It is not every day that one comes across a car which, almost instantaneously, makes one feel like breaking the bank and getting one for oneself. In this case, the new BMW 630d GT gets pretty much all the boxes ticked, with a few additions thrown in for good measure.
Story: Sarmad Kadiri; Photography: Saurabh Botre
If you’ve been following the newer designs coming from the Munich sketching board, you’ll know that the focus has been on making the cars appear more aggressive. Perhaps, the recently unveiled X7 with its exaggerated front grille is an exception. The 6 GT, thankfully, follows the sporty design direction which has been further perfected on the new 3 Series. And compared to the odd-looking 5 GT, this looks suave and athletic.
A few months ago, we reviewed the 630i GT, the petrol version of the car we are driving now, and, honestly, there’s not much to set them apart besides the badge on the boot. Sleek headlights, narrow kidney grille, massive proportions, and the stylishly sloping roof-line come together beautifully, creating an aggressive profile. The swept-back A-pillar, bold body lines and narrow wing mirrors make the design appear dynamic even at standstill. For a car of this size, it’s pretty attractive as the design beautifully disguises the long wheelbase.
Luckily, we got to test the M Sport variant of the 630d GT which has a few special design highlights such as the blacked-out slats on the front grille, sporty side skirts, and rear apron. Look closer and you’ll also notice slightly large front air intakes and beautiful 19-inch alloy wheels with M Sport brake package. The diesel variant is also offered in the more affordable Luxury Line trim, which doesn’t come with these M Sport features and rides on higher profile tyres which, I am sure, will offer an even more supple ride.
The cabin layout and features are also