RE: BMW 640d M Sport Gran Coupe: Spotted

[VvrooomM]

lord trumpton said:

Nice cars these.

I clicked on the advert and was faced with the large skyscraper of advert text. Why can't sellers use paragraphs?

Don't blame the seller, blame the horrible selling interface. Its as bad as Auto trader and offers no flexibility.

[cerb4.5lee]

Mike335i said:

Haven't driven one of these, are they nimble? I can imagine it's very planted and very quick point to point.

Had a 640d Coupe for 3 years and it wasn't too bad on long sweeping bends, but I hated it going around tight bends, and it's not in anyway nimble and can feel quite boaty at times.

I really enjoyed it's effortless overtaking shove and loved it's looks, plus it returned 40mpg which for it's performance/weight I thought that was excellent.

Tyres were a sticking point on the 20" rims though, and I hated the run flats because the ride was horrendous, I swapped to normal tyres and then suffered three punctures, the tyre profile was low and pretty wide and they didn't agree with the UK's poor road surfaces.

[helix402]

It won’t average 50mpg.

[Ninja59]

helix402 said:

It won’t average 50mpg.

To be fair the fact that people talk even 40mpg from a 1900 kg. 3.0 litre diesel is impressive. It is not that long ago that 40 MPG was good for a 2 litre let alone a 3 litre 6 pot.

The actual fuel difference for an f10 5 series 2 litre v 3 litre is minimal.

Does it hit the figures booked - no. But overall the fuell efficiency is very good.

[helix402]

Ninja59 said:

To be fair the fact that people talk even 40mpg from a 1900 kg. 3.0 litre diesel is impressive. It is not that long ago that 40 MPG was good for a 2 litre let alone a 3 litre 6 pot.

The actual fuel difference for an f10 5 series 2 litre v 3 litre is minimal.

Does it hit the figures booked - no. But overall the fuell efficiency is very good.

I don’t disagree with all the above and rate the car and engine highly, I just disagree with the PH articles mpg.

[T16OLE]

Ninja59 said:

To be fair the fact that people talk even 40mpg from a 1900 kg. 3.0 litre diesel is impressive. It is not that long ago that 40 MPG was good for a 2 litre let alone a 3 litre 6 pot.

The actual fuel difference for an f10 5 series 2 litre v 3 litre is minimal.

Does it hit the figures booked - no. But overall the fuell efficiency is very good.

It’s the same with all cars though, nothing ever gets close IMO

My 640d has averaged 36mpg in the 30k I’ve done in it, for comparison, my previous TT that was supposed to be doing 30mpg averaged 22mpg.

I would also say 35d/40d is vastly different in both feel and figures.

[cerb4.5lee]

helix402 said:

I don’t disagree with all the above and rate the car and engine highly, I just disagree with the PH articles mpg.

The bit where it's called "a nimble sports car" in the article made me smile the most, it's certainly not nimble and I can't remember seeing too many sports cars with a diesel engine either.

It's a motorway cruiser/long distance car and for that it does a cracking job, a sports car it most certainly isn't.

[rlg43p]

I have just bought a 640d GC, having had a 640d SE Coupe for the last two years.I run the Coupe on 19" wheels with non-runflat tyres.

The GC I have bought has Variable Damper Control on 20" Wheels with runflats. The ride is better in the GC and will no doubt improve further when the tyres get replaced with conventional ones.

The Coupe achieved around 38mpg on average. Shell V-Power diesel would improve the mpg by about 2mpg.

I have a 55 mile each way commute and I love the car for it's effortless and refined speed. After a long stressful day at work it's just the job to get you home quickly and comfortably.

It also has the only Automatic gearbox I have ever got on with, having insisted for many years that a manual gearbox was mandatory!

The car featured on this article has been for sale for a VERY VERY long time - believe me I have been looking at 640d GCs for around 6 months and I can't remember a time this car was not for sale. The price keeps being cut but for some reason it doesn't seem to sell. It wasn't for me because of the black interior - a light interior is essential for me.

[T16OLE]

As much as I love the look of Carbon black, I vowed never to have anything else this colour

It’s a nightmare, after several paint correction attempts by BMW I had mine done elsewhere. See the before and after, probably looks more like before now, it swirls just by looking at it.

[loudlashadjuster]

helix402 said:

I don’t disagree with all the above and rate the car and engine highly, I just disagree with the PH articles mpg.

It's funny how we casually accept that performance figures are 'on demand' but MPG figures should be some sort of static value, to be achieved regardless of the way a car is used.

Yes, a 640d can do 0-60 in 5s, but that doesn't mean it will do it in 5s every time you go somewhere...unless you make it do it. The actual number of times it will be asked to this though will be vanishing small for most owners.

Similarly, a 640d can get about 50mpg, but that doesn't mean it will get 50mpg every time you go somewhere...unless you make it do it. The actual number of times it will be asked to this though will be vanishing small for most owners.

Now, it may be significantly easier to manage the claimed 0-60 time than it is the EU average mpg, particularly in these days of fast autoboxes and launch control, but there are always some determined (boring?) souls who seem to be able to eke out something approaching the book mpg for almost every type of car so it's definitely possible if you hate your life and yourself are committed.

