RE: BMW 650i: PH Carpool

RE: BMW 650i: PH Carpool

Author
Discussion

quavey

177 posts

151 months

Wednesday 2nd September 2015
quotequote all
Diderot said:
Be careful what you wish for with the cup holder. Mine had one, but trying to put it away in the cubby behind the front seats wa major hassle - a bit like a test on Krypton Factor. smile. Useful though but did get in the way a bit too.
Never in the history of time has a cupholder been a bigger topic! I can see how it would get in the way, just wish they had fitted all cars with the slot for it and then you could just buy it as an extra if you wanted it. Very frustrating and it must have been more effort to design to center consoles!

mattman

3,174 posts

221 months

Wednesday 2nd September 2015
quotequote all
of course the simple option would be to buy one of the universal items from Ebay/Halfrauds/etc but then what would I have to complain about smile


JackReynolds13

17 posts

124 months

Wednesday 2nd September 2015
quotequote all
Great read and very detailed from the owner couldn’t of said it better myself!

Have owned my 650i (with cup holder) wink since October 2014, was my first ever V8 and was a big jump from a Toyota Celica but I have loved every minute of it. The sound is astonishing just the low end grumble of the V8 is very hard to beat, the smoothness of the power and the way it just feels special everytime you hit the start button is truly something wonderful! The sat nav is hit and miss, i ended up purchasing a 2014 nav disc so its bearable. For the price that these are and for the sheer looks and amount of car you’re getting I think it’s just unbeatable.

Although not great as a daily car so will sadly be for sale in the next few weeks frown 430d coupe due in October!



Edited by JackReynolds13 on Wednesday 2nd September 10:26

Crimson Dynamo

14 posts

176 months

Wednesday 2nd September 2015
quotequote all
Bangle should be (to quote J. Clarkson) taken out and shot......in front of his family for this abomination. What were he and BMW thinking?

It has not aged well and will always be one of the most fugly BMW's ever and it has some stiff competition.

Being a BMW it is probably a delight to drive and at least the new model 6 series looks great.

Let's face it only a mother (or a blind person) could say this looks good.


MDMetal

2,775 posts

147 months

Wednesday 2nd September 2015
quotequote all
Crimson Dynamo said:
Bangle should be (to quote J. Clarkson) taken out and shot......in front of his family for this abomination. What were he and BMW thinking?

It has not aged well and will always be one of the most fugly BMW's ever and it has some stiff competition.

Being a BMW it is probably a delight to drive and at least the new model 6 series looks great.

Let's face it only a mother (or a blind person) could say this looks good.
Hardly there's quite a few design notes that have followed through to the more recent cars, the evolutionary path may have been tweaked but it's clearly there.

Schermerhorn

4,342 posts

188 months

Wednesday 2nd September 2015
quotequote all
Crimson Dynamo said:
Bangle should be (to quote J. Clarkson) taken out and shot......in front of his family for this abomination. What were he and BMW thinking?

It has not aged well and will always be one of the most fugly BMW's ever and it has some stiff competition.

Being a BMW it is probably a delight to drive and at least the new model 6 series looks great.

Let's face it only a mother (or a blind person) could say this looks good.
Stop exaggerating. It's not the best looking car but it has presence and in the right colour/wheel combo can look very cool. Here is my old M6. If this looks as bad as you say then you need to get down to specsavers and ask for some extra strength jam jars to be used as glasses.



I think it looks awesome. Saw a 650i today in town, a handsome beast it is.

Edited by Schermerhorn on Wednesday 2nd September 21:02

NickyTwoHats

2,093 posts

240 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
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I have a 550 Touring - brilliant car!

toon10

6,140 posts

156 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
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JackReynolds13 said:
Great read and very detailed from the owner couldn’t of said it better myself!

Have owned my 650i (with cup holder) wink since October 2014, was my first ever V8 and was a big jump from a Toyota Celica but I have loved every minute of it. The sound is astonishing just the low end grumble of the V8 is very hard to beat, the smoothness of the power and the way it just feels special everytime you hit the start button is truly something wonderful! The sat nav is hit and miss, i ended up purchasing a 2014 nav disc so its bearable. For the price that these are and for the sheer looks and amount of car you’re getting I think it’s just unbeatable.

