F12 BMW 6-Series Convertible – production car unveiled!

The BMW 6-Series is now officially in its third generation with the revealing of the production 6-Series Convertible at the 2010 Los Angeles auto show.

The Convertible’s hard-top sibling was also there on display as a “concept car” that’s as close to production as a concept can get.

Two engine variants were unveiled at launch – a BMW 650i and a 640i, running an 8-cylinder engine and a 6-cylinder engine respectively, both turbocharged and direct injected. Nothing new in this department – 407hp and 600Nm for the V8 which goes from 0 to 100km/h in 5 seconds, and 320hp and 450Nm for the single-turbo inline-6 which takes the car up to 100km/h in 5.7 seconds. Both are mated to 8-speed Sports automatic transmissions. The 6-potter also has an additional auto start-stop function.

The steering is an EPS system which seems to be making its way into all the new BMWs now. Drive Dynamic Control allows NORMAL, SPORT and SPORT+ suspension settings, and if you specify the Adaptive Drive option you also get an extra COMFORT setting.

Wheelbase is now 2,855mm, and the car itself has a length of 4,894mm, a width of 1,894mm and a height of 1,365mm. The vehicle is a 2+2 seater – four people in a nice cruise in the cold air up to a highland resort is entirely possible but the front two will be the most comfortable of course. Like the 5-Series, the new 6-Series is able to use rear wheel steering of up to 2.5 degrees to improve cornering as well as low speed maneuvers by improving turning radius.

With a car of this body type you’d naturally not expect much storage space. The luggage compartment stores 300 litres with the roof down, and this goes up to 350 litres with the roof back up. BMW claims two 46 inch golf bags and a business case can fit in the 300 litres.

The roof can go down in 19 seconds, and come up in 24 seconds, and because its a soft top it can be operated at speeds of up to 40km/h. The roof can also be remotely opened at distances of 1.5 meters away if you specify the Comfort Access option.

You can actually opt to keep the rear window up while the roof is down to minimize air turbulence to the rear passenger area. You can also equip the car with an optional wind deflector to further increase comfort with the top down.

The iDrive screen is 7 inches standard and upgradable to 10.2 inches with a galvanized chrome surround. BMW says the way the screen is mounted is unique to the 6-Series, which supposedly gives it a flatscreen look, which is funny considering all iDrive screens are flat.

With the new 6-Series, BMW is also introducing the latest version of its heads-up display system, which features 3D graphics and a full spectrum of colours. Curiously the press pack did not have any photos of this in action so perhaps we’ll have to try to catch it in real life!

Look after the jump for pix and the full release.

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