The all-new BMW 6 Series Coupe made its world public debut today at the 2011 New York International Auto Show. Previous generation 6 Series was penned by BMW’s VP of Design, Adrian Van Hooydonk, and the new 6 Series was designed under his direction as well.
The 2012 6 Series Coupe comes to emphasize the new design language at BMW. The 2+2 coupe inherits some design cues from the regrettable CS Concept and it aligns itself with the design language seen on the new 5 and 7 Series. The 6 Series retains the two door design with the forthcoming Gran Coupe carrying the 4-door coupe design.
As our own Hugo Becker pointed out earlier, BMW considers the new 6 series the top of their model range. Its role is to be the pinnacle of BMW’s coupe offerings and judging by these live photos, the car lives up to the expectations. The high-end Coupe features shorter rear deck and a dramatic slope of the rear light, along with perfect proportions. The road presence is impressive and it is shaping up to be a “dominatrix” on any roads.
The unique shape of the headlights are inspired from the Gran Coupe Concept, the four-door coupe that will come next year to further expand the flagship offerings from BMW. The rear-end loses the highly-debated “Bangle-butt”. The L-shape taillights continue to remain a BMW icon and the full LED treatment bring out the luxury and sportiness from the new 6.
Inside BMW stays true to another core value, the driver orientation. and compared to the previous generation, the luxury level has reached a new peak. The dashboard features a line coming from the center stack that doesn’t just wrap around and close in front of the driver, but actually shows the direction you want to drive towards to. The layering technique first introduced in the Vision ED Concept is the underlying factor here. Layering opens up the space and BMW designers have done a great job showing light and shadows inside the car, especially around the door.
The interior is dominated by the large 10.2 inch display that reveals the latest infotainment system from BMW. Framed by a chrome plated frame, the flat-screen takes a more upright position, in contrast to the built-in approach we have seen in previous models.
Body length and wheelbase 75 millimeters longer than the predecessor model, enhancing seating comfort for rear passengers; extremely sporty appearance thanks to a 39-millimeter increase in width and 5-millimeter reduction in height.
When it launches this fall, the 6 Series Coupe will be available with wwo engine variants: BMW 650i Coupe with eight-cylinder powerplant (300 kW/407 hp) and BMW 640i Coupe with six-in-line petrol unit (235 kW/320 hp). Both engine variants come as standard with an eight-speed Sports automatic gearbox, Auto Start-Stop function and ECO PRO mode.
Pricing will be announced this summer.
