It’s hard to find a link between 0-62mph in 5.5 seconds and 51mpg, but BMW’s new 640d has bagged the pair. The dirty scoundrel. TBMW travelled to Wales to get a feel for it, over some unbelievable driving roads

Words Adam Tait   |   Pictures Total BMW

Trains make me feel sick. Especially these sleek-fronted Pendolino diesel-electric mile-munching versions that have no opening windows and travel at Mach 3 to make overall journey times appealing to people such as myself – who are weighing up the pros and cons of just using the car. But speeds of up to 125mph over these jittery tracks makes reading, or typing as I am doing now, a queasy business.

I’m travelling from London Euston to Llandudno Junction, which can be found at the most northern tip of Wales, to try out the new F13 6-Series Coupé. BMW’s new £60,000 luxury GT car – which in my current frame of mind, is somewhere I’d much rather be than this warp-speed carriage erratically carving its way north west.

Much like the 640d, this train is designed to work efficiently over prolonged distances, with speed and comfort paramount to impress its passengers. Except that as a train dweller, if you are taller than around two-feet, your knees will try and embed themselves into the plastic back of the seat in front.

Inside the F13, it’s typically well appointed, with three-dimensional graphics taking care of the head-up display, while the huge 10.2-inch high-res flat-screen acts as a hub for sat-nav, cameras and all iDrive functions. There’s also bundles of room for front passengers and although more generous than the last generation E63 6-Series, rear passengers can jump in for long hauls, but as a 2+2, the rear space would be better suited to children, than adults. Boot capacity has been upped by 10litres as well, with the selling point being that it can consume three golf bags.

With the E63 having taken up 22 per cent of the UK market share, it was certainly a significant car in this segment – namely in diesel format. But most popular was Jaguar’s XK which consumed 46 per cent of the same sector in 2010.

The shortfall with the Jag though is the engine line-up, which lacks a diesel and the best economy you will get from the V8 engine range is 35mpg. The proposed specifications for Jag’s new concept CX-16 electric-hybrid sports car suggests 4.4 seconds to 62mph and 41mpg, but this will be smaller than an XK with a strict two seats. So as it stands, the 640d is ahead of the game in the economy stakes and as the XK is reaching the end of its production lifespan, the chances of Jag shoehorning one of its diesel engines in is very slim, and I can’t see the Maserati GranTurismo losing spark plugs in favour of glow plugs any time soon.

 To read more about this BMW see the December 2011 issue of Total BMW.

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