Although not great as a daily car so will sadly be for sale in the next few weeks frown 430d coupe due in October!



Edited by JackReynolds13 on Wednesday 2nd September 10:26
Out of interest when you say it's not great for a daily are you talking about fuel consumption or is there more to it? I've been looking at getting a 630i mainly for my 4 mile (straight A road commute) but I really have the urge for the 650i. My man maths says the fuel economy can be done if I stick to 60mph on cruise biggrin I'm used to getting about 25mpg average over the years with various 6 pot cars. We have an XC90 for the family stuff so it would just be used for the small commute and occasional trip here and there but I would be driving it every day.

On the subject of styling, I thought the 6 series was ugly on release but it has just got better with age to the point where I love it now. Really elegant.

MDMetal

2,775 posts

147 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
Schermerhorn said:
Stop exaggerating. It's not the best looking car but it has presence and in the right colour/wheel combo can look very cool. Here is my old M6. If this looks as bad as you say then you need to get down to specsavers and ask for some extra strength jam jars to be used as glasses.



I think it looks awesome. Saw a 650i today in town, a handsome beast it is.

Edited by Schermerhorn on Wednesday 2nd September 21:02
It's all in the wheels on the standard ellipsoid ones it looks it's age with a nice more modern design the body sits beautifully.

parabolica

6,703 posts

183 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
toon10 said:
JackReynolds13 said:
Great read and very detailed from the owner couldn’t of said it better myself!

Have owned my 650i (with cup holder) wink since October 2014, was my first ever V8 and was a big jump from a Toyota Celica but I have loved every minute of it. The sound is astonishing just the low end grumble of the V8 is very hard to beat, the smoothness of the power and the way it just feels special everytime you hit the start button is truly something wonderful! The sat nav is hit and miss, i ended up purchasing a 2014 nav disc so its bearable. For the price that these are and for the sheer looks and amount of car you’re getting I think it’s just unbeatable.

Although not great as a daily car so will sadly be for sale in the next few weeks frown 430d coupe due in October!



Edited by JackReynolds13 on Wednesday 2nd September 10:26
Out of interest when you say it's not great for a daily are you talking about fuel consumption or is there more to it? I've been looking at getting a 630i mainly for my 4 mile (straight A road commute) but I really have the urge for the 650i. My man maths says the fuel economy can be done if I stick to 60mph on cruise biggrin I'm used to getting about 25mpg average over the years with various 6 pot cars. We have an XC90 for the family stuff so it would just be used for the small commute and occasional trip here and there but I would be driving it every day.

On the subject of styling, I thought the 6 series was ugly on release but it has just got better with age to the point where I love it now. Really elegant.
FWIW my 645 is a daily and I can't really fault it; I did used to have only a 20 min commute with occasional need to travel to an office 100 miles away and it was superb throughout. No in the center of London so get the tube to work and the car is used for weekends and the like.

quavey

177 posts

151 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
toon10 said:
Out of interest when you say it's not great for a daily are you talking about fuel consumption or is there more to it? I've been looking at getting a 630i mainly for my 4 mile (straight A road commute) but I really have the urge for the 650i. My man maths says the fuel economy can be done if I stick to 60mph on cruise biggrin I'm used to getting about 25mpg average over the years with various 6 pot cars. We have an XC90 for the family stuff so it would just be used for the small commute and occasional trip here and there but I would be driving it every day.

On the subject of styling, I thought the 6 series was ugly on release but it has just got better with age to the point where I love it now. Really elegant.
I wish I could use mine every day, on very rare occasions I get to use mine for work (people might notice some of the pictures on the IOM mountain road, I got to use it for a trip there which was nice) and is just the most fantastic machine to use as I said in the carpool the only draw back is that they can feel a bit vulnerable in car parks.

Fuel consumption for what they are is great, with a little 4 mile commute like that you'll probably expect 20 as she'll barely be warm by the time you get there. The only problem with a 630i is that every time you see a 645/650 you'll think... damn why did I buy the 630i when I could have had the V8

Speed addicted

5,561 posts

226 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
Crimson Dynamo said:
Bangle should be (to quote J. Clarkson) taken out and shot......in front of his family for this abomination. What were he and BMW thinking?

