BMW 650i 2006 Review

BMW's new 650i Coupe is one significant car. It sits high on 18-inch wheels and with its striking exterior (in corporate silver of course) this machine ensures you are going to turn heads. With a pricetag of $204,000 you would certainly want to be noticed.

It hardly seems fair to be testing this car around Sydney where it stops being legal, even on open motorways, at 110km/h. Its 250km/h top speed was made for German autobahns, however you can still enjoy the awesome power of this machine through its acceleration. It hits 100km/h in just 5.5 seconds.

The new 650i model replaces the old 4.4-litre 645Ci. Its larger 4.8-litre V8 engine boasts 270kW of power at 6300rpm and 490Nm of torque at 3400rpm. That's an improvement in output of 10 per cent in both figures over the previous car.

Administering the power is a six-speed Steptronic auto transmission. Features over the old model include revisions to the still-confusing iDrive controller that sits in the centre console for functions ranging from operating the gorgeous sound system to the 3D satellite-navigation mapping. BMW copped flak when the iDrive was launched a few years ago and subtle changes have improved it. Nonetheless, a serious read of the instruction manual and a decent hands-on practice session is needed to master it.

Without any directions on the button itself (everything is displayed on the dashboard screen) you need to adopt some logical thinking. The screen also offers television viewing but not until you are stopped.

Just like with in-home TV sets, reception varies widely across Sydney.

However, the true technical gizmo that makes you marvel when you first drive this car is the Head-Up speed display, which is projected on to the windscreen ahead of the driver. It can be distracting at times, particularly in traffic, but generally it achieves its aim of keeping the driver's eyes focussed on the road and not on dashboard gauges. Inside, the 2+2 configuration clearly stamps the notion that this is a driver's car.

There isn't a lot of storage space and while head and leg room in the rear is good for a coupe, it's not sensational. It does, however, provide all occupants with enough creature comforts and bells and whistles to remind them they are travelling in luxury.

The driver has a wealth of functions to play with. These include the ability to alter the driving mode to suit road conditions with the quick press of a button.

The steering, gearbox and accelerator respond faster for sportier driving and the headlight display is impressive.

BMW's adaptive bi-xenon headlights beam around corners while the high-beam setting is active. It can judge traffic and lighting conditions to automatically turn high beam on and off. So, all in all, I'd love to have one in the driveway. It's just the small matter of $204,000 (which buys a two-bedroom unit in the outer-Sydney suburbs and whole houses in country NSW).

BMW packs a range of standard features into the price including dynamic stability control and dynamic brake control. Safety features include parking distance control front and rear. This not only chimes loudly when you get close to anything, it also provides an on-screen display to see which bit of your super coupe is in danger.

Extras include 19-inch wheels for $2200, a climate-control windscreen for $600, active cruise control for $4500 (cruise control accessed by a switch on the steering column is standard) and an even better sound system with 13 rather than the standard 11 speakers for $1760. For $470 you can even have a heated steering wheel.

Now that's luxury.