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My understanding is the reason for not offering it is because of the class of the vehicle. The soft top is a tribute to the old money, old school luxury look of the cabriolet. The flying buttress design further emphasizes that look. Bentley, Aston, and Maserati also went with soft tops, and the rationale, I believe, was very similar. Also, I read in an interview that the average customer will be buying this car as a second, third, or fourth car in his/her current stable, so the durability benefits are also less of a concern. That may be true, but I think the classic beauty of a soft-top convertible is what they're going for. Making it a hardtop would cheapen the line by making it like a 3 Series. The 6er is supposed to be the top of the line for BMW (disregarding ///M vehicles), so it makes sense that they'd follow the choices of Bentley and Aston.
The soft-top is also lighter helping performance... something that I'm sure was kept in mind when building a car to sit at the top end of "The Ultimate Driving Machine" line.
I think like many other things around this price point, people who appreciate cars will appreciate the choice to follow the tradition of luxury convertibles you'd expect to see cruising around the south of France. I don't think financial considerations had anything to do with the decision. In the elitist mind of BMW, I think they'd hold the belief that if you think the look of a soft top is cheap, then you probably can't afford one and don't appreciate that it is a symbol rather than a choice to save money. BMW probably doesn't care too much about the person with the narrow view of hard tops are high tech and only on expensive cars .
As a 6er owner, I appreciate the attention to detail and luxury of this car as it goes beyond anything else BMW has ever done. Practicality was very low on the list when making decisions about this car (i.e. no backseat space at all). This car is all about luxury and performance. They did that brilliantly, and the cloth roof promotes that philosophy.
There's no denying that hard tops are nice as you don't have to worry as much about them - no arguing with that. That's just not the point of this car. I definitely see where you're coming from, but appearances are a big part of this car, and that trumps durability in the case of the F12.
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