It has not aged well and will always be one of the most fugly BMW's ever and it has some stiff competition.

Being a BMW it is probably a delight to drive and at least the new model 6 series looks great.

Let's face it only a mother (or a blind person) could say this looks good.
I love it. I've always loved it since the first moment I saw one.
Compared to the bland and bloated designs used on everything now it looks even better.

I don't particularly like the new 6 series, the headlights spoil it for me and it just looks fat. The interior is nicer but that's about it.

In fact given a suitably large amount of cash I'd like mine with the newer 8 speed box and better I drive, then it would be about perfect.


minimatan

13,717 posts

200 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
.

Here is my 645Ci which has been driven around Europe and is very rapid on the autobahn. I got the mondial comprehensive cover with the car which has been awesome, as has the BMW breakdown cover. Those guys are super knowledgeable and not rushed, so will take time and chat.

The mondial cover has not only saved me serious $$$, but enabled me to indulge my ocd by getting finicky items such as failed boot struts and buzzing check buttons on the indicator stalks replaced. The leaks weren't funny though and I spent most of the autobahn pooping my pants as to whether it was sucking up all the oil.

The V8 is lovely and whilst not fully loaded with options, mine is as I would have specced it. I love manuals, the panoramic roof is totally unbeatable as it lets so much light into the cabin and at night in London the ambience is simply superb. The adaptive headlights are great on country roads too. The lack of a cup holder doesn't bother me personally, I just stick the bottle in the rear pocket which does the job.

I did have a very frustrating experience with an inconsistent Bluetooth connection. As it is on the same fibre optic loop as the I drive and the cdchanger it affected their performance too. BMW just scratched their heads and muttered something about newer Bluetooth on modern phones. Luckily I was contacted by a guy on a forum who came and diagnosed the fault and replaced the Bluetooth module for another and it now works perfectly which is a godsend. If only it would stream music, but I'll live!

I have a 5 and a 1 year old. They don't complain about the lack of rear legroom but I am looking at an alternative vehicle in addition to this.

Tbh the styling is fantastic and defies the age of the vehicle. The RFTs are very useful too and are so good that a sudden drop in psi doesn't affect the handling. I took it for a couple of laps around the nordschleife and they were predictable and compliant.

In all honesty, driving it without sports mode on is like operating a vehicle that is set up for retired fellas driving to the golf course. With the sports button on and the traction control turned completely off, the chassis relaxes, the throttle sharpens up and the experience belies the size of the vehicle. It feels like a well tuned Beemer, just like my E30 325i sport did.

It is a wonderful car and very surprising. The boot is also cavernous which is very useful with the family. The 4.4L V8...which petrolhead doesn't deserve to own one at some stage? I was so happy to find a lovely coupe after searching in vain for a well priced and clean E39 M5.

As for the fuel consumption, I honestly couldn't tell you, but it is thirsty... And I love it!

If anyone sees me at the V8 breakfast meeting at Goodwood in October, say hello. It's wearing chrome GB badges as per the picture (that's just the way I roll baby).

Edited by minimatan on Friday 4th September 00:56


Edited by minimatan on Friday 4th September 00:59

minimatan

13,717 posts

200 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
.

Here is my 645Ci which has been driven around Europe and is very rapid on the autobahn. I got the mondial comprehensive cover with the car which has been awesome, as has the BMW breakdown cover. Those guys are super knowledgeable and not rushed, so will take time and chat.

The mondial cover has not only saved me serious $$$, but enabled me to indulge my ocd by getting finicky items such as failed boot struts and buzzing check buttons on the indicator stalks replaced. The leaks weren't funny though and I spent most of the autobahn pooping my pants as to whether it was sucking up all the oil.

The V8 is lovely and whilst not fully loaded with options, mine is as I would have specced it. I love manuals, the panoramic roof is totally unbeatable as it lets so much light into the cabin and at night in London the ambience is simply superb. The adaptive headlights are great on country roads too. The lack of a cup holder doesn't bother me personally, I just stick the bottle in the rear pocket which does the job.

