Review: BMW F06 650i xDrive

[Houranimd49]

BMW F06 650i xDrive review



Before I got my 650, I was trying my best to do research on the platform and figure out if it was going to suit my needs/wants as a daily driver. It was actually sort of difficult to really find a good detailed review on these cars. My suspicion is that it’s a niche vehicle tailored to a niche group of buyers. So I figured I’ll write my own.

My background: several N55 powered cars in the past, but the seniority is granted on my 2011 535i xDrive which has been with me nearly 5 years/55,000 miles. While I will always defend the F10/N55 because it’s been so good to me, I wanted something new but also did not want to compromise whatever the F10 offered.

I’m by no means a writer and I will do my best, but I thought I’d offer a more formal and objective review on my experience, and I’ll also compare it to my F10 for those who are looking at both or want to upgrade.

Straight Line Driving and Cornering

No doubt, this is a big car. It’s a little wider and longer than the F10 and you can feel it… until you get moving. The size of the car tends to shrink the faster you go. My F06 has dynamic handling control. There is a difference that can be felt between the modes. This is new for me as my F10 did not have it.

-Eco pro: the suspension feels “normal,” absolute dulled response of the throttle. You could floor it and it feels like 50% throttle. But I did notice an average 24mpg highway when using this with 50 miles of driving.

-Comfort +: car feels “floaty” on bends and turns. Good for long drives with straight highway cruise control where there really aren’t many bends in the road. This mode actually felt more like the F10 to me regarding turns/bends and straight-line cruising.

-Comfort: basically just “normal.” Not as boaty feeling, good for everyday driving and even fine on bends. Throttle response is “normal.”

-Sport: I can’t say that the car’s suspension is stiffer. But I can say with confidence that if you’re looking to take the car on backroads with many bends and/or want to hit that highway on ramp with a short or long sweeping bend to it, use this mode. My God. Glorious. Throttle response is much more sensitive. Use in combination with shifter in M/S for more fun.

-Sport +: not too inclined to try this and I haven’t yet. I probably won’t ever use it.



Acceleration

I’m sure you’ve heard, read, or seen by now that the N63/tu is a beast of an engine. I won’t put too much here. But it is glorious.


Braking

Given that my car is purchased second hand, I have no idea what brand rotors and pads are on the car. But I can tell you the front rotos are cross drilled which when referencing realoem.com, I don’t think those are factory spec rotors. Nonetheless, pedal feel is good. There is a decent initial bite but I do need to push into the pedal to really get some decent braking in. Which personally, I am fine with this. I don’t like over-boosted pedals and I don’t like “under-boosted” so this is good balance. My F10 is about the same but those have Zimmerman rotors and Akebono pads all around.

Interior

My car has every option except massaging seats. Leading into the topic of seats. I have to say, my F10 seats are much more comfortable, plushier, and seem to cater to the way my posture is when I sit in a car. So that’s a minus one for the F06. But that’s not to say the F06 seats aren’t comfortable at all. I think I could handle a several hundred-mile drive just fine in them.

Interior quality is overall a definite step up from the F10. I have ceramic controls in my car which I never thought I’d ever care for, but they do make a difference in the look and feel of the interior. The Alcantara headliner is an important detail which absolutely adds to the premium look. Some minor interior gripes include no “oh shit” handles in the roof. The F10 has a small compartment under the headlight switch which was perfect for me to keep sunglasses and cleaning cloth. F06 doesn’t have that so I miss that. I feel that the leather probably won’t hold up as well compared to the F10. My F10 has black nappa leatherette which has held up from any tears or wear even at 110,000 miles. I bought my F06 second hand with 85,000 miles and there is some wear evident on the drivers side. It is what it is. I also noticed the dash on the passenger side by the windshield is peeling back. I guess a common issue on these.

All in all, the interior is a premium place to be.



The Exterior

I think this is totally subjective. For me, it’s a gorgeous car. I can’t find any other word to describe it. The F10 I always called “handsome.” But the F06 I describe as gorgeous. Every F chassis 6 series I have ever seen has always caught my eye. It’s one of the reasons why I wanted one. LED headlights I think make the look of this car be as beautiful as it is. But I find that the distribution of light isn’t as good as the bixenons in my F10. Automatic high beam control is nice to have but I also find it a little annoying because I want it to read my mind (it’s a me problem, I know) – I’d rather control the high beams myself.



