640i thoughts

[NA1983]

Hi, after a long think about what car I want next, I am going to start hunting for a 640i this weekend, either coupe or Gran Coupe - I don't mind although they seem to be quite rare. Could you please give me your thoughts.

Hoping to get the LCI one so 2016+.

Also, is the 650i really worth the extra costs?

Thank you.

[b14]

I think you’d have to really want the extra power to justify the 650i. If I’m right that engine suffers with a lot of problems, whereas the B58 in the 640i is pretty bulletproof and can be mapped to give some reasonable numbers (I’ve got a 340i that puts out 430 bhp just from a remap).

[steve_n]

b14 said:

I think you’d have to really want the extra power to justify the 650i. If I’m right that engine suffers with a lot of problems, whereas the B58 in the 640i is pretty bulletproof and can be mapped to give some reasonable numbers (I’ve got a 340i that puts out 430 bhp just from a remap).

It's the N55 in a 640i. Still a much better engine than the early V8 biturbo though.

I'd stick with the 640i and tune it. Nothing crazy but remap, intercooler and catted downpipe will get almost 400hp and mid 400s for torque.

[NA1983]

Thank you everyone. It seems I should look for the 640i which as mentioned above has the N55 engine.

But doing some more research, the engine in the 650i (N63TU) is meant to be much more improved.

My heart says the 650i but me head is saying 640i which is a shame!

[to3m]

Doesn't the N63 use the same piezo injectors as the N54, N53 and N43? These have reportedly been mostly unavailable for a while now, apparently due to ongoing supply chain issues.

[bmwmike]

to3m said:

Doesn't the N63 use the same piezo injectors as the N54, N53 and N43? These have reportedly been mostly unavailable for a while now, apparently due to ongoing supply chain issues.

Correct, though I heard supply issues have eased a little they they are still very expensive. £300 odd a piece x 8 plus fittings etc.

[Court_S]

bmwmike said:

to3m said:

Doesn't the N63 use the same piezo injectors as the N54, N53 and N43? These have reportedly been mostly unavailable for a while now, apparently due to ongoing supply chain issues.

Correct, though I heard supply issues have eased a little they they are still very expensive. £300 odd a piece x 8 plus fittings etc.

ML Performance were charging more like £400 a pop when I last looked! Cheeky buggers.

[Court_S]

steve_n said:

It's the N55 in a 640i. Still a much better engine than the early V8 biturbo though.

I'd stick with the 640i and tune it. Nothing crazy but remap, intercooler and catted downpipe will get almost 400hp and mid 400s for torque.

I’d always assumed that they had the B58 since the 1 series and 3 series changed to 40i when the switched from the N5v to the B58.

Either way the N55 is a good engine; sounds a bit sweeter to my ears than the B58 but isn’t quite as tuneable if that’s your thing.

[steve_n]

I assumed the same thing until I started looking into a 640i GC. In the end I went with an F11 as the practicality of the GC falls down, with no through load space or roof bars. Also difficult to get a child seat to fit properly in the sculpted rear seats.

[d_a_n1979]

steve_n said:

I assumed the same thing until I started looking into a 640i GC. In the end I went with an F11 as the practicality of the GC falls down, with no through load space or roof bars. Also difficult to get a child seat to fit properly in the sculpted rear seats.

Don’t the rear seats fold in the 6er GC?

[oldaudi]

I bought a 2012 640i coupe over the summer, replaced my 2006 630i although I kept both of them until a few weeks ago. Very little space in the back as you would expect from a coupe and the seats are a 2+2 arrangement, the rears are very steep and difficult to get in and out of according to my daughter. The seats do not fold.

It’s a very big car and I do feel myself breathing in sometimes when passing cars on the country roads. No idea about the engine type but I would assume most engines have a weakness or two…. Ive just got the SE spec, which after years of S-Line and M-Sports I was happy to get into something which didn’t have loads of extra plastic vents and big wheels. There are more 640d available than petrol's but this one came up and I bought it after 20 mins and a short drive.

I looked on ebay at the 650s (as i did with the e63 model when I had my 630i) but I wasnt convinced that the potential big bills were worth it for a little bit of extra performance.

[parabolica]

I had a 2012 640i coupe for around 2.5 years from 2015-2018. replacing a 2003 645ci. I really liked the car - comfy, powerful, good looking. Nothing went wrong with it apart from the panoramic roof imploding whilst on the motorway (something hit/chipped it). Very competent car but quite souless, especially after having a V8 for a few years. It was great at cruising, but hustling it down B-roads wasn't easy and it was quite heavy for the corners. But would still recommend.

[Origin Unknown]

E63eeeeee... said:

I had the 4.4 V8 in an F10 550i. It broke down a lot. Ace when working though. Never tried the 40i cars.

I do like my 640d a lot. Lovely place to be for a long journey. I've just bought some 19s to hopefully calm the ride down a bit compared to the 20s it came on.

I'd be interested in what improvement this makes. I really like my 640d but there is zero give in the 20's and as a result, the ride quality is bloody awful. I'd say 80%+ of manhole covers and drains around here are sunk, I look like I'm a drunk driver trying to weave around them all.

A picture showing what the two look like too would be useful.

[E63eeeeee...]

Origin Unknown said:

E63eeeeee... said:

I had the 4.4 V8 in an F10 550i. It broke down a lot. Ace when working though. Never tried the 40i cars.

I do like my 640d a lot. Lovely place to be for a long journey. I've just bought some 19s to hopefully calm the ride down a bit compared to the 20s it came on.

I'd be interested in what improvement this makes. I really like my 640d but there is zero give in the 20's and as a result, the ride quality is bloody awful. I'd say 80%+ of manhole covers and drains around here are sunk, I look like I'm a drunk driver trying to weave around them all.

A picture showing what the two look like too would be useful.

Noticeably better. I've hit the bump stops maybe twice since I fitted the 19s, compared to all the time before. I'm still avoiding potholes out of habit, but it's definitely better on the ones you can't dodge. I've spent a few days in Edinburgh, where the roads are dreadful, and it's now viable to drive it in Sport so you get the pickup at junctions rather than having to be in Comfort +.



Top one isn't my picture, I don't have a side view of my car.

The new wheels are style 252 lightweight forged ones (~3kg lighter per corner) which probably helps, and I suspect run-flat tech is probably improving too so new runflats likely to be a bit better than 6-year-old ones.

I don't know if it looks as good. The 20s are almost cartoony, especially on the front, but I'm definitely happy I did it, makes the 6 more like the chilled out GT the rest of it wants to be.

[E63eeeeee...]

[E63eeeeee...]

Not sure why the second pic didn't upload there, but you get the idea

[Origin Unknown]

Looks great to me on those 19s. I agree with your statement of almost cartoonish on 20s but for me, the ride is so poor that I'm considering moving it on. Everything else I need it too, it does superbly and looks great.

I don't think I'll bother with RFTs, normal tires and keep a space-saver spare in the boot. Something like this https://www.thewheelshop.co.uk/product/bmw-6-serie...

Thanks for sharing.

[VeeTenM]

Might look cartoonish but way better than then 19s when seeing it driving compared to the multi-spoke (good luck washing them) alloys lol

[E63eeeeee...]

VeeTenM said:

Might look cartoonish but way better than then 19s when seeing it driving compared to the multi-spoke (good luck washing them) alloys lol

Yeah, I don't really wash cars, so less of an issue there. There's basically no point at this time of year, might be disgusting enough to persuade me at some point in the spring.

[G-wiz]

E63eeeeee... said:

You don't often see those alloys on the 6-series. I think they look great.