Come on, you deserve it |
| (Photo: Philippe Champoux, Auto123.com) |
I'm not rich, and I'll probably never be. But I've always told myself that even if I was, I would never buy myself a $100,000 car. Personally, I imagine purchasing several vehicles at the same time: one for performance, one for luxury, and one for off-roading.
Other factors come into play. If I owned a $100,000 car, I'd go nuts to think I'd leave it alone in a parking lot, because a jealous freak might scratch it in frustration. I'd be a paranoid insomniac just thinking that it would get vandalized, or simply stolen. And after all, it's only a car, a transportation device, metal and plastic... right?
Well, the 650i could very well change my way of thinking.
This big BMW coupe succeeded in manipulating me like a puppet. The 650i is perfect. Ok, ok, nothing is perfect in life, but after a week with this car, the moment is gave back the keys to BMW was a heartbreak. I feel an emptiness in my life ever since. I'm exaggerating a little.
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| (Photo: Philippe Champoux, Auto123.com) |
The 4.8-litre V8 in the 650i develops 360 horsepower. That's a lot, but what's really important is that this engine delivers at any RPM range. The 6-speed automatic transmission works so rapidly and downshifts at the speed of light, that the manual mode is almost useless.
It's a big car, so front-passenger space is pretty good. There's enough legroom, but my head is close to the roof. We can still find an excellent driving position thanks to the power seats. In fact, they are supremely comfortable. In back, it's difficult for an adult to get in, and legroom is limited. But for small children like mine (2 and 3½ years old), it's perfect.
The controls are easy to use, if we exclude that darned iDrive system. We must use this thingamabob for setting the ventilation, certain controls for the audio system (excellent, by the way), and the navigation system. Do we all agree that this type of device is too complex to operate while driving? Speaking of the navigation system, I didn't use it much, because I don't benefit from any sort of patience. At least the iDrive isn't as frustrating as the one in the 750Li sedan.
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| (Photo: Philippe Champoux, Auto123.com) |
But is this a car for the whole family? To answer this dumb question, I crammed the small family aboard the 650i for a weekend trip. The spacious trunk did a commendable job, and the Montreal-Quebec drive was a charm. Driving at a constant speed of 110 km/h (there were kids aboard, you know...), I achieved a fuel consumption average of only 9.0 L/100 km, which is excellent. The rest of the week, with a mix of city and highway driving, the average was about 13.0 L/100 km, which is still pretty good... although the typical buyer of this car probably doesn't care anyway.
