The New BMW 1-Series 2011
Instead of being able to unwind their powerful turbocharged engines, display their rock-solid stability and gobble up kilometres by the hundreds as great Gran Tourers do, they’ll mostly be stuck in inner urban gridlocks trundling from fashionable suburb to city high-rise carparks and back again.
And when they do get out on the highway, tolerance policing and speed camera infestations will ensure their performance potential remains effectively untapped.
Which is not only a pity for the cars themselves but also their owners, who will have paid a small fortune to own something that is quite brilliant for totally illegal (in Australia anyway) high-speed long-distance hauls.
Like the convertible version that’s already on-sale here, the 2+2 coupe will be available as the turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder 640i or the twin turbo 4.4-litre V8 650i. Both drive their rear wheels via ZF’s excellent eight-speed automatic transmission.
There are also diesel 640d and all-wheel drive 650i xDrive models overseas, but neither are slated for Australian sale. Replacing the folding soft-top with a fixed roof drops the price a few percentage points. The 640i should retail for around $180,000, the 650i for about $235,000.
With the 640i bringing a new lower pricepoint and effectively doubling the range, BMW expects to sell around 100 6 coupes per annum in Australia, compared to only 41 coupes and convertibles in 2010.
Next year the Aston Martin Rapide-rivalling four-door Gran Coupe will be added to the line-up in one ultra-high spec, and down the track an M6 should provide further impetus, both on-road and in the showroom.
The 640i produces 235kW, 450Nm, races to 100km/h in 5.4 seconds, averages as little as 7.6L/100km and emits as few as 177 grams of CO2 per km. The 650i pumps out 300kW and 600Nm, speeds from 0-100km/h in just 4.8 seconds, averages 10.5L/100km and emits 245g CO2/km. Both cars have an electronically limited top speed of 250km/h.
Fuel-saving initiatives include auto stop-start and brake energy recuperation. Aluminium, plastic and composite materials are used for the bodywork. The final consumption results are decent considering the new 6 is 74mm longer, 39mm wider and in the case of the 650i, 120kg heavier than its 4.8-litre naturally aspirated predecessor.
Mind you, that heavier body is also much nicer to look at than the old car. The roof hump has been flattened, the complex flame surfacing toned down, the taxi-style bootlid made less prominent. The lidded headlights have been despatched.
Inside it’s all about cossetting the front seat passengers with deep and widely adjustable seats and leather and wood trimmings. The dash is dominated by a huge 10.2-inch media screen. By comparison the instrument panel looks almost plain. Happily, the iDrive controller can be mostly ignored.
With too little headroom, kneeroom or storage, no cupholders and a contortionate entry and exit, rear-seat passengers are pretty much left to fend for themselves. Golf bags – as many as three of them – get a better deal in the 460-litre boot.
The equipment level is almost exactly the same as the convertibles. So 640i highlights include the full suite of safety features, 19-inch alloy wheels with run-flat tyres (no spare), a jet fighter-style head-up display, internet functionality, adaptive Bi-Xenon headlights, dual-zone climate control, 12GB hard drive, satellite navigation, an Aux-in port, a USB interface,Bluetooth and voice control.
The 650i tops that with surround view parking cameras, ventilated seats, a better audio system and a TV. There is an immense amount of technology wrapped up in these cars. They sit on a modular base primarily donated by the 7 Series that is overlaid by enough digital trickery to keep the most fanatical early adopter satisfied.
The cornerstone is Adaptive Drive, which combines active dampers and dynamic roll control as a standard feature in the 650i and as an option in the 640i. Active electric steering is optional in both cars.
Driving Experience Control allows a swap between comfort +, comfort, sport and sport+ modes to alter throttle and engine mapping, transmission shift points steering weight, damper firmness, roll stabilisation and stability control threshold.
Further to that the 640i driver can engage Eco Pro to introduce economy-focussed parameters for the engine and transmission. This is a new feature and will soon spread to the 640i convertible and the 650i.
Lane change warning, lane departure warning and parking assistant are options in both cars. Got it? Good. Now explain it to me. Seriously, after spending 20 minutes trying to figure all that out with the BMW chassis gurus, my head was spinning.
And to some extent it transferred into the drive experience, too. Our test 640i – no 650is were on offer – was fully loaded with every assistant imaginable, none of them quite providing the right combination.
‘Eco pro’ was neutering, ‘comfort +’ meant soggy body control and a wooden throttle tip-in. In ‘sport +’ the ride was too harsh, the throttle setting in ‘sport’ too jarring. ‘Comfort’ was almost right, but still just a tad too soft. Argh!
Unfortunately, at this point the system doesn’t allow you to mix and match different aspects of different modes.
Another annoyance was Active Steering. It tended to flop too quickly into tighter corners without enough weighting, turning in steps rather than fluidly. Steering a BMW weakness? What on earth is going on!
Indeed, tighter and narrower roads were not the 640i’s forte. This is a big, heavy car and it never really shrinks around the driver in the way true sports cars do.
But boy can it go! Rolling across the flatlands around Munich the 640i was in its element. The inline six’s natural smoothness was supplemented by the surge and crispness that turbocharging and direct injection provide.
Quiet as a mouse at low speeds, it emitted a mighty mechanical roar from the inlets when tapped. It’s hard to imagine the V8 being more satisfying.
Now, where’s that autobahn on-ramp…
Description: The New BMW 1-Series 2011 Rating: 4.5 Reviewer: Pander - ItemReviewed: The New BMW 1-Series 2011
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