After a long wait, the time has finally come to officially talk about the new BMW Serie 6 Gran Coupé, one of those sporty saloons that has clearly hit the market with a single goal: to compete and stand up to such powerful rivals in the segment as the Mercedes CLS and Audi A7, to name just a few.

As can be seen in the photos, what BMW calls the Serie 6 Gran Coupé is basically a “plain and ordinary” Serie 6 that has been stretched to fit rear doors. At least that is what I thought as soon as I saw it, and curiously, according to the German brand, this vehicle differs from its coupé and convertible siblings in a wheelbase 113 mm longer.

Without a doubt, a safe bet. What I mean is that, as you can see, the designers have stuck with the design of the Serie 6, one of the most beautiful and most successful vehicles in the current BMW lineup, whose design has remained unchanged for this new sporty-looking saloon. Perhaps a good call, but surely any buyer would have liked their vehicle to be somewhat different from its siblings.

Without a doubt, BMW’s motto should become “if it works… why change it“, because if the exterior lacks that “something” that sets it apart from its siblings, simply increasing the wheelbase and adding two new doors should not be enough. Well, if we open the doors, it’s more of the same, although this should not surprise us, since we must not forget that we are talking about a German brand and its functional but bland designs.

Even so, you only have to look at the official photos to get an idea of what is coming: luxury, good finishes, an endless number of extras… a vehicle that once again will be within reach of only a few, and of which BMW boasts that it will be the first in its category to offer five functional seats, or 4+1 as they like to call it.

Standard equipment on the new BMW Serie 6 Gran Coupe

Setting all this aside, I suppose it’s more a matter of taste than anything else, I want to tell you about the huge amount of equipment that BMW has decided to include as standard on the new Serie 6 Gran Coupé, equipment that includes items such as 18-inch alloy wheels, Servotronic, bi-xenon headlights, dynamic suspension control, cruise control with braking function, and electrically heated, automatically folding exterior mirrors…

Moving inside the vehicle, we find desirable elements such as electric seats with memory function, dual-zone climate control, automatic anti-glare interior mirrors, electric steering wheel adjustment, and a high-fidelity audio system with high-performance speakers…

After all this, there will always be an enormous catalogue of the famous “extras” that we tend to love and that raise the price of any vehicle by several thousand. As a detail, it is worth noting that the new BMW Serie 6 Gran Coupe can be purchased from the outset with the M Sport or Individual packages, which add details such as exclusive upholstery, new seats or sporty steering wheels.

Initial engines for the BMW Serie 6 Gran Coupe

Finally, the time has come to talk about the engines available for this striking vehicle, a range that initially consists of two units, one diesel and one petrol, named BMW 640i Gran Coupé and BMW 640d Gran Coupé.

As for the petrol version, the BMW 640i Gran Coupé, it will be equipped with a large twin-turbo inline six-cylinder engine capable of producing 320 CV and 450 Nm of maximum torque, enough to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 5.4 s or reach an electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h, with a homologated average consumption of 7.9 l/100 km.

For the diesel version, BMW 640d Gran Coupé, we again find a twin-turbo inline six-cylinder engine capable of delivering 313 CV and 630 Nm of maximum torque. This enormous potential allows the new Serie 6 Gran Coupé to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.4 s, with a top speed once again electronically limited to 250 km/h. As for consumption, BMW quotes a homologated average of 5.7 l/100 km.

As you can see, BMW has made a significant bet on a unique and elegant vehicle. Even so, and this is more of a personal thought than anything else, I find it very striking that after 7 years of waiting, since the CLS of Mercedes first appeared on the market, BMW is presenting this vehicle. Is this really all they know how to do? I hope they don’t say they haven’t had time to develop it.

Source | BMW