2013 BMW 650i Gran Coupe Long-Term

 

You are what you drive. Except in Los Angeles, where what you drive is usually who you want to be. In L.A., first impressions count, and because there's so much expensive automotive eye candy on the street, when someone says "nice car" as you're gassing up your ride, you pay attention. It's happened to me a couple of times while pumping another tankful of premium into the BMW 650i Gran Coupe. Munich's low-slung four-door seems right at home in Tinseltown.  

After a couple of months behind the wheel of the Gran Coupe, the great first impressions linger -- I still steal an over-the-shoulder glance at that glamorous profile every time I walk away from it in a parking lot -- but the day-to-day realities are crowding in.

An 850-mile round trip to Phoenix and back via Yuma and San Diego revealed the Gran Coupe to be an exceptional grand tourer. When conditions allow, it will cruise at 100 mph with the engine turning barely 2400 rpm. Wind and road noise are commendably low, and like all German cars, it tracks beautifully in a straight line. That tall gearing helps fuel economy on the freeway – the Grand Coupe averaged 24.1 mpg on one 260-mile leg of the Phoenix trip – but the 4417-pound curb weight takes its toll in stop-start running: I've seen as low as 9.9 mpg bustling between the stop signs on L.A. back streets.

 

 To rub salt into the wound, the Gran Coupe's tank holds just 18.5 gallons and is frustratingly slow to fill. Premium unleaded is not the only thing the Gran Coupe likes to drink, either. The low oil level warning light flashed on at just 2600 miles, causing mild consternation, not just because I was traveling at 70 mph on a freeway at the time, but also because the last long-term BMW I ran (a 730d back in England in 2003) did 18,000 hard miles without me even lifting the hood.

Checking the oil is quite a ritual. You must first park on a level surface with the transmission in Park or Neutral, and the engine idling at operating temperature. Then you have to hit the menu button on iDrive controller, scroll to "Vehicle Info," depress the controller button again, scroll to the fourth icon down, and depress the controller once more. The revs will rise from normal idle speed of 750 rpm to 1100 rpm, and 72 seconds later, you'll be told how much oil to add. Ah technology…making our lives simpler. The computer told me the Gran Coupe needed a quart, which was a little worrying after so few miles. Was it simply under-filled at the factory? Is the twin-turbo V-8 an oil-burner during break-in? Or is there a more sinister problem lurking? I feel like the guy in the horror movie who's just realized that gorgeous blonde he's dating could be an ax murderer.

 

 Read more: .motortrend.com/roadtests/oneyear/sedans/1310_2013_bmw_650i_gran_coupe_update_1