645 cab and coupe...55 competition? Observations

[RJC]

Just returned from the local BMW store, they had 3, 645 coupes and 2 cabs. My impressions are as follows: The cab just does not look good, period. "The rear view looks almost like a new solara or lexus sc" my girlfriend commented, I agreed. The side profile looked bland, all with the top down. The car without the optional rims looks the worst. The interior unless in black is mutli colored with a black dash and black cutouts in the door panels no matter what other color you get...just doesn't look refined. The quality of the material in the dash, console etc are very good and the doors close with a better thunk than the 209's; 208's still sound the best. The car is BIG and seems to dwarf a CLK. There is a $20,000 market adjustment over MSRP on the coupes!!! The MSRP sticker on the cab was about 82 without the sports package and 74 on the coupe with it. The coupe looks so much better IMHO and looks best in black with the 19's. I was invited back to drive them all and will do so soon. BTW, they had an all black 545 sport and although I've never really liked the new 5 this car looked great especially in black. The price of the 645's are clearly in 209 55 territory, I think the 55 is the way to go as the 325hp v8 in the coupe although very sophisticated cannot hold its own against the mighty, albeit larger (4.4 vs 5.4) AMG engine. The salesman saw my Black/Stone 500 with all the windows down and said he loves the pillarless look, he wishes BMW still offered it. Beleive it or not there were two new(2003) SL 500's taken in on trade for 645 cabs...I think must have been to gain a back seat while having one of the latest german cars out. MB really has nothing too much to worry about in the coupe and almost nothing in the cab and once the 209 gets the updated dash,centerstack,18's, quad exhaust, sport wheel, dvd nav and all the other goodies for 2005 MY there will be even less for them to worry about.

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[shoes]

I agree with your assessment of the 645. From the front, it is not bad, but from the rear it is a horror show. How did they make the exterior so large and the interior so small? That is a trick.

Seems to me that Mercedes has much better offerings all around the price of the 645. The CLK500 is a good cruiser for much less money. The CLK55 is a better performer and the SL500 is the finest convertible/coupe in the world.

[RJC]

Yes, from the front the car did look good but it's outside dimensions are just too big. It's funny when BMW did the 8 series it was reported to be too big, too expensive, its interior dimensions were too small and it was not a great performer. The new 4 series coupes should be a nice size as they're supposed to be larger than the current 3's and from the pictures I've seen so far look pretty darn nice, the M version is supposed to have a V8; for an alternative to clk's that might be the way to go. Maybe BMW thought the 6 would be an alternative to the CL's but the CL is a much plusher car in standard trim. The new M6 should be a very good performer for a big price but compared to the CL 55's it might make sense???