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BMW 6 series E63: to be urgently rediscovered

BMW 6 series E63

“The demonstration nevertheless remains breathtaking in many respects and, in particular, those who have had the chance to practice the V8 versions on a daily basis will be able to confirm all the virtues of this series which is somewhat forgotten at present”

Will you believe it? The most controversial GT in BMW history turns twenty this year. With the 7 E65 series, it embodies the climax of the Chris Bangle era at the head of Munich design and it is perhaps difficult to remember the violence of the controversies which accompanied the launch of this model, which marked the return of the firm with the propeller in the segment of large prestige coupes. Eager at the same time to erase the failure of the 8 series and to collect the legacy of the glorious E24 , the first 6 series of the 21st century had not chosen the easiest path to achieve its ends, its physiognomy pushing iconoclasm to the point of provocation. At the time, many people vilified her and launched into excessive imprecations, promising her — among other pleasantries — a difficult aging. While passions have long since calmed, the time has come to re-examine his case... 


An anthology of provocation 

Frankfurt Motor Show 1999. On the BMW stand, a prototype with unusual proportions and a divisive design is the talk of the town; the least we can say is that they are not all friendly. The Z9 Concept wasn't designed to simply occupy space or stir up controversy; nor is it one of those more or less extravagant models that certain manufacturers exhibit in two or three shows before destroying them or putting them away out of sight, without them knowing the slightest concrete serial translation. On the contrary, the Z9 is an aesthetic manifesto intended to prepare BMW customers for the revolution it prefigures and fairly faithfully announces what the Munich cars of the coming century will look like. Given the violence of the shock, such precautions were not superfluous: Chris Bangle, who had taken over as head of the Munich design studio seven years earlier, was then in charge of implementing a real intellectual scramble aimed at exiting the Bavarian firm of good classicism in which it has been humming for too long, at least in the eyes of its directors! 


Dassliche Entlein

Faced with the irresistible rise in power of Audi - which, in less than twenty years, has changed its status and has, through great struggle, invested in the so-called premium segment -, combined with the offensive of Mercedes-Benz, whose range extends in all directions with, admittedly, varying fortunes, the Bayerische Motoren Werke has deliberately chosen to shock the bourgeois by deviating from the carefully marked paths on which the successive generations of its different ranges have been frolicking since the Neue Klasse of 1961. No more gentle developments and measured innovations; from now on, modernity not only asserts itself but it must also surprise, offend, take the risk of displeasing, even scandalizing. In this respect, Bangle will be served by being the subject of one of the very first cyber-harassment campaigns (even if the term does not yet exist) when the 7 E65 series appears, in 2001. At the time , petitions are circulating to demand the resignation of the stylist, accused of perverting the BMW style which has become, according to its detractors, heavy, emphatic, vulgar, baroque ugliness and unnecessarily provocative. Two years later, when the new 6 series was unveiled at the 2003 IAA, it was an understatement to say that the passions had not subsided. Closely derived from the Z9 concept car , the new coupe dismayed a large number of observers and in turn became the target of more or less scathing jokes.


Those were the good times (but we didn't know it)

Obviously, two decades later, when we look at the current 8 G14 series - whose unnecessarily tortured style, pathetically aggressive, would allow it to win the palme d'or at the sheet metal festival without a shot if the latter existed — the E63 suddenly seems shy, wise, almost innocuous from certain angles. In 2023, time has erased the controversies, put criticism into perspective; the look that everyone casts on the car comes out as softened. However, the audacity of Adrian van Hooydonk, who designed the car under Bangle's rule, remains intact when we remember the BMW style and, more broadly, the automotive landscape of that time. Certainly, the Hofmeister dropout has survived and continues to haunt the profile of the car but, for the rest, the 6 series returned from the dead (the E24 coupe having left the catalog fourteen years earlier) really needs the nostrils of grille and propeller logo to certify its connection to the long history and traditions of its manufacturer. Because this is almost all that remains of the landmarks which for so long reassured a clientele that was undoubtedly more conservative than one might believe. With its haggard cetacean expression and its rear trunk – without a doubt the piece of bravery of the machine – seeming to have been placed by mistake on a surprisingly rickety third volume once the trunk is opened, the E63 seeks neither consensus nor a patent of elegance; it is with vehemence that it rejects all classicism and, in the columns of Rétroviens , Paul Bracq – author of the E24 – will not hesitate to stigmatize its attributes. 


It's one of the best (but don't repeat it) 

Much less provocative inside, the 6 series does not take long to reassure the enthusiast when he decides to take the wheel: we are indeed in the presence of an authentic GT such as BMW knows how to design and whose none of the available engines disappoints, including the entry-level 3-liter six-cylinder, which already powers this long and heavy body with great dignity. Ample up to its task, the chassis will however delight lovers of trans-European touring more than inveterate trail riders; as its size indicates, the car is neither a 911 nor an M3, even if it is more enterprising than an 850i on winding routes. The demonstration nevertheless remains breathtaking in many respects and, in particular, those who have had the chance to practice the V8 versions on a daily basis will be able to confirm all the virtues of this series which is somewhat forgotten at present, including in its summit version — we named it the M6! Dating from this era when the V10 engine was fashionable for road cars (they were also found at Audi or Volkswagen), the car remains impressive to observe in motion and, above all, to drive. Of course, the raw data from its technical sheet has become commonplace at a time when any roller hair dryer is capable of offering twice as much power but, in absolute terms, 507 hp which neighs just as nicely , it remains an inexhaustible source of pleasure, especially since, like the other variants, the car exists as a convertible... This, as summer approaches, should make more than one enthusiast think enlightened. Who would've believed that ? Very accessible these days, one of these days the E63 will end up becoming a great classic!

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