Get ready for new BMW 6 Series
Redesigned inside and out, it delivers a sleeker silhouette
THE lid has been lifted on BMW’s new 6 Series Gran Turismo, which will make its public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. Due on sale in South Africa in November, the 6 Series GT is a leaner-looking, sleeker, big executive car that tacitly admits the failings of two generations of the unloved 5 Series GT.
Based around a product-planning philosophy clearly derived from Audi’s A7 strategy, the five-seat liftback will arrive in South Africa in two derivatives including the 630d and 640i xDrive.
There is no expectation for a full-house M version of the sexier new liftback, though there has been internal pressure put on M’s president, Franciscus van Meel.
A future M Performance Automobiles model will be the compromise car, despite the success of Audi’s RS 7 twin-turbo V8 monster and the availability of the M5 powertrain.
M has provided broad hints that it already has the M5’s 4.4l twin-turbo V8 loaded up in an all-wheel-drive test mule that should in 2018 become the M550i xDrive GT, while its new four-turbo 3.0l in-line six-cylinder thumper should power the M550d xDrive GT.
Redesigned inside and out, the 6 Series GT has undergone a change of philosophy, with BMW’s designers delivering the sleeker roofline and losing the dumpiness that plagued the 5 Series GT.
Carrying the code name G15, the 6 Series GT will need to be good, as within three years it will be the only 6 Series on BMW’s books.
The 6 Series coupe is to be killed off next year to make way for the more upmarket 8 Series coupe, which debuted in May.
The 6 Series cabriolet will suffer a similar fate, with the 8 Series cabriolet set to arrive in 2019.
For one glorious year for the 6 Series badge, though, it will have four full production models before that drops to three next year, two in 2019 and just one when the five-year-old 6 Series Gran Coupe is retired in 2020.
BMW is tight-lipped on the future of the 6 Series nameplate, but it looks like the 6 Series GT will be the only model between the 5 Series and 7 Series ranges in the longer term.
It’s a big car, joining the five-metre club at 5.091mm, which is 87mm longer than the outgoing 5 Series GT and 154mm longer than the 5 Series sedan. It’s also 1.902mm wide (same as the 5 GT, but 34mm wider than the 5 Series sedan).
A big visual difference to its predecessor is its roofline, which at 1.53mm is 21mm lower but it feels like even more because its tail is 64mm lower than before, and it is 72mm higher than the standard 5 Series.
It promises greater rear legroom and high-speed stability by shifting to a 3.070mm wheelbase, which is a full 95mm longer than that of the 5 Series sedan. The 6 Series GT sits on the same Cluster Architecture platform as the 5 and 7 Series and BMW claims that has saved it up to 150kg of weight compared to the 5 Series GT.
Combining aluminium and hot-formed steels throughout the body structure, the platform includes a 12V Flex-Ray power system to pull together the car’s array of suspension control systems.
It gains a cleaner and more adventurous version of BMW’s notoriously conservative design language, with a stronger front end and a rear end that looks to be the car’s strongest design feature.
Tapering to a crisp, beautifully proportioned tailgate lid, the 6 Series GT claims a slippery drag co-efficient of 0.25 in the cleanest 630i form.
Its extra length has allowed BMW to add another 110 litres of luggage capacity to the boot, which is now a generous 610 litres.