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THE BMW 6 Series GT fills a niche that nobody knew needed filling. BMW is quite good at that.
The 6 Series GT is basically the second-generation 5 Series GT rebadged as a 6, stretched and made more practical.
It’s the car for those who want to pick and poach the best bits from a variety of BMW models. It’s a car for those who want the comfort of a 7 Series, the looks of a 5 Series, the practicality of a Touring model and the higher driving position of an SUV.
Combining all these things has created a five-metre long, 1.9-metre wide, four-door road barge with a coupe-style sloping roofline and practical hatchback boot.
Its looks are, em, well, they haven’t been warmly received, that’s for sure. As looks are subjective, I won’t dwell on them too long but I have to say, it doesn’t look that elegant and even the large 20-inch wheels of my test car look small under those arches.
Thankfully the car’s interior scores better. The fit and finish are excellent and the materials used are really lovely to the touch.
However, what it does have in abundance are useful, practical tech features such as the excellent BMW iDrive interface including a 10.25-inch touchscreen, voice control, gesture control, enhanced Bluetooth with wireless charging and a Head-Up Display. In fact, the features and convenient set up of the cabin make driving very relaxing, safe and pleasurable.
Adding to the relaxing feel are very supportive and comfortable heated massage seats and plenty of sound deadening that blocks out most road, wind, engine and tyre noise. The cabin is positively cocoon-like.
It’s even better for those in the back who get to watch TV (optional) and lounge in reclining seats and enjoy plenty of leg and shoulder room. Only the tallest of passengers (over six feet) will feel the sloping roofline impinging on headroom.
As for the boot? Well, this is a big draw over the 5 Series models. The largest 5 Series offers 570 litres of boot space (or 1,700 litres with the rear seats folded) but the 6 Series GT has 610 litres, which expands to 1,800 litres with the rear seats tumbled. The only downside is that the sloping roof line makes the boot shape a little less practical than that of a Touring model. As a further comparison, the Mercedes E-Class Estate has 640 litres of boot space, expanding to 1,820 litres with the seats folded.
My test car was the 630d M Sport model powered by a 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine making 265hp and 620Nm of torque and mated to an eight-speed Steptronic transmission.
The six-cylinder engine is very refined and smooth and sounds great when you rev it. It’s also pretty economical with a claimed fuel economy figure of 5.3 litres/100km (53.3mpg) and CO2 emissions are a reasonable 139g/km (Band B2, €280 per annum).
Out on the motorway the 630d GT is a supremely refined cruiser. It’s a wonderful car for long motorway drives.
On twisty country roads, it feels less at home and there is a bit of body roll and lean. Grip is good, even on this rear-wheel drive model but the car feels its size. It feels large and heavy and the steering doesn’t feel particularly sharp. On the plus side, you do sit quite high in the 6 GT so you have a confident, commanding view of the road ahead.
Around town, the parking assist camera was much appreciated but surprisingly, given its size it was easy to manoeuvre and park. Finding a parking space into which it fit was another matter and I didn’t have the nerve to bring it into a multi-storey carpark.
Overall, the 6 Series GT is at home out on the motorway and can cope well in towns and cities – it just doesn’t feel that well suited to the windy, narrow country roads.
The BMW 6 Series GT starts at €74,394 but the option list is extensive and the price can quickly rise. My test car had over €15,000 worth of extras. The one package that I do think is worth forking out for is the Technology Package priced at €2,185. This adds the head-up display, display key, enhanced Bluetooth with wireless charging and BMW Gesture Control. Although, you can just add the gesture control for €269, and I think it is worth it.
Would I have this car over a 5 Series Touring? No, I think the Touring handles better. Would I have it over a Mercedes E-Class Estate? No, the Mercedes, in my opinion, has a better interior and ride quality. However, if I really wanted a spacious 7 Series, but just couldn’t afford it, and need more room than the 5 Series offers, I would opt for the 6 Series GT.
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Ruble is at a 7yr high, European the weakest in 20yrs. The Saudis are getting such a discount on Russian oil they’re saving there own stock for when needed. Russia doesn’t seem to be feeling the pinch, as for Europe.
@Thommo’s Nose: This is part of the problem, we’ve essentially sanctioned ourselves. I know the aim of these sanctions is for short term suffering for Europe and long term suffering for the Russian state, but by the time that happens, Russia will have established new trade, replaced western products with new products of their own (or alternative countries) and established stronger ties to other big countries outside of the EU/NA. I know a lot of people will say that it’s better than doing nothing, but it’s really only affecting ourselves and the plan has failed. As for the alternative plan, who knows.
@Thommo’s Nose: “Ruble is at a 7yr high”
You understand this doesn’t mean anything? It’s artificially inflated. There is tremendous stress on production lines in Russia due to lack of access to high tech parts.
@Seán Ó Briain: exactly. give it time. lets see how they do in 3-6 months when everything starts falling apart.
Sadly people are already tired of it. It doesn’t mean people don’t care anymore, but the situation is very fatiguing even as an onlooker. I know that’s nothing like what Ukranians feel, but the reality is that focus on the war outside of Ukraine will continue to drop if inflation keeps rising and the cost of energy keeps rising. We will be more concerned with our own “suffering” than what’s going on elsewhere in the world.
@Wooden Spoon: Spreak for youself. But you are not wrong.
A lot of people will at some point loose sight of the bigger picture and just think about their own little “problems”.
Dead right. It’s a long game. As Europe develops next generation power and renewables and sanctions are targeted more and more Russia will fold. So long as the populists like Orban and the Tankies don’t get their way.
As bad as the pinch is now, and I know it’s bad, the difficulty in replacing Russian energy is a blessing in disguise.
Suddenly renewables are not just cheaper long-term (after initial capital investment) but have become an imperative. And yes they don’t replace Russian oil overnight.
But if the progress in fighting climate change shows anything in the last few years it’s a lack of urgency about it. And this has finally added urgent.
@Gerard: This 100%. We have to stick it out. The alternative is much much worse.
@Brian Henoll: I’m afraid it’s already to late putin will drop the bomb when he feels like it he is not personally feeling any effects of sanctions he doesn’t care what anyone thinks he has won the brinkmanship battle and wont back down now, it’s time for US and NATO to grow a pair and stop pussy footing around with sanctions which will take to long to have any meaningful effect I can’t see any other way its capitulate or fight back, putin wants a dead zone along his western borders so after he annihilated Ukraine what’s next on the menu????
Who is winning?
The EU should not be adding fuel to the fire. It is time for countries in the West, including Ireland, a neutral country with a seat on the UN Security Council, to start working for a negotiated peace.
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