2013 BMW 6 Series

BMW's mid-size luxury coupe, the 6 series, is unchanged for 2013 and comes in three flavours, Coupe, cabriolet, and four-door Gran Coupe. All come as a 650i xDrive, which means a 4.4L turbocharged V8, all-wheel drive, and an eight-speed automatic. The V8 makes 443 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque. The 650i xDrive coupe is rated for 14.8 L/100 km city and 9.8 L/100 km highway. The cabrio and Gran Coupe are both rated for 14.5/9.8 city/highway.

The 650i's come with standard dynamic damping, and a heated leather steering wheel. There are 19-inch wheels and proximity keyless entry. The infotainment system is a 10.2-inch screen with iDrive and navigation. There are power adjustable leather seats and power just about everything, along with front and rear parking sensors, adaptive xenon headlights and automatic wipers.

On the coupe and convertible models, an M Sport package adds 20-inch wheels and a raised top speed limiter, along with sportier trim, side sills, and sport exhaust. A technology pack adds automatic high beams, lane departure and blind spot warnings along with adaptive cruise. On convertibles, the executive package adds soft close doors, a rear and surround-view camera, a leather dash, and a Bang and Olufsen stereo. On coupes it also gets rear sunshades. Premium seating adds ventilated seats with active bolstering.

Option packages on Gran Sport include a tech package with lane departure and blind spot warnings, as well as adaptive cruise and head-up display for speed and essential info. LED headlights with night vision are available as well. The executive package adds soft close doors, a rear and surround-view camera, a leather dash, a Bang and Olufsen stereo and power rear sunshades. Premium seating adds ventilated seats with active bolstering up front, and heats the rear seats. It also adds four-zone climate control.

The 650i line competes with the Audi S7, Porsche Panamera, Mercedes CLS 550 and SL 550. There are not a lot of coupes and convertibles in this group though, so the BMW sites largely by itself. However the driving dynamics and luxury appointments show that BMW isn't taking the empty segment lightly.