The two performance measures are, of course, mutually exclusive but we for some reason bemoan that we can't have both simultaneously. Applying that thinking about it to something else would be like getting mad that although in theory we can dine out for £10 a head, we're not able to do it at a 3 star Michelin restaurant.

[Amirhussain]

This shape 6 series is one of my favourite BMW designs. The black M6 posted in the previous page looks the business.

[AppleJuice]

Hoofy said:

Is it so called because it's a coupe that's been modified so your gran can fit in the back?

Rather than your (stereotypical) mother-in-law...

[Patrick Bateman]

I've driven one of these briefly and they'd make a fantastic daily.

Fantastic cabin, probably the nicest I've sat in and fantastic economy for the performance. Didn't feel far off my M5 when gunning it so anyone saying it feels like the performance is lacking is probably someone very hard to please.

Feels absolutely colossal, not something I'd like to hustle down the narrower roads. Any time I looked in the wing mirrors there was never much space left between the white line at either side.

Edited by Patrick Bateman on Monday 27th November 20:24

[va1o]

I've always really liked these, the Coupé is such a sharp looking car. Was very tempted by one last year but in the end decided I'd have more fun with an M135i costing the same

[Mits]

The m6gc is the one to have, mine at the Stelvio.😀

[Frrair]

I’ve had mine for 18 months and 30k Miles.

I like
The looks especially in black with silver mirrors, shiny 20” alloys and window trims
The stereo, it’s bloody great best thing about it
The quality of the interior and ivory leather, hardly any signs of wear at all.
The comfort seats, well they are very comfortable.
Big glass roof
Heated seats and steering wheel
The straight line go.
Average of 37 mpg over those 30,000 miles.

I don’t like
The harsh ride, it’s a bit jiggly, when queried it was put down to bent wheels - since when have wheels been consumables?
It’s a bit heavy to hustle... no variable dampers..
Servicing costs are a bit pricey.

It’s not a 330, three of which were probably the best all rounders I have ever had.

Just my perspective.

[Philv8s]

Aes87 said:

While I respect this car, I would personally bypass this and go straight to an E65 7 Series (short wheelbase petrol) simply because there has never been such a comfortable car before or since (other than the Phantom, which was of course based upon it). If you can find a facelift 760i (good luck) that is truly the ultimate four door grand tourer. I used to search for this holy grail car every day for years until I finally gave up and started having a can of bitter instead

Ahh my old car, the rare 760i SWB. The only car my other half really liked to drive or be driven in. Awesome wafting bliss.
Replaced with an Alpina B6 S, not to as good in her opinion, unless the roof is down(what do women know)!

The old motor


The replacement!

[parabolica]

I've had a 640i coupe for 1.5 years now and can't really fault it. Only cost to me has been fuel and a replacement panoramic roof which shattered not long after I bought it. Servicing wise, according to the OBC it doesn't want front/rear pads for another 60k/90k respectively, it doesn't want an oil flush until Jan 2019 - in fact the next item due is brake fluid at 70k which it estimates will be December 2018. Don't agree with the jiggily ride comment; I think that is down to the 20" wheels; I have the 19s and it's silky smooth.

[CupMeister]

Does look the business, and great value too, but am I the only one unconvinced by the quality of the leather that BMW uses? It looks a bit cheap, and a little baggy. BM need to take a look at the way Audi goes about its interiors...

[Ninja59]

CupMeister said:

Does look the business, and great value too, but am I the only one unconvinced by the quality of the leather that BMW uses? It looks a bit cheap, and a little baggy. BM need to take a look at the way Audi goes about its interiors...

That leather looks like it has never been cleaned (steering wheel and the storage area are shiny and tend to be from sweat and other body fluids sitting on the surface or poor quality cleaning products). Leather in good condition should be fairly dull looking (irrespective of quality and top coats).

I doubt the car in the pictures has any real leather issue - most of it appears poor photography and lack of cleaning. The rear seats might need a little more work mind looking at them.

In fairness even Audi's basic leathers are probably slightly better (being Nappa) over BMW's standard Dakota (however Mercedes have to be the worst offenders using vinyl Artico).

Flipside Dakota is probably better for dealing with day to day life if you have kids etc. than Nappa (irrespective of manufacturer), which whilst softer is less robust and requires more care.

Other common trick is that "leather" for some manufacturers only includes the seat faces, not the rear of the seat or sides.

In my 640 yes I would have liked the Nappa (having tried both BMW's Nappa and Merino (which is even more comfortable)), but realise in practice that mine has to be practical and Dakota does come up well when cleaned. Added to this is a decent clean providing hydration to the top coat surface can massively help soften the surface (following a hoover and a steam clean prior to using the cleaners). Follow this with some sealant then it will help prevent further dirt progressing to the top coat. After giving my Dakota its first "proper" clean it came up very well and helped soften the leather which was very hard initially (even with 2k on).

Very few cars have full aniline leather these days so using conditioners is just an unnecessary comfort blanket. Reality is you need to preserve the top coats on these modern automotive leathers otherwise you will get a very fast breakdown in the colour pigment layer hiding beneath. Our love of jeans is probably the most dangerous as well to these top coats with a dyes that can aggressively breakdown the top coat layer.

Edited by Ninja59 on Tuesday 28th November 10:39