At $21,200, Will This 2012 BMW 650i Convertible Cruise to a Win?
The seats in today’s Nice Price or No Dice 650i offer both massage and ventilation, but it’s the availability of a phone-based infotainment system that the seller seems to think is the big selling point. Let’s see if the price makes a point as well.
Yesterday’s 1986 Nissan 200SX was an old car that a whole lot of you thought it would be best to leave in the past. According to the comments, there wasn’t enough that was special about the hatchback to warrant anything near its $7,500 asking price. That earned the Nissan an insurmountable 88 percent No Dice loss.
Let me ask you; has any BMW line had more ups and downs than the 6 Series? The first of the line, the E24 of the ‘70s and ‘80s hit it out of the park, both stylistically and dynamically. The next iteration, the 8 Series-replacing E63 was… heh, heh, a bit of an ugly duckling forever locked out of its swan-dom.
The more recent F12 was somewhat a return to form. This, of course, meant that BMW dropped it after a short run in preference for a new model resurrecting the 8 Series nameplate. Honestly, it sometimes feels like the decision makers at BMW are just throwing darts at a corkboard full of sticky notes to plan the brand’s lineup, with most of those darts landing on notes marked with an X.
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This 2012 BMW 650i fulfills the nameplate’s original grand touring vision and adds an automatic convertible top to the mix for fair weather fun. It comes with a clean title and 107,000 miles on the clock, or just a tad over 10K per year.
Per the ad, the gold paint is a rare color. That covers a car that looks to be in decent shape, although it is marred by a noticeable ding in the fender behind the driver’s door. Offsetting that, the top looks to be in solid shape and is claimed by the seller to be leak-free. The factory alloys also appear to suffer only minor wear.
Inside, things are much the same, although the red carbon fiber trim on the dash might, to some, be an acquired taste. It’s not in bad shape but does stand out noticeably in the otherwise somber black leather-clad space. The big selling point, at least for the seller, is the upgrading of the infotainment system to incorporate Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. That’s got to be a big improvement over BMW’s execrable iDrive, as long as you have a compatible phone.
Other niceties to be found in the cabin include front buckets that knead your back and buns and 360° cameras that make up somewhat for the car’s poor visibility when the top is up.
There’s a lot to like under the hood too. Power is provided by a 4.4-liter twin-turbo N63 V8 which, interestingly, is a “hot valley” design that mounts the turbos between the heads feeding intakes on the other (normally exhaust) side of those heads. For the 2012 model year, that makes 402 horsepower and 443 lb-ft of torque. Putting those ponies to work is an 8-speed ZF automatic. According to the seller, this all works without issue and the car drives “like new.”
What should a big, capable coupe like this realistically go for? Prices for 650is are presently all over the map, but the addition of the updated phone connectivity and overall presentation may make this one stand out. The seller hopes it stands out enough to get $21,200 for its sale.
What do you think? Should it go for that kind of money? Or, for that much, should this big GT just GTFO?
You decide!
San Fernando Valley, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to James Ward for the hookup!
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