» Kings of bling - in Iran

» A new direction

» Poseur's delight

» Kings of bling - in Iran

» More glamour, more speed

» A1 testing intensifies

» BMW changes shape

» Peugeot top Le Mans grid

» Racers hit the desert

» New Ford Focus RS on track

Today, 13 October 2008

» Watson blasts Bok jersey

» Upset Watson reacts

» Luke's comments shock Saru

» 'Springbok emblem must go'

» Ask anything, anytime

Yesterday, 12 October 2008

» Watson blasts Bok jersey

» Luke's comments shock Saru

» Noakes 'corrects' Venter

» ANC 'save' Bok emblem

» 'Springbok emblem must go'

No doubt about it. The BMW 650i Convertible must be one of the most beautiful cars on the road at present and together with its Coupe sibling, it's also difficult to decide which of the two is the more attractive.

However it has one thing over the coupe — with the hood down it takes on characteristics not too dissimilar to actress Angelina Jolie's off-the-shoulder splendour. But I have to confess that though the soft-top has that sexy character-changing ability, it seemingly doesn't handle the way its tin-top Coupe sibling does.

I know I'm splitting hairs but the absolutely precise handling qualities of the coupe are not there. It's a bit fuzzier and comes down to one matter — chassis rigidity and twist, the bane of almost all cabriolets. And it becomes even more obvious via our VBOX test equipment mounted on the windscreen, which in fact is not meant to indicate any such characteristics, but mounted as it is on plastic suction cups, it more than magnifies unwanted chassis twist-jerks evident on the 650i Convertible.

But not for one minute let that detract from the 650i's still oh-so-refined road holding manners. This comes via the 650's avant-garde suspension set-up that is as advanced as it sounds. At the front you have an anti-dive double-joint tie-bar spring strut axle in aluminium that can compensate transverse forces, while at the rear is an integral-4 multi-arm, multi dimensional axle also in aluminium with anti-squat and anti-dive characteristics. And anyway, who of the wind-in-your-hair people should truly worry one iota about cutting-edge road holding qualities when enjoying a moonlit summer's night.

Everything about the 650i soft-top is classy. However in performance terms its 335i Convertible sibling actually outperforms it in most spheres, although the same can't be said for beauty. What should be kept in mind, though, is the already great 335i engine is further assisted by twin turbo chargers that urge extra quick times from it at our oxygen-robbed highveld altitudes when compared to the normally aspirated V8 mill under the 650i bonnet. Another point to be kept in mind is the extra 170 or so kilogrammes the Cabrio carries compared to the Coupe. That's an enormous figure and mostly as a result of the extra stiffening the chassis requires to reduce chassis-flex and twist.

The Cabrio is also fitted with electronically controlled roll-over protection for occupants, which activate roll-bars behind the seats. Another feature is the specially treated sun reflective leather upholstery, which for countries such as sunny South Africa is a boon considering the high level ultra violet rays present especially at the higher regions of the country.

Some 75 500 BMW 6-Series have been sold of this much vaunted 2+2-seater in the luxury segment. Driving this splendid beast has a further feature — the amount of people who turn to give it another glance is mindboggling, just what poseurs and even the more reserved among us would appreciate.