Hard on the heels of the newly-ravishing
Concept 6 shown at the Paris motor show
, BMW has issued pics of the next-gen 6 Series convertible. The model goes on sale in the UK next spring, six months before the new coupe arrives.
The new convertible arrives with a choice of two turbocharged engines - the 407hp 650i V8 and the 320hp 640i straight six - both with an 8-speed gearbox, and retains the finned/buttressed soft-top.
However the roof been re-styled along with the rest of the car, and opens and closes in 19secs and 24secs respectively. There's a plastic tonneau to tidy things up when the hood is retracted, and the vertical rear window can be lowered independently of the roof.
The overall design is clearly based around that of the aforementioned concept from Paris, and as well as swoopier lines the new cabrio gets improved passenger space with more headroom for all four passengers, and more legroom in the back.
The chassis has been newly developed too, and features a double wishbone front axle and integral rear axle made predominantly from aluminium. Drive Dynamic Control comes as standard, while Adaptive Drive provides active damping and anti-roll as an option. BMW's Active Steering system will also be optionally available.
In the interests of keeping the weight under control, the doors, bonnet and front axle spring mounts are all aluminium, while the front side panels, roof lid and boot are made from fibreglass composite. Torsional rigidity is now around 50 per cent greater than that of its predecessor, says BMW.
At 4,894mm the new model is 74mm longer than its predecessor, while the wheelbase has stretched to 2,855mm. The car has also grown by 39mm in width, and now measures 1,894mm across. Boot space is 300 litres with the roof down. Enough, you'll be thrilled to hear, for two golf bags.
Regular readers will know all about our passion for the current generation 6 Series coupe on the PH fleet. This new version and the coupe concept before it are both making us wonder whether we shouldn't have waited...