BMW Faqs

While BMW’s Concept CS keeps people talking after the Shanghai auto show, work is well under way in Munich on another vehicle taking a slightly different approach to the four-door coupe concept, BMW’s X6. BMW’s four-door coupe concept, straddles the space between the Mercedes-Benz CLS and R-class.

The X6 takes the swoopy greenhouse-style-über-alles idea to the sport-utility front. Just as the CLS is basically a rebodied E-class sedan, the X6 will put a faster, sexier roofline on the latest-generation X5 that bowed last fall at the Paris auto show and is now on sale in Europe. The resultant X6 is one of those neither beast nor fowl niche vehicles: an off-road four-door designed to look like a coupe with its low roofline.

There was gret hype over the weekend when BMW finally unveiled their new Concept CS vehicle at the Auto Shanghai Show. People have been looking forward to seeing this four-door, four-passenger luxury coupe and have been talking about for quite some time. It is believed to preview a model that will be produced sometime in the near future.

The automaker says the concept’s combination of luxury and sports car is a “unique combination never seen before” and emphasizes that with it, BMW is entering a segment where it has not been in the past. The four-door coupe concept is clearly intended to move BMW upmarket and give it a rival for the Aston Martin Rapide, the Porsche Panamera and the upper-end versions of the Mercedes-Benz CLS.

BMW’s new 3 Series folding-hardtop convertible shows off a big improvement over earlier versions, says AutoWeek in a First Drive review, as “engineers went for an ‘open’ feel but not at the expense of wind management.” Writing in the Feb. 19 issue, Mark Vaughn says, “Driving the newest 3 Series convertible was a lesson in proper aerodynamics.”

Suspensions for U.S. and European models are identical, even though some options can differ between the two cars. U.S. cars get 17-inch and 18-inch wheels; Canadian and European cars can be fitted with 19-inch wheels. Outside the U.S., you can order paddle shifters with any automatic transmission car; here it’s part of the sport package. Vaughn said that after a brief, one-day drive in Arizona, the 335i coupe seemed to drive better and had a stiffer body.