Just picked up my 650I convertible 6 hours ago. Then drove 200+ miles to Prague.



I got a Titanium Silver with Chateau, HUD, Cold Weather, Logic 7, HUD, Sport, SAT radio.

First impressions:


Car is beautiful. There were very few 6's at the delivery center. Still a rather rare car.

The Chateau with the new black interior accents is pretty racy. I like it. Has sort of the the ///M look.

The ED experience was quite pleasurable. Arrived at 9:30 AM and was told it would take an hour to get to me. We went up to the cafe where we had a complimentary coffee and a snack(don't forget your voucher). I asked for the Bimmerfest book. The BMW fellow went to a drawer and fished it out. I signed it for myself and my wife.

In about 30 minutes they called my name. A young lady(Claudia? I forget names easily) (see pictures) went through my paperwork and then spent about 30 minutes explaining the car. She programmed into the NAV some of our destinations.

Note: One destination is Prague where we are now. Several people warned me including Claudia to be very careful. We will be a target in this car for car-jackings, etc. We went directly to the hotel(Hotel Palace Praha) and parked the car in the secure garage.

Now to the car:

a. The exhaust note on the 650I is a low menacing rumble. Completely unlike my 99 540I. This car sounds mean but not really loud.
b. The 6-speed seems to have shorter throws than my 540I6 and is nice and smooth. Just a snick-snick into each gear.
c. The NAV with the HUD is great. It professionally led us from the Delivery center into the center of Prague despite the fact that my DVD (2004/2) was out of date for much of the Czech autoroutes. I followed signs to Prague at several points, ignoring the NAV. The NAV showed us going "cross-country" without any road until we joined back up with programmed route. This is simply a case of an outdated DVD. It really didn't cause a problem. When we got into the city it led us right to our hotel.
d. I kept the car below 4500 rpm, but ignored a bit the 100mph limitation they want for first 200 miles or so. At 4500 rpm the car is at 120mph. Smooth as silk. The car just accelerates with ease and strength from any speed. I'd love to take this to the 155mph limit but won't get enough miles on it to do that.
e. Convertible top is quiet but suspect the coupe would be quieter again.
f. The 650I is MUCH sportier than my 540I6. It's lower, tighter, faster.
g. This car draws attention and stares everywhere. We had people on the autobahn looking at us. At the Czech border a group of guys stared at the car while I got my autoroute sticker. In Prague, when I stopped for crosswalks, people walked by the front the car staring, pointing, and talking. This is not a car to hide in.
h. Never turned on the radio. Too busy drinking in the sounds of the car. I would accelerate up to 120mph then let off not to exceed the 4500 limit, also to vary speeds. Just plain fun. This is a one helluva a responsive car.

Well more later.

See pictures below, hot off the press.