Following the reveal of the coupe concept and production Convertible late last year, BMW has now spilled the beans on the 6 Series Coupe ahead of its debut at the Shanghai Motor Show.
Unlike its whale-tailed predecessor, the new two-door tin-top is not going to be the subject of many styling debates; at best one might label it elegant and at worst overly conservative. BMW says that the inspiration for its harmoniously curved surfaces and body lines running the car's entire length came from the natural movement of waves - and luckily there was no whale in this imaginary ocean.
Its classic touring coupe proportions have been furthered with this generation, the Coupe being 39mm wider and 5mm lower than before and the 2+2 seater also offers more stretching space for rear passengers, as well as a decent 460-litre boot capacity, thanks to a 75mm increase in overall length.
The initial range consists of two petrol-engined variants, the 640i and 650i. The former is fitted with a version of BMW's turbocharged 3-litre straight six with direct injection, good for 235kW at 5800rpm and 450Nm at 1300 to 4500rpm.
The beast of the range, until the twin-turbo V8 M6 comes along, is the 650i. It gets a 4.4-litre V8 with TwinPower turbo technology and 300kW at 5500rpm and 600Nm between 1750 and 4500rpm. Both engines are hooked up to BMW's eight-speed Sports automatic transmission and an idle-stop system.
In terms of (claimed) performance credentials, the 640i should be good for a 5.4-second 0-100km/h sprint, 4.9 seconds for the 650i, while both are of course electronically limited to 250km/h. Combined cycle fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are pegged at 7.7 l/100km and 179g/km for the smaller engine and 10.4 l/100km and 243g/km for the 650i.
A newly developed chassis aims to strike an ideal balance between ride comfort and road holding. BMW's Drive Dynamic Control system, which will allow you to adjust the car's set-up at your whim, is standard, but you'll have to make a tick on the likely-long options list if you want Dynamic Damper Control and the Adaptive Drive system, complete with roll stabilisation.
A fuel-saving electric power steering system is standard, while a sophisticated Integral Active Steering system is optional.
Other specification highlights include 'corner following' Adaptive LED headlights, optional LED foglights, BMW Night Vision pedestrian recognition, a new-generation Head-Up-Display system that uses a full spectrum of colours and revised iDrive interface, the BMW ConnectedDrive driver assistance systems and mobility services as well as the usual lane-change-assistance devices.
We are still awaiting confirmation on the 6 Coupe's local launch date, but it will surely be here well before the end of this year.