BMW 640i Gran Turismo smart, sporty and safe
Road Test: 2018 BMW 640i xDrive Gran Turismo
BMW’s latest twist on its everexpanding 6 Series lineup is proof of just how stubborn German automotive engineers can be. They are taking yet another stab at selling North Americans a Gran Turismo version of its mid-size luxury sedan.
For those who don’t remember, the 5 Series GT proved to be the only Bimmer BMW brand slaves wouldn’t fall for. And yet we have the sequel, a little swoopier and a little snazzier perhaps, but following the same basic formula, which is to offer luxury intenders a little more practicality at the expense of style.
Will they buy that? I’m not really sure, to be perfectly honest. But there is very good reason they should shop the Gran Turismo, namely that the 640 may be, at least by my reckoning, the best big BMW sedan in many a moon. Depending on your mindset — is it a roomy 5 or a slightly truncated 7? — the 640 GT might be perfectly “right sized.”
Noticeably more spacious than a 5 in the rear, there’s also more headroom than in the 6-Series Gran Coupe. Riding a little taller than its 6 Series stablemates, it’s also easier to get into — and out of — for the senior types who typically can afford such expensive transportation. Trunk space — and access — is excellent, thanks to the hatchback format.
That right sizing also makes the GT more fun to drive. Oh, it still feels, shall we say, largish in tight parking, but it’s certainly not the behemoth that the 750 has become. Behind the wheel, that translates into tighter steering (thanks to the optional four-wheel steering system), firmish suspension and most, if not quite all, of the roadholding that the Ultimate Driving Machine is famous for. Halfway between mid-size 5 and gargantuan 7, the 6-Series GT makes a very alluring compromise.
As does the engine. Indeed, perhaps the GT’s most compelling argument is that it is the six cylinder-powered 7-Series that BMW doesn’t make anymore. Perhaps the smoothest engine short of a V12, the in-line six is making something of a comeback and now that the 7 no longer offers any combination of pistons fewer than eight, the GT is the biggest sedan you can get powered by BMW’s wonderful 3.0-litre turbocharged six. Powerful, torquey and impossibly smooth, this is all the motor even a large car — the GT weighs in at a not insubstantial 2,000 kg — will ever really need. Its 335 horsepower and 332 poundfeet of torque (available as low as 1,380 rpm) is good enough to accelerate to 100 km/h in just 5.3 seconds. Mated to BMW’s xDrive AWD system through a ZF 8HP50 eightspeed automatic, this is as sophisticated as powertrains get.
The GT’s interior is also pretty darned impressive. Essentially, it has most of the 7 series gadgetry packed into 5 Series pricing. The GT has, for one thing, BMW’s latest iDrive technology. Firmly rejecting the trend to an iPad-like touchscreen infotainment system, iDrive sticks resolutely to the tried-andtrue clickable mouse controller. Yes, there are still quite a few submenus — you have to go through three to pair a cellphone — but they are far more logically laid out than the original system. More importantly, BMW’s latest voice recognition has one of the best — if not the best — voice-control systems in the biz. Everything from loading an address in the navigation system to resetting the tripmeter can be commanded by voice — first time, every time.
BMW’s latest gesture-control system is on offer as the Remote Control Parking system. Both, to my mind, are more than a little gimmicky, but gimmicks that will never fail to impress the neighbours. BMW’s base audio system gets the job done, though my tester’s Bowers and Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound system was noticeably more sonorous. Most of all, though, the GT’s interior offers most, if not quite all, the luxuriousness one expects from an even more expensive BMW.
Indeed, the best thing about the GT is that it marries most of the 7-Series’ interior comfort and goodies, the fleetness of foot of the smaller 5 and it has almost as much cargo capacity as BMW’s own X5 (and, in fact, more than the 5 Series wagon sold in Europe). In other words, the 640i xDrive GT is one fine automobile.
All of which makes the new GT something of a social experiment. Its predecessor — the much unloved 5 Series Gran Turismo — failed to capture consumers’ attention because of both positioning in the lineup and because, well, it wasn’t a very good car. This updated version, however, is everything a BMW should be: smart, sporty and safe.
But will the faithful accept it as one of their own? Or will they, as they did with the previous 5 Series version, be confused as to why BMW brought it to Canada? BMW is obviously cognizant of this challenge, pricing the base 640 GT at $76,700, bargain basement pricing by Munich standards. Will that be enough to coax Canadians into hatchbacked 6’s? Like I said, it’s a social experiment.