The Tech

I was never really a huge tech person to begin with but there are definitely a few things that I now can’t live without. The top view camera is imperative on a car of this size. Helps me park this thing perfectly. For the first time, I have cooled seats. I haven’t used them yet because it’s been cold here but I anticipate that I won’t live be able to be without them in the summer. HUD is sort of useless to me. Never cared for it. iDrive is fine, but what irritates me in this version of idrive is that to check the oil I now I have to park the car and wait for it to measure it, vs in the CIC version you could check it while driving as long as the engine was warm. The side view cameras could be useful when you need them.


I wanted to make a separate section for the active cruise control function. My first time owning a car with it. I must admit, I find it kind of annoying. Even on the “closest” setting, the car brakes quite early. I could cruise at 80mph and here in Michigan, our wonderful, selfless drivers will cut in front of you (and then get mad at you for reacting) and the F06 slams on the brakes very early (drivers here tend to tailgate). I think ACC is more suitable for long drives/road trips. I used regular cruise control in my F10 just to control my speed because I tend to not pay attention to it. But now I must be more conscious.



Practicality

Given that it has four doors, there is a good level of practicality. The rear middle seat appears useless, I haven’t tried it and I don’t think I will. The trunk is quite large and the rears seats do come down if needed. For me, I have my wife’s X3 (and of course, M sport N55) if I really, really need space.

The Misunderstood

-lack of power tailgate trunk. My F10 has it, and I’ll miss it. They say it’s because of the rear view camera location. That’s fine. I use my camera more than the trunk anyway.

- crappy reverse lights. I switched to a high-quality LED that I had on my F10 which could light up a whole driveway. Useless in the F06 because of the way the bulb sits inside the housing.

-sunroof only tilts. Which is 99% fine because I only ever tilted in my F10. I suppose BMW could have had the sunroof open over the roof, but I’m not an engineer.

-no oh shit handles to assist with getting in and out of the car.

-I did appreciate the roof rack attachment on the roof on my F10 for my bike. But I can’t complain. It’s common sense the sloping roofline isn’t really conducive to placing anything on the roof.



Maintenance and Gas Mileage

I haven’t owned the car long enough to make any comment on maintenance. I changed the oil when I first got it, but that’s all. So far, I haven’t had any oil consumption (knock on wood). Gas mileage is highly dependent on how you drive the car. My own little experiment involved driving on strictly eco pro and getting 24mpg averaged on a single trip that had 20% city 80% highway, driving 75mph. But leaving it on Comfort or Comfort+ on the same route might yield 22mpg average. But if I drive the way I do (which consists of occasional passing at 50% throttle, occasional hitting the on ramp with 50-80% throttle, and overall driving 75-80mph) can yield 18mpg average. I use Shell 93 octane, too.



Overall Impression

Without comparing it to my F10, the F06 650i is a dream to drive. It’s a great place to be in and it’s gorgeous to look at. Comparing it to the F10, it’s a step up in the game and you will notice the difference in quality. The only real difference to me was the seats in the F10 feel plusher and more fit to my body (I am 6’0 and 190lb). Some have stated the F10 has more room up front to sit in. I disagree because the F06 feels roomier. It is wider and longer after all.



10 years ago, a member on the forum who goes by BMWrules7, stated: “It’s got pizzaz and it screams ‘I am successful.’ But, if you scream ‘I am successful’ every day, even your own mother would tell you shut up at some point.” I largely agree with this. I haven’t driven the car as much as I could have because regarding appearance, it is a “loud” car. You will get noticed. You will appear successful, maybe more than you are (if you use money and/or job title/profession as a measure of success). If you are anything of a humbled human being, you may feel guilty owning the car even if you worked hard and earned it. Maybe you found one that’s in a reasonable price range but very well taken care of (like in my case). It’ll look like you spent $40k for it even if you only spent $20k. But give it some time and you will get over yourself. Do what you want and don’t worry about how everyone else looks at you.

[Staszek]

Great review, have some of the same little issues as you but overall love my car. Please post a pic.

[Qsilver7]

Ditto…nice write up. But you may want to edit the interior info about your f10. You wrote ”My F10 has black nappa leatherette”…but Nappa is the 2nd highest grade leather that BMW offers (right below Merino). So it can’t be “leatherette” (faux leather). The F chassis BMWs in the US market were offered from low to high:

• Sensatec (faux leather…aka leatherette)
• Dakota leather (the lowest grade embossed grain leather coated with a protective synthetic polymer paint)
• Nappa (a full grain, un-split, semi-aniline leather with a light clear protective coating)
• Merino (a fine grain natural leather with no “artificial” protective coating applied)

Also, the ventilated seats option is a much discussed topic. The cushions used in the ventilated/massaging seats are FIRMER than the cushions used in seats that don’t have these features. The additional firmness is needed to prevent the mehanicals in the seat from being felt by the passenger.

