The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday M arch 1, 2006 - 13 The joy of 6 BMW 645Ci takes the art of driving to new heights ByJoeKnycha In my mind's eye, among the most beautiful cars ever built were the BMW 6 Series coupes of the late 1970s and '80s -- the 630, 633 and 635. These elegant, low profile, upmarket cars symbolized unsurpassed automotive design and engineering excellence in their day. They offered a spacious, comfortable interior with 6-cylinder performance and the kind of ride and han dling for which BMWs are known and revered. When production ended in 1989, more than 86,000 units had been sold worldwide, making it the most successful coupe in the company's history. Flash ahead 15 years and BMW has brought back the 6 Series. On looks alone it stands to surpass the original 6 Series cars in buyer popularity. The new coupe is once again strikingly beautiful and elegant -- a work of art on wheels to these eyes, albeit in a softer, less angular body style. That's not to suggest the car itself is softer than its pred ecessors. In fact, under the skin it is a more purposeful per former than the originals, displaying the characteristic BMW traits of powerful, sporting performance: a taut ride, crisp handling and strong, purposeful braking combined with a refined, comfortable and luxuriously appointed inte rior. Few cars in recent memory have elicited the kind of amorous reactions and declarations of lust from people wherever it went. On a recent tour of the Maritime Provinces, where I spotted not a single other 6 Series over 10 days and several thousand kilometres of driving, people everywhere felt compelled to comment on the 645Ci's voluptuous lines. Not a negative word was heard. "That's the most beautiful car I've ever seen," professed one young man at a Prince Edward Island filling station, the first of about a half dozen such breathless declarations voiced by strangers during the trip. A woman in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia^asked would I take her away with me. I'm pretty^sure she was joking. BMW has a long tradition of commissioning "art cars" whose exterior panels are adorned by some of the world's most renowned artists. The new 6 Series requires no such embellishment, being an artistic rendering in and of its own design, though it seems inevitable that at some point an artist will be asked for posterity to leave his or her mark on one, if for no other reason than to carry on the tradition. There's more than art at play here. The 645Ci is a serious road car possessed of ample power, a finely tuned ride and uncanny steering through BMW's unique Active Steering technology. It is equally well suited to long distance cruising as to joyfully carving through the serpentine two-lane roads found in abundance throughout the Maritimes. A magnificent 4.4-litre V8 engine drives the rear wheels, making 325 hpat\6,100 rpm and 330 lb-ft of torque at a rel atively sedate 3,600 revs, able.to propel the 1715 kg (3,780 lb) 645Ci to 100 km/h frcim zero in a scant 5.6 seconds with the standard 6-speed jnanual-shift gearbox. (For the 2006 model year, the 645Ci becomes the 650i in coupe and cabri olet formats, with a new 4.8-litre V8 that makes 360 hp and 360 lb-ft of torque, up 35 and 30 respectively. Prices start at $101,500 for the coupe and $111,500 for the convertible.) Beyond its smoothness and all-round drivability, the sounds that emanate from the dual exhausts will easily cap ture the heart of any motoring enthusiast. A low-pitched rumble builds to a throaty-roar as revs rise, creating a desire to drive with the windows down whenever possible and to seek out highway underpasses and tunnels that amplify those bellowing, robust notes. C ontinued on page 1 5 ny Detail Pad with this oou| E X P IR E S A P R IL 2 8 , 2 0 0 6 S P R U C E U P Y O U R V E H IC L E , A N D G IV E IT A F R E S H V . C L E A N A P P E A R A N C E B O T H IN S ID E A N D O U T G L E N L E V E N 'S F U L L IN T E R IO R D E T A IL A N D ^ S H A M P O O W H I C H IS F O L L O W E D B Y A H A N D W A S H G L E N L E V E N 'S F U L L D ETAIL, PLU S m A H IG H Q U A L IT Y P A IN T R E C O N D IT IO N IN G C O M P O U N D A P P L IC A T IO N A N D H IG H S PEED B U F F IN G . R E M O V E S M O S T FIN E P A IN T S U R FAC E SC R A TC H E S , O X ID A TIO N , S C U FF M A R K S A N D B LE M IS H E S . REVITALIZE Y O U R V E H IC L E S 'S P A IN T A N D A P P E A R A N C E . ROYAL W TORONTO \ AND 403