For all intents and purposes, the BMW 630i Coupe is the quintessential example of German engineering; after all, what would you expect if you decide to part with P 6.8-million? Be that as it may, the 630i still comes across as a cold-heated instrument of precision that won’t quicken the pulse. It’s extremely well-made and mighty capable on the road too, but these play second fiddle to the most important aspect of coupes: they have to look good. And the 630i is letdown by its frumpy looks and its dullard cabin.
Walking around the 630i reveals no real great design asset except perhaps for its squat looks. Upfront, you’re greeted by a sad face with those droopy headlights and frowning lower grille. The double kidney grille may have the proud and protruding look, but it doesn’t blend well with the rest of the front facia. Towards the sides, the 6 Series contains no character lines, no interesting bulging fender flares, nothing. It is so sleep educing, your eyes immediately gravitate to the back of the car revealing the mother of all medusas: the Bangle butt. Seeing the weird trunk line shouldn’t come as a surprise, especially since it’s already seen on the rest of the BMW range. However, for some reason, it looks even more tacked on the 630i. It’s as if the designers challenged themselves to make the 630i as ugly as possible so they sloped the trunk line. And then, they forgot about downforce so they added an upward curve for the rear spoiler and to finish it off gave Cadillac taillights. Sorry, kids—ask anyone and they’ll say the 630i’s rear just doesn’t work.
While the 630i’s sheet metal leaves a bitter taste, the interior treatment is downright bland. The 630i is a huge car, so there’s an expectation that the interior would be roomy. Alas, in classic coupe configuration, the rear seats are virtually useless. That said, it’s still every bit as straightforward as any BMW with its racy driving position and extremely logical interface; but no attempts were made to add a bit of warmth or character in here. In fact, you can easily mistake this for a 5 Series cabin with just more metallic accents. Dull as it is though, the 630i man-machine interface is top notch. The sport leather seats are extremely comfortable and supportive and the BMW M steering wheel is simply a joy to hold. The instruments are easily readable for anyone except perhaps for geriatrics because of the small typeface.
Like any other BMW, the 630i comes with iDrive which may or may not be to your liking. Personally though, the system is easy to use and this is perhaps down to familiarity with past iDrive-equipped BMW cars. In any case, the iDrive clears up unnecessary cabin clutter. Fiddling around the knob-based control reveals an amazing range of standard features most of which are driver-adjustable in one way or another: active-swiveling HID headlamps, rain-sensing wipers, dual climate control, front and rear parking sensors, a full-featured audio system with 11 speakers and a Bluetooth hands-free phone kit. Other features not integrated with iDrive, but are equally welcome are power adjustment for both seats and Comfort Access—BMW’s keyless entry and engine start/stop system.
Despite its low, squat appearance and two-door configuration, the 630i makes do with a 3.0-liter DOHC inline-6 engine. Though it pumps out a more than reasonable 272 horsepower and 320 Nm of torque, this engine loses out in a pissing contest with cars a third of its value like the Hyundai Genesis Coupe with 306 horsepower and 361 Nm of torque (P 1.85-million) or the Subaru Impreza WRX STI with 300 horsepower and 407 Nm of torque (P 2.48-million). However, once you’ve given up winning every stoplight duel, the 630i actually exhibits very good road manners that make up for its lack of straight line speed.
What’s even more amazing with the 630i is how well it adapts to any driving situation from downtown city cruising to hard cornering. Unlike say, the Impreza WRX STI, which only does the fast stuff well (at the expense of some low speed comfort), the 630i is never tricky to drive. This dual character—the capability to go from cruising to hard cornering typifies BMW engineering and it shows itself to a good degree in the 630i. In city situations, the 630i exhibits quick wits enabling it to turn in quickly while the 6-speed automatic has excellent gearing enabling it to take advantage of traffic openings. Despite its sports car appearance, the 630i has a very compliant ride: absorbing all sorts of road imperfections with ease despite its lack of active suspension (an available option) and standard run-flat tires. As the city roads are left behind and the speeds pick up, the 630i shows its Autobahn-honed shape by keeping the road and wind noise low. Once it reaches the mountainous roads of Tagaytay, it handles all the twists and turns with ease. And if you want an even sportier experience, the 630i has a ‘Sport’ button just below the electric shifter. This button allows the 630i to keep the revs higher and makes the throttle even more sensitive. In short, it provides more power to overtake those pesky buses.
Despite having the BMW 630i for just three days, we managed to cover 464 kilometers, and this high mileage figure should say something about how much fun we had with this car. Usually, if a car is this extremely enjoyable to drive, we could easily overlook the misses. However, it must be remembered that everything you find in the 630i is also in its chassis-mate, the 530i. Plus, the 530i is just as engaging to drive (especially with the sports package) and provides even more usability and comfortable at a more affordable price. This leaves the BMW 630i as the ugly duckling of the family.
By Ulysses Ang | Photos By Ulysses Ang
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