Be aware that the seat are NOT “cooled”…but ventilated. They are not designed to actually blow cool air on you…they are designed to help keep you comfortable by evaporating moisture/sweat. On hot days or even wet days in the fall/winter/spring…the ventilation feature can help keep you dry or help keep you comfortable by keeping moisture/sweat at bay by circulating air through the seat surfaces and the permeable layer below the seating surface. If you’ve had a car that actually had cooled seats where air from the HVAC system is blown onto your body…the BMW ventilated seats will be a disappointment if that’s what you’re expecting. But if you realize that they are only ventilated and are designed to help prevent swamp a$$ by preventing you from soaking your seat with sweat or moisture from rain/snow/etc…then you may have a greater appreciation of them.





Ditto, the absence of the “OH JEEZUS” handles and a power trunk…or even adding the soft close feature is a big question mark as to why these features weren’t even offered on a vehicle sold in this price class. Not sure if the peek-a-boo rear view camera is the reason for the absence of the power trunk or soft close trunk…but hiding the camera AND the absence of the shark fin antenna does add to the mystique and gorgeous sight lines of the F chassis six series. I think a lot of owners don’t even think of the missing shark fin. :

Again, all of the stuff below (along with the peek-a-boo rear view camera) is stuffed into the trunk lid:

1-Rear aerial, version with telephone aerial (TEL 1) and GPS aerial in the aerial housing
2-Rear aerial 2, version with telephone aerial (TEL 2) and DAB aerial (frequency range: L band) in the aerial housing
3-Diversity aerial
4-DAB aerial (frequency range: L-band)
5-Telephone aerial (TEL 2)
6-aerial connection
7-GPS aerial
8-Telephone aerial (TEL 1)

[Opie55]

I can feel the suspension stiffen up in sport. So does the steering. If you drive on an empty road and swerve a bit side to side - almost like race car drivers do to warm up their tires - and press Sport while doing that, you will definitely feel the steering change.

Not sure what you mean by "dynamic handling control". Do you mean active dampers or ARS/Adaptive Drive?

I've never been sure if the throttle response actually changes in Sport, or if it's just the fact that it runs one gear lower. If you manually downshift a gear in Comfort you will have a similar feel.

People are in 2 camps on the ventilated seats - some are like QSilver and think that they make a noticeable difference on hot days, and many are like me in that I can't tell if they are on or not and never use them. But I like the look of the perforated leather.

You won't miss the "massaging" seats because they don't really massage. They are way dumber than the ventilated seats and are mostly good for laughs.

[Houranimd49]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

Ditto…nice write up. But you may want to edit the interior info about your f10. You wrote ”My F10 has black nappa leatherette”…but Nappa is the 2nd highest grade leather that BMW offers (right below Merino). So it can’t be “leatherette” (faux leather). The F chassis BMWs in the US market were offered from low to high:

• Sensatec (faux leather…aka leatherette)
• Dakota leather (the lowest grade embossed grain leather coated with a protective synthetic polymer paint)
• Nappa (a full grain, un-split, semi-aniline leather with a light clear protective coating)
• Merino (a fine grain natural leather with no “artificial” protective coating applied)

Also, the ventilated seats option is a much discussed topic. The cushions used in the ventilated/messaging seats are FIRMER than the cushions used in seats that don’t have these features. The additional firmness is needed to prevent the mehanicals in the seat from being felt by the passenger.

Be aware that the seat are NOT “cooled”…but ventilated. They are not designed to actually blow cool air on you…they are designed to help keep you comfortable by evaporating moisture/sweat. On hot days or even wet days in the fall/winter/spring…the ventilation feature can help keep you dry or help keep you comfortable by keeping moisture/sweat at bay by circulating air through the seat surfaces and the permeable layer below the seating surface. If you’ve had a car that actually had cooled seats where air from the HVAC system is blown onto your body…the BMW ventilated seats will be a disappointment if that’s what you’re expecting. But if you realize that they are only ventilated and are designed to help prevent swamp a$$ by preventing you from soaking your seat with sweat or moisture from rain/snow/etc…then you may have a greater appreciation of them.





