2010 BMW Concept 6 Series Coupe

[ulimator]

Dynamic performance, perfectly packaged: The BMW Concept 6 Series Coupé

The BMW Concept 6 Series Coupé is a fascinating vision that blends traditional values with innovative design language. This concept model, unveiled for the first time at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, showcases the experience the brand has acquired in more than 70 years of building sporty and elegant coupés. It also paves the way for a new, aesthetically powerful and dynamic interpretation of this breed of vehicle. With the BMW Concept 6 Series Coupé, the German premium carmaker is presenting a new definition of luxury-class 2+2-seater driving enjoyment and exclusiveness.

The powerful proportions and sporty yet elegant lines of the BMW Concept 6 Series Coupé provide the perfect packaging for its dynamic performance and personality. All the classic hallmarks of a BMW coupé are present, including the stretched bonnet, the short front overhang, a passenger compartment set well to the rear, and a low silhouette incorporating a dynamically flowing roofline. The principal bodywork lines run the full length of the concept model, and there is a strong sense of stylistic unity between all the different parts of the vehicle. The lines and surfaces seem to ripple out in a dynamic, pulsating wave.

Eye-catching features of the concept model include the new LED headlights, which combine the typical BMW twin round headlight format with innovative lighting technology. The all-LED design, featured for the first time on a BMW, produces a strikingly bright white light with very sharp and intensive road illumination. The functionality includes Adaptive Headlights, i.e. the headlight beam follows the road at all times. The LED rings for the daytime driving lights accentuate the characteristic, unmistakable BMW front-end styling.

The interior of the BMW Concept 6 Series Coupé conveys functionality, elegance and exclusiveness. The fluent lines and smooth transitions in the cockpit area produce an ambience that extends to the whole interior, embracing both the front- and the rear-seat occupants. The driver-centric interior design is typical of BMW and a hallmark of a sports coupé. Keynotes are the exceptionally stylish design in the centre console area and, providing a further innovative touch, the freestanding 10.2-inch iDrive Control Display in the centre of the instrument panel. The concept model is also equipped with the Head-Up Display system that offers world-beating functionality and display quality. For maximum listening quality, the hi-fi system was designed specially for the BMW Concept 6 Series Coupé using high-quality components from Danish audio systems specialists Bang & Olufsen.

A proud tradition: the BMW coupé.

As a byword for sporty driving enjoyment, coupé models have a special place in the history of the BMW brand. The BMW Concept 6 Series Coupé is the latest chapter in a tradition which stretches back 70 years and is richly packed with memorable racing wins and many legendary icons in automotive design. Milestones in this evolution include the BMW 327 and BMW 327/28 models, the racing coupés based on the BMW 328, the BMW 503, the BMW 3200 CS, the BMW 2000 CS, the large coupés based on the BMW 3.0 CSi and, from 1976 onwards, the BMW 6 Series models.

With its flawless elegance and impressive performance the BMW 327 Coupé, unveiled in 1938, quickly established itself as the brand’s most exclusive pre-war model. With barely a pause, the dynamic performance was then taken a stage further by the BMW 327/28, whose 80 hp sports engine was taken from the BMW 328 Roadster model. In 1940, a one-off coupé version of the BMW 328, driven by Fritz Huschke von Hanstein and Walter Bäumer, was the overall winner of the Mille Miglia endurance race. This triumph came courtesy of rigorous lightweight design, optimised aerodynamics and a powerful and reliable 136 hp in-line six-cylinder engine. In other words, the winning vehicle displayed characteristics which still form the backbone for the design of the more sporty BMW models to this day. The traditional coupé values were given a modern interpretation in the BMW Mille Miglia Concept Coupé, unveiled by BMW in 2006 as a salute to the unsung heroes behind the BMW 328’s triumph – the engineers.

In their respective decades, both the BMW 503 from 1955, designed by Albrecht Graf Goertz, and the BMW 2000 CS created by Wilhelm Hofmeister and unveiled in 1965 set new standards in coupé design. The slim pillars and svelte roofline, the narrow BMW twin-kidney grille and the Hofmeister kink at the base of the C-pillar, named after BMW’s chief designer of the time, gave the BMW 2000 CS an unmistakable and elegant styling signature. The design language was developed a stage further in the next-generation model – as was the sports performance, with an even more powerful range of engines. The proportions of the big coupé were refined and improved by a longer bonnet, while twin round headlights gave the front end a characteristic sporty appearance. By 1973 the BMW 3.0 CS, BMW 3.0 CSi and BMW 3.0 CSL models had been launched, powered by in-line six-cylinder engines developing up to 206 hp. In motor sport, too, these models held sway for many years.

The BMW 6 Series has similarly stirred and spurred a passion for sporty driving in a stylish and luxurious two-door format for many years, right through to the BMW M6 Coupé of today with its unmatched dynamism and athleticism and its 373 kW/507 hp high-revving ten-cylinder engine.