BMW 640d Coupe M Sport
Powerful and efficient diesel makes new luxury coupe unique in its class
The first thing that strikes you about the new 640d is its size. At 4,894mm long, the BMW is a seriously big car. Its long bonnet, 5 Series-style grille and sharp lights make it look incredibly sleek. It doesn’t have the distinctive, shark-nosed lines of the original, but it’s still a very smart design.
In M Sport spec, you get 19-inch alloy wheels, black brake calipers, a diffuser-style rear bumper, plus sports sills. Sitting behind the chunky wheel, the sweeping lines of the dashboard and centre console envelop you – it’s much more intimate than its ancestor.
There’s a reassuring solidity to the switchgear and controls, and the standard 10.2-inch sat nav screen and iDrive controller are easy to use. Mobile phone signals are employed to provide real-time traffic information, which proves to be much more accurate than rival systems. Similar technology is already available in off-the-shelf portable sat-navs, but it’s the first time it has been installed in an integrated factory-fit unit.
Our test car was also fitted with optional comfort front seats (£1,485) with Nappa leather, which provide a vast range of adjustment – if you can’t get comfortable sitting in these, you must be doing something wrong.
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Cash £23,400If you keep exploring the options list, you can add lots more interesting interior kit, including Park Assist (£570), surround-view cameras (£530) DAB digital radio (£315) and even night vision cameras (£1,535) or a head-up display (£980). But with plenty of standard equipment, there’s no need to go mad on extras.
It’s out on the road where the 640d really impresses, as the new twin-turbo diesel provides effortless performance. With lots of traction, 630Nm of torque from only 1,500rpm and a smooth-shifting eight-speed automatic gearbox, the BMW sprinted from 0-60mph in only 5.4 seconds at the track.
In-gear acceleration figures are even more impressive, and show the 640d is fast enough to keep supercars honest. Only an average showing in our braking tests let it down.
Straight-line performance is only part of the story, though, because the 6 Series has always been a rewarding driver’s car.
Opt for the £3,400 Adaptive Drive package and you won’t be disappointed. It fine-tunes the suspension, steering, throttle and gearbox settings to suit each of the five driving modes. Sport and Sport+ give the sharpest responses, but ride comfort suffers.
The Comfort setting is the best compromise, as it suits the lazy nature of the car’s power delivery. Drivers who crave even more precision should also consider the £1,220 optional Integral Active Steering package.
It adds rear-wheel steering to the mix to improve manoeuvrability around town and agility at higher speeds. But even without it, the BMW steers with accuracy and confidence.
For all its grip and pace, this car is essentially about effortless performance and the ability to cover vast distances with minimal fuss and interruption.
There are definitely more exciting ways of getting from A to B, but no other luxury coupé will do the job as efficiently and quickly as the new 640d Coupe.
Details
Chart position: 1
WHY: Crushing performance meets fuel-sipping economy. Nothing else in the luxury coupe class has the all-round appeal of the new 640d.
