With the recent discontinuation of the E63/E64 BMW 6 Series, brand loyalists must be eager to lay eyes on a successor – Thus, the Paris Motor Show is the perfect setting to premiere the marque’s most important prototype since the Concept Gran Coupé from earlier this year, the 6 Series Coupé Concept.
Drawing on more than 70 years of experience in designing two-door automobiles, BMW designers have re-created their 2+2 seater with the 6 Series Coupé Concept while retaining classic hallmarks like a stretched bonnet, short front overhang, passenger cell set far to the rear and low roofline. The headlamps are full LED units, which combine the traditional BMW trait of dual round lights with lighting innovation – which include LED daytime driving rings and steering-sensitive adaptive headlights.
The profile is marked by the generous use of contours and character lines that accentuate how low and wide the 6 Series Coupé Concept is supposed to be, and the wheelarches accommodate multispoke 20-inch alloy wheels. At the rear, BMW designers have once again opted for a bumper and fender design that shows off as much of the haunches as possible and characteristic L-shaped taillights, while a concave bootlid design and diffuser-style rear panel hint at its performance capability.
With regards to the interior, BMW speaks of functionality, combined with elegance and exclusivity. Being a BMW, the 6 Series Coupé Concept’s cabin is naturally driver-centric with finer touches such as a freestanding 10-inch iDrive control display mounted in the centre of the instrument panel, an advanced head-up display function and superb sound system courtesy of Danish audio specialists Bang & Olufsen.
Essentially based on the Gran Coupé concept, which was unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show as a sort of Mercedes-Benz CLS contender, the 6 Series Coupe Concept doesn’t look a long way off production – so perhaps production confirmation in 2011 is plausible.
