Spied: BMW 6-series (2011)

Xeonidas

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Aug 4, 2008
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Some car news again!

Has BMW become too timid? The next 6-series will follow the cautious evolution of the 7-series and our exclusive spy photos of the new 6-series Convertible prove that it's business as usual at Munich.

It wasn't always going to be that way. BMW was at one point toying with seven different concepts: a four-seater coup? and cabriolet, a coup?-cabrio with retractable hard top, a slightly more compact two-seater Mercedes SL rival, a pillarless four-door coup? with rear suicide doors, a four-door four-seater Z6 coup? like the CS show car, and a three-door shooting brake.

However, CAR has seen the latest cycle plan ? and the only survivors are project numbers F12 and F13. That means a cautious but classic 2+2 coup? and soft-top derivative. Clever marketing or missed opportunity? Time will tell.

BMW 6-series: the inside story

Today's 6-series, which was facelifted 2007, is a solid success in the market place. At about 20,000 units per year, it eclipses the Mercedes SL and isn't far behind the segment leader, Porsche's 911.

It's a big money spinner, too. The two-door sports car is basically a redesigned and repositioned 5-series and the product planners will do anything it takes to protect those fat profit margins. Which is why the new 6-series, revealed today as an early engineering prototype, won't usher in a culture shock design with Timothy Leary cutlines and Henry Moore surfaces.

The new Six: what's new

Just like the new 7-series, the next 6-series is a gently reheated evolution of the first-generation styling philosophy. There will be no rabbit hatch bootlid, no crying-eyes headlamps, no jaw-dropping bumpers. To fix the slightly odd proportions, BMW designers will shorten the overhangs and extend the wheelbase by 80mm.

Munich's designers will also shorten the nose by 40mm ? no mean feat in view of the more stringent pedestrian protection regulations now throttling car stylists. The roofline will be lowered slightly, and the overall effect will ? on the finished production car ? produce a sportier and more aggressive stance.

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Although it's impossible to see all the details on the new car, I like what I'm seeing. Especially the round headlights - a comeback to the 80s maybe?
I really hope they don't mess up with this car.
 
Can't really make much out thanks to that really effective camoflague - but the bootlid & front-end are the big problems with the 6, so if as the article suggests they've got rid of those it can only be a good thing.
 
Thank god they fixed the canvas roof rear window! The old one looked out of place. Cant really make out much more, top camoflage work from Fritz.
 
Although it's impossible to see all the details on the new car, I like what I'm seeing. Especially the round headlights - a comeback to the 80s maybe?
I really hope they don't mess up with this car.

It's just missing the lenses from the headlamps. Although I would also like nothing more than round headlamps back for BMW.
 
Looks like it'll still be the huge bulk that we've come know as the BMW 6-series. For a coupe, I have no idea why BMW is making the car so enormous.

The current BMW 6-series has really grown on me, and I actually really like a current 6-er in black. The only thing I can see them improve on are the front 'I am sad' headlamps and the rear boot lid which had that stupid protrusion.
 
The camo isn't bothering me all that much...but that watermark is screwing with my eyes.
 
They just haven't tooled the lighting yet, so use off the rack round units.
 
i just hope it won't get the hideous new 7 and x6 series kidneys.
 
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