I did have a very frustrating experience with an inconsistent Bluetooth connection. As it is on the same fibre optic loop as the I drive and the cdchanger it affected their performance too. BMW just scratched their heads and muttered something about newer Bluetooth on modern phones. Luckily I was contacted by a guy on a forum who came and diagnosed the fault and replaced the Bluetooth module for another and it now works perfectly which is a godsend. If only it would stream music, but I'll live!

I have a 5 and a 1 year old. They don't complain about the lack of rear legroom but I am looking at an alternative vehicle in addition to this.

Tbh the styling is fantastic and defies the age of the vehicle. The RFTs are very useful too and are so good that a sudden drop in psi doesn't affect the handling. I took it for a couple of laps around the nordschleife and they were predictable and compliant.

In all honesty, driving it without sports mode on is like operating a vehicle that is set up for retired fellas driving to the golf course. With the sports button on and the traction control turned completely off, the chassis relaxes, the throttle sharpens up and the experience belies the size of the vehicle. It feels like a well tuned Beemer, just like my E30 325i sport did.

It is a wonderful car and very surprising. The boot is also cavernous which is very useful with the family. The 4.4L V8...which petrolhead doesn't deserve to own one at some stage? I was so happy to find a lovely coupe after searching in vain for a well priced and clean E39 M5.

As for the fuel consumption, I honestly couldn't tell you, but it is thirsty... And I love it!

If anyone sees me at the V8 breakfast meeting at Goodwood in October, say hello. It's wearing chrome GB badges as per the picture (that's just the way I roll baby).

Edited by minimatan on Friday 4th September 00:56


Edited by minimatan on Friday 4th September 16:39

JackReynolds13

17 posts

124 months

Friday 4th September 2015
quotequote all
toon10 said:
Out of interest when you say it's not great for a daily are you talking about fuel consumption or is there more to it? I've been looking at getting a 630i mainly for my 4 mile (straight A road commute) but I really have the urge for the 650i. My man maths says the fuel economy can be done if I stick to 60mph on cruise biggrin I'm used to getting about 25mpg average over the years with various 6 pot cars. We have an XC90 for the family stuff so it would just be used for the small commute and occasional trip here and there but I would be driving it every day.

On the subject of styling, I thought the 6 series was ugly on release but it has just got better with age to the point where I love it now. Really elegant.
I have the exact same commute weirdly! 4 miles exactly, I get around 15/16mpg but it’s basically stop start the whole way, I’ve had up to 32 on the motorway but I rarely go on them to be honest. Fuel bother me too much but with the amount of money I can save getting a diesel it’s time to move on! I couldn’t really fault the car if I tried just i seem to have a habit of running over nails and with tires £230 a go I need something with maintenance included! Tax is a bit of a killer as well at £500 but if you pay for it monthly it’s the same as what i pay for my phone bill so i can sort of justify it that way but need to save for a house so its time for it to go frown

I did look at 645/630 but as a another guy said on here whenever you'll see a 650 you'll have that little bit inside you that wished you had gone for the bigger engine! Honestly when you hit the start button on a 650 you’ll understand!

With you on the styling as well, was only 10/11 when these first came out so didn’t pay much attention but remember seeing Jeremy Clarkson review a 650i convertible on Top Gear and saying it didn’t have an engine but a nuclear bomb! Very true! He also went on to say the convertible looked like a tramps hat which am not sure I agree on that one!


quavey

177 posts

151 months

Friday 17th February 2017
quotequote all
My lovely 650i is now for sale, as featured here in this PH Carpool.

Very sad but a larger vehicle beckons!

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...

J4CKO

41,276 posts

199 months

Friday 17th February 2017
quotequote all
quavey said:
My lovely 650i is now for sale, as featured here in this PH Carpool.

Very sad but a larger vehicle beckons!

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...
That is a fair chunk of loveliness for the money, good luck with the sale !

quavey

177 posts

151 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
quotequote all
J4CKO said:
That is a fair chunk of loveliness for the money, good luck with the sale !
Thank you mate, now sold! Phone ringing of the hook!


Edited by quavey on Monday 20th February 19:11