days there’s nothing worse than a sexy, sculpted car with bags of presence and nothing to shout about on the oral stimulation front. Listen to an SL 55AMG next to a stock SL and you’ll see what I mean.

Cruising along PCH and heading for the Malibu canyons, the 6 felt tight and very responsive. Featuring the 4.4-liter V8 pumping out the standard 325bhp / 330Ib-ft.torque, it’s enough to propel the coupe to 60mph at just over 5 seconds, the conv auto at 6 seconds. Acceleration is very smooth right up to redline at 6100, with max torque available at a paltry 3100RPM. Equipped with the optional $2800 sports package - that features active steering, 19in sport wheels and run flat tires (245/40R-19 front and whopping 275/35R-19 rear) - the car is extremely sure footed and, even with the traction control off, sticks to the asphalt in even exuberant maneuvering. Twelve-way electrically adjustable seats keep you comfortable and the steering wheel is also electrically adjustable for both rake and reach, providing a comfort envelope that can suit even the most physically demanding user.

After lunch it was time to head back from Ojai and get mildly bronzed in the 2+2 cabriolet. This

Back in Beverly Hills, I dropped off my passenger and headed off to get some street reaction. This car had not been seen in on the boulevards of Beverly Hills before so I decided to pick up a friend who writes style columns for both British and American newspapers and certainly knows ‘the scene’. First stop was “The Ivy” on Robertson, home to celebrities who do lunch

Unfortunately, for all concerned, (except BMW, of course), I dutifully returned the car after an hour spent cruising on Sunset Blvd, Rodeo Drive and Melrose Av. Throughout that time, it didn’t matter what gearbox ratios the car had, nor that it was equipped with half a dozen intelligent airbags, ARS, ABS, and a Logic 7 audio system. What really mattered was feeling special driving it. And this car has that ingredient aplenty.

MSRP, $69,995 Coupe; $76,995 Convertible; including destination, base models, not including government fees and taxes.