Question and comment on the 6-series

[kharras]

Question and comment on the 6-series:

The iDrive system on the 6, will it be possible to run manual transmission with a stick shift and clutch? I haven't heard anything about it, but I don't think it's possible.

Also, I've seen some pictures of the next 6-series. Some pictures show a vehicle close to the Z9 in styling. Others show a different car, but beautiful. None look like the 5 that I saw in the British Magazine. Has anyone heard what the price is going to be?

Thanks

[bmwworld]

Good question. Maybe it will be offerred in some markets, but don't expect in the US. Just a guess, though.

[MPS]

There has been some confusion regarding the styling of the 6 series. People have been posting that there are "gullwing doors, z9 styling, etc." Actually, BMW is developing two different cars. One is the new 6 series with does NOT have gullwing doors and is more conservative looking (based on the new 7 and 5 series.) The other car some of you have been seeing around on the internet is a $318,000 BMW and DOES have gullwing doors and a new V10 F1 engine. It is supposed to compete with the New Mercedes SLR ($250,000), Ferrari 575M, Porsche GT and Aston Martin Vanquish. The 6 series will be a coupe in 2003, convertible in 2004 and M6 in 2005. The M version is currently being developed by Motorsport and regardless of low volume will emerge in 2005. It will NOT have the V10 engine (that will go into the BMW supercar mentioned above) but will have the next generation M5 engine which is still a V8 and will produce approx 450 bhp.