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Is BMW replacing the 6-series cabriolet with a coupé-cabriolet?
These are the first pictures of the next BMW 6-series, spied on test in Munich. Although at first glance the car looks like it has a fabric roof closer inspection shows that the cloth is probably a fake.
The rear glass on the next 6-series is the wrong shape for a cabrio and the fabric around the rear side window appears to be loose and ill-fitting, which you wouldn’t expect to see on a car with a real fabric roof.
BMW would not confirm or deny the 6-series as a folding hardtop, but the firm has moved most of its convertible models to folding hardtops – the 3-series cabrio and the next Z4 are both coupe cabrios.
The new 6-series is also significantly less radical looking than the current model. Like the new 7-series, it does away with most of the controversial surfacing and detailing that has typified the last seven years of BMW design in favour of a smoother look.
The 6-series’s most distinctive feature – the bustle boot – has gone, replaced by a much more conventional design partially dictated by the large, flat rear deck that lifts to accommodate the roof. The car now has the rising waistline of a coupe-cabrio.
At the front the wide double kidney grille gets even wider, although this car has a fake one-piece mesh grille. The production vehicle will use a grille similar to the Concept CS’s. Underneath the car is again based on the 5-series, in this case the next-generation car that will be launched next year.
By using the big selling 5-series as a basis for the 6-series, BMW can charge a premium for a car that has already had most of the costly development work done. As with the current 6-series, we expect the new car to be launched about a year behind its saloon cousin, meaning that it should be here in 2010.
And despite the opinion-polarising looks, the 6-series has proved popular, outselling the Mercedes SL. European sales to August reached 5152, up on 4520 in the same period in 2007. The SL managed 4155 and 3321.
Dan Stevens
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