BMW may not have Jaguar’s way with style, but the 650?s cabin is exquisitely assembled.

 From the stitched leather seats, to the perfect wood trim,  the attention to detail is second

to none. Gone are the awkward oval shapes from the 2010 650i, and in their place is a

 tall dashboard dominated by the ginormous, high-resolution, 10.2-inch, widescreen

iDrive display. Jumping up from the 640i to the 650i brings BMW’s 24-way front seats

 (20 of the ways are powered and the last four are manual headrest adjustments)

instead of the plebeian 10-way variety. This upgrade also opens the door to ventilated

 anti-fatigue thrones which use air bladders to cut road-trip butt-fatigue. While they

work as advertised, the feeling of having your backside slowly groped takes some

getting used to.

iDrive has come a long way since it’s introduction, and while it can still be unintuitive

and overly complicated at times, it is quite simply the ultimate in-car attraction for my

inner nerd. Rather than taking Jaguar’s performance-minimalism attitude to technology,

 the 6-series can be had with everything from radar cruise control, lane departure warning,

self-parking and pre-collision warning systems that are becoming commonplace to the

truly unique 3D full-color heads up display and Unlike Volvo’s system that will stop the

car to prevent an impact, the 650i will let you know pedestrians are in the roadway,

but it’s up to you to act on the information. I’m still unsure whether I’d rather my car

took action to prevent a collision without telling me beforehand, or if I’d like my car to

 tell me but not take any other action at all.

At well over the rated 400HP and 450 lb-ft, the 650i’s new 4.4L twin-turbo engine is up

 50+HP and 100 + lb-ft compared to the outgoing 4.8L naturally aspirated engine from

last year. Thanks to the hairdryers, torque gets to the boil by 1,750 RPM and stays on

strong all the way to 4500 RPM, which is quite a departure from both the previous

650i and the Jaguar XK8 and their peaky power curves. The benefit of the broad powerband

and all-new 8-speed ZF automatic is obvious when you take a look at the 0-60 time, which

we clocked at 4.23 seconds. This is not only 0.86 seconds faster than the convertible 650i

we tested , but also notably faster than the lighter XK8 and equal to the 510HP XKR

(wheel spin is the XKR’s enemy). The new 6 COUPE is one seriously fast beast.

The only downside to the turbo charged nature of the 650i seems to be the exhaust note,

 the non M 650i just doesn’t sound as nice as the Jag’s 5.0L V8.Unless you opt for the

$4,400 M Sport

Package with a deep low restriction exhaust , that sings. While the new Jaguar XKR-S

and BMW M6 will duke out the high-end of the turbo vs supercharger war with their

 550 and 560 horsepower engines, the real performance secret is the 650i Coupe over

 the Heavy and creaky convertible. The M6 on the other hand is likely to behave similarly

  to the XKR-S (a review of which will be posted in the coming weeks) with 3.8-3.9

second runs to 60 amid severe traction control intervention and only on perfect road surfaces.

The 650i is a heavish car at 4,233lbs and a beached whale at almost 4950 pounds for the x drive convertible and thanks to the electric power steering, it feels like it weighs 600 pounds

 less in the twisties (coupe only). While not as numb as Mercedes’ CL550 4Matic, .

Despite the lack of feel, the 650i handles very well and is extremely confident in the corners.

 Performance-enhancing options include a “rear tire bump” from the stock 245-width

rubber to 275s, an upgrade worth getting if you’re buying the RWD 650i as the extra

rubber helps apply the power. Regardless of the rear tire sizing, the fronts stay 245s ..

The 8-speed transmission is certainly geared more toward  sport and the feeling becomes

obvious when you slip behind the wheel of an XK with ZF’s 6-speed.

Our 650i started with a “reasonable” $88,000 base MSRP (the XK8 starts at $84,500

and the CL at $114,100) to which was added the following: a no-charge “fine line oak”

trim, $750 cold weather package (heated seats and steering wheel), $2,900 full-LED

 package with 20? wheels, $3,700 “driver assistance” package (heads-up display,

blind spot warning, all-around-view cameras, self parking, and lane departure warning),

$5,700 Bang & Olufsen sound system (with iPod/USB adapter and satellite radio), 

$2,000 for Luxury Seat Pkg ( Active Seats, Massage Seats, Air Conditioned seats, and

Power rear sunshade.(, $650 for ceramic controls, And a whopping $4,400 for the

 M performance package. After options, our total out-the-door MSRP ballooned to an

  eye-popping $106,845.However most 650's we saw for sale had little if any options.

 The base M package was usually it keeping prices down to a more reasonable $90K.

 It’s good to be king. While it’s not possible to comparably equip an XK8 due to the

 lack of gadgetry, de-contenting the 650i reveals a pricing structure roughly in-line with

 the Jag, and considerably less than the Mercedes CL550 we looked at last September.

It seems that every review of the 6-series I have read bemoans the ever-increasing weight

 and dimensions of BMW’s premium two-door. However almost all of these apply to the

very portly Convertible which came out 1st with the most reviews.This reviewer however

sees it as a no brainer going with the more athletic and more svelte nature of the 6-series coupe.

 Besides it  is a LOT better looking.. The two-ton-plus curb weight and long wheelbase give

 the 6-series a compliant ride on even the most broken pavement and the active suspension

does an admirable job of adjusting the damping enough for some tail-wagging fun if required.

Most importantly however; with the twin-turbo fire-breather under the hood, this nearly

4,200lb Super Coupe can dance. For the past 20 years BMW has been gradually becoming

the new Mercedes, a transition which I applaud. With enough gadgets to keep Bill Gates

happy and an interior that is as perfect as anything this side of Aston Martin, the 650i may

just be the ultimate luxury GT.

BMW provided the vehicle, insurance and one tank of gas for this review.

Specifications as tested

650i Coupe ,Not the Convertible which

is much slower

0-30: 1.81 Seconds

0-60: 4.23 Seconds

0-100: 10.36 Seconds

1/4 mile: 12.1 Seconds @ 116.2MPH