Ditto, the absence of the “OH JEEZUS” handles and a power trunk…or even adding the soft close feature is a big question mark as to why these features weren’t even offered on a vehicle sold in this price class. Not sure if the peek-a-boo rear view camera is the reason for the absence of the power trunk or soft close trunk…but hiding the camera AND the absence of the shark fin antenna does add to the mystique and gorgeous sight lines of the F chassis six series. I think a lot of owners don’t even think of the missing shark fin. :

Again, all of the stuff below (along with the peek-a-boo rear view camera) is stuffed into the trunk lid:

1-Rear aerial, version with telephone aerial (TEL 1) and GPS aerial in the aerial housing
2-Rear aerial 2, version with telephone aerial (TEL 2) and DAB aerial (frequency range: L band) in the aerial housing
3-Diversity aerial
4-DAB aerial (frequency range: L-band)
5-Telephone aerial (TEL 2)
6-aerial connection
7-GPS aerial
8-Telephone aerial (TEL 1)

Thank you for the correction! I had to review my build sheet for the F10 and you are indeed correct, it has Dakota leather.

F06 ventilated seats (again thank you for the correction) are definitely firmer. I suppose it's not a huge deal breaker. Funny you mention the the lack of shark fin, I remember my reaction when I was washing the car and drying the roof when I said to myself.... something's missing.

[Houranimd49]

Originally Posted by Opie55

I can feel the suspension stiffen up in sport. So does the steering. If you drive on an empty road and swerve a bit side to side - almost like race car drivers do to warm up their tires - and press Sport while doing that, you will definitely feel the steering change.

Not sure what you mean by "dynamic handling control". Do you mean active dampers or ARS/Adaptive Drive?

I've never been sure if the throttle response actually changes in Sport, or if it's just the fact that it runs one gear lower. If you manually downshift a gear in Comfort you will have a similar feel.

People are in 2 camps on the ventilated seats - some are like QSilver and think that they make a noticeable difference on hot days, and many are like me in that I can't tell if they are on or not and never use them. But I like the look of the perforated leather.

You won't miss the "massaging" seats because they don't really massage. They are way dumber than the ventilated seats and are mostly good for laughs.

When I said dynamic handling control, I was referring to the toggle switches by the shifter so you can switch from sports to comfort, and eco Pro. I took a peek at the shock absorbers, and they have an electric connection to them so altogether I figured the car has "dynamic handling." If I'm wrong please correct me.

So I experimented with the throttle. As you know, putting the car in sport via the toggle switch will drop down a gear. Or, if you leave the car in normal or comfort and shift the gear lever to the left, the car drops down two gears. I noticed that if you only leave the gearshift in M/S with the toggle switch in comfort or normal, the car does not downshift as quickly when you stab the accelerator as it would if you had toggle switch in sports mode.

If I have both sport mode and M/S active on the gear shift, the car hauls butt significantly more than if the engine was in comfort and M/S, or just all together comfort and Drive.

[Houranimd49]

Also, here’s a pic.

[Qsilver7]

The suspension on the f06 in the US market I think came standard with EDC (electronic damping control)…but over the production run it may have been called by a different name…but the SxxxA code number was the same (223). My 2013 and 2015 650ix GC’s build sheets both states the below suspension option code (respectively):

• S223A - Dynamic Damper Control
• S223A - AdaptiveSuspension

The EDC suspension is controlled by the VDM (vertical dynamics management) module…but there is also another optional damping feature that has a different code number (I don’t recall its code number) but it is the active roll stabilization feature. You’ll have to read your VIN code build sheet to determine if yo have the latter option code.

Here’s some info on the VDM module and the (223) electronic damping system:

[Opie55]

I think the different modes you are referring to are just called driving modes. All 6 series have that. All 6 series also have dynamic dampers - the stiffness of the shocks is adjusted based on road conditions. What is far rarer is Adaptive Drive. That is active sway bars that keep the car flat in curves.

[Opie55]

As for shifting, I was referring to the paddle shifters behind the wheel.

[chizzle]

Very helpful!!

[scubachris]

Originally Posted by Opie55

I think the different modes you are referring to are just called driving modes. All 6 series have that. All 6 series also have dynamic dampers - the stiffness of the shocks is adjusted based on road conditions. What is far rarer is Adaptive Drive. That is active sway bars that keep the car flat in curves.

hi..i have a 640d 2017 in the uk,,just to say ALL 6 series have dynamic dampers which adjust to road conditions isnt true...at least it isnt true in the uk with 640d...i know you guys dont get diesel 640d over there..
i changed my rear dampers last year due to leaking,there were no electrical connections or hydraulic pipes to the damper or any part of the suspension except headlight aiming module.
the damper itself is just a normal non adjusting/adjustable damper..over here most people replace the damper with a bilstein b6 damper,which again has no adjustment capabilitys.
historically in the uk we get lower spec vehicles to you guys in the states.