2022 BMW 6 Series

BMW 6 Series 2021-2022 Review

There is a lot of strength in a name, especially when it comes to a car manufacturer’s range of models. Some names are so historically significant that they are never used again, for fear of not doing justice to the original. Some represent a specific car for a specific lifestyle, and some are just used to represent size.

In the case of the BMW 6 Series, for a very long time it was a fairly simple designation. It started in the 1970s as a replacement for the BMW E9 coupe – a relatively compact car by modern standards, though considered a grand-tourer back in its time with numerous racing successes under its belt. In a certain sense, the first generation 6 Series would be based on a similar kind of platform as the 5 Series of the time, though the specifics were never noted.

Despite relative success, between the late 1980s and mid-2000s, there was no successor to the 6 Series name and BMW was happy to continue without a grand tourer in their line-up. Of course there were other models that they introduced, such as the BMW Z3 and Z4 convertible roadsters, though nothing was quite like a 6 Series.

The modern BMW 6 Series came about in 2003, being an adapted version of the 5 Series that carried many of the same powertrain options. It was a proper grand-tourer, offering stylish coupe looks draped on a large body, and designed to happily eat up miles in some sunny, southern part of Europe. Its successor came a few years later and was much the same formula.

While we’ve spent a disproportionate amount of time talking about the BMW 6 Series’ history, unfortunately it’s about to make quite a radical departure. In the last few years, BMW has decided to re-structure their naming and revive the long defunct 8 Series name. As the 6 Series has grown so much larger over the years, it felt more appropriate that it take the 8 Series name – quite literally a name change, and nothing else.

In that time, the 6 Series name has been retained – but purely to represent a model known as the 6 Series Gran Turismo, for the time being. If you have no idea what that is – well, you wouldn’t be alone because it’s basically a re-naming of what we once knew as the 5 Series Gran Turismo. If you’re still confused, we wouldn’t blame you.

As a quick explainer, BMW has had the usual coupe and cabriolet suffixes for many of their models, which are fairly self-explanatory. Eventually they introduced something called a Gran Coupe, which applied to all of their coupe models like the BMW 2 Series, 4 Series, 6 Series (now 8 Series). The Gran Coupe is essentially a four-door coupe model with a lift-back style rear boot and frameless windows.

A more quirky counterpart to this was the Gran Turismo, and this is more complicated to explain. These were variants of the regular 3 Series and 5 Series that were essentially raised to a higher ride height, and given a slightly different roofline with a lift-back style hatch. As mentioned earlier, the 6 Series GT is essentially a re-naming of the 5 Series GT.

The current generation 6 Series GT was brought into the world back in 2017, but the most recent facelift was introduced locally earlier this year. For the time being it is offered in a singular variant and a singular powertrain, though this may change in the future.

BMW 6 Series 2021-2022 Specifications

There is but one singular variant of the BMW 6 Series here, and it’s the 630i Gran Turismo M Sport. The powertrain option here is fairly obvious: 30i denotes a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine, producing 255 hp and 400 Nm of torque, and paired with the venerable eight-speed ZF conventional automatic transmission delivering power exclusively to the rear wheels. As always, the 8-speed transmission is known for its quick, smooth shifts as well as extremely quick lock-up clutch response for a positive feel on and off throttle.

BMW 6 Series 2021-2022 Exterior

If you’re confused when you first gaze upon the BMW 6 Series GT, we wouldn’t blame you. It looks pretty much like what a 5 Series GT would look like, and that’s because it is. Despite this, it’s still a fairly handsome car – especially from the rear three-quarter angle that shows off the liftback-style rear hatch. 20-inch wheels sit at each corner, measuring 8.5 inches in the front and 10 inches at the rear. There’s also an active rear spoiler that deploys at speed, ever-so gently breaking the roofline up.

BMW 6 Series 2021-2022 Interior

Like every other interior for a BMW in this class, you would have a pretty tough time telling them apart from the inside. The BMW 6 Series GT looks like a 5 Series in many respects – there’s BMW individual headliner in anthracite, with Dakota leather upholstery and fine wood trim – ash trunkwood that’s open pore with pearl chrome finishers.

BMW 6 Series 2021-2022 Safety Features

Like practically every BMW product these days, there is a reasonable amount of safety equipment – inclusive of advanced driver assistance systems in the form of the Driving Assistant. Lane departure warning, lane change warning, front collision warning with brake intervention, and cross traffic warning with rear collision prevention are all part of the package.

BMW 6 Series 2021-2022 Strengths & Weakness

There are plenty of reasons to like the BMW 6 Series in its Gran Turismo form as it is offered locally – a relatively easy to access four-door form, a nice large boot aperture for loading and unloading cargo, and ever so slightly higher ride height for better ride comfort and ground clearance. The only problem with all of this is that it doesn’t quite make sense in the context of the 6 Series name and BMW may have diluted the 6 moniker as a result. Add to this the fact that a 6 Series Gran Turismo is just a less practical version of a 5 series wagon (which we don’t get here), and you begin to see why it may be more of a measure to fill the gaps between segments but isn’t quite as good as a full-blown 5 Series wagon.

BMW 6 Series 2021-2022 Price

Pricing for the singular variant of the BMW 6 Series comes in at RM 400,839.05, with the extended warranty and service package bringing the price up to RM 417,659.05. This is for the BMW 630i GT M Sport variant in particular, and there’s no word on whether BMW will be bringing in other variants of this model in the future. For some reason, the models pricing is roughly RM 50,000 lower than initial expected as it qualifies for EEV status.

BMW 6 Series 2021-2022 Features

BMW ConnectedDrive services come as standard – essentially making your BMW that little bit more modern with better integration. Beyond that there are nice items like a panoramic glass roof, a Harman Kardon surround sound system that packs a whopping 16-speakers, and BMW gesture control to better control the BMW Navigation System Professional screen.

BMW 6 Series 2021-2022 Fuel Consumption

The manufacturer quoted fuel consumption figure for the BMW 630i GT M Sport, which is our sole variant sold here, is 7.3 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres, or 13.7 kilometres per litre of fuel. This figure is contingent on the car being driven in a normal, relatively sedate manner due to the nature of the turbocharged powertrain. Hard driving will consume significantly more fuel than the quoted figures.