My Ed calls me up one evening ordering me to report to his house at 0430 hours the following day for active duty. But you can imagine the enormous smile I had on my face when I heard him say, “we are reviewing the BMW 640d Gran Coupé tomorrow”. Oh joy! I will happily slaughter my sleep for that. As a matter of fact I actually could not sleep that night, waiting for the slow hour hand to pass by quickly. At 0400 my enthusiasm eroded my patience and I zipped to Yoda’s place. And there it was, standing in the dark, in all its subtle and elegant glory.
EXTERIOR
On the face of it, take a 6 Series Coupé and keep stretching it until you reach the length of a 7 series limousine. What you get are two extra doors and more legroom at the back. This BMW has been designed for the booming Chinese market where the typical Chinese bosses like to be driven rather than drive. The 640d Gran Coupé is one of the best looking cars to ever come off the German manufacturer’s stable. The V-shaped contoured long bonnet flows down to the BMW kidney grille. The signature corona rings are flattened at the bottom and feature LED technology. The flowing lines run along the roof and wheel arches of the vehicle and gently end at the exquisite rear.
And that is not it, there’s more to this transformation than just 113mm of stretched metal. This tiny conversion beautifully combines the aggression at the front with perfect curvy lines at the side, and finally the swooping roof line ending in a sleek and squatting rear thus creating absolute magic. Such is the impact of the whole package that it lends a stronger appeal to the Gran Coupé than the previous 2-door 6 Series Coupé. You just cannot stop ogling at this magnificent machine.
INTERIOR
As tradition dictates, the entire orientation of the cockpit is towards the driver, allowing easy ergonomic access to the gear lever, iDrive controller and other control knobs. The centre of the dashboard is lorded by a 10.2 inch screen. All navigation, media and vehicle settings are controlled by the iDrive system which is viewed upon this monitor. The Dakota leather upholstery is standard and combines three colours. More attractive features are the frameless doors and the seatbelts that are neatly integrated in the seats. Although expensive, still we insist you to select the optional Bang & Olufsen high-end surround system, which is designed exclusively for this model, and delivers flawless sound quality delivering 1,200 Watt of total power output.
The quality interiors have been carried over from the 6 Series Coupé. Everything that you feel and touch absolutely oozes class, possibly the best interiors done by BMW. The real changes are in the rear. The rear passengers will find it comfortable and spacious. BMW calls it 4+1 seating, recommended for short drives as the middle seat suffers in both legroom and headroom. Another issue is that if the front passengers decide to lower their seats all the way, the rear passenger foot well suffers in terms of space. But despite these very small inconveniences the rear of the 640d Gran Coupé is a well sorted place to be in.
POWER AND PERFORMANCE
The car that we drove had BMW’s 3.0 litre TwinPower diesel heart. The 640d Gran Coupé accelerates to 100kmph from a standstill in 5.4 seconds. The multi stage supercharging gets rid of the lag and the 8-speed automatic transmission delivers seamless power to the rear wheels. The impressive bit was the growling exhaust note and the tasty turbo whistle that encourages you to push harder.
Ride and handling is pure BMW territory, it is neither too luxuriously soft nor too sporty hard, just right. Driving Experience Control allows a driver to choose between various modes between comfortable and sporty driving. The steering communicates every square inch of the tarmac to your fingertips. We noticed how accurately the speed-dependent steering gains weight as the speed builds up. Also on the options list is the Integral Active steering, that turns the rear wheels along with front ones ensuring crisper responses. A host of safety technologies keep you safe in tricky situations.
CONCLUSION
The BMW 640d Gran Coupé stands ahead of its competition both in terms of looks and practicality. It is elegant and classy to behold, drives very well, is practical enough for four people and returns decent fuel economy as well. Our only question is, and we are sure everybody is asking the same, why would you buy the 640d Coupé? I guess, that’s more for the romantic kinds!
BMW 640D GRAN COUPÉ SPECIFICATIONS
Engine
Transmission
Max Power
Max Torque
Kerb Weight
2,993cc, 6-cylinder inline, BMW TwinPower Turbo diesel
8-speed automatic with Steptronic
313bhp@ 4400rpm
630Nm@1500-2500rpm
1865kg
Suspension: Front/Rear
Brake: Front/ Rear
Fuel Tank Capacity
Tyres: Front/ Rear
Price
Double-track control arm with separate lower track arm level, anti-dive/Integral-V multi-arm axle, anti-squat and anti-dive
348mm vented/345mm vented
70 litre
275/35 R19 96Y
Rs.1.03 crore
(ex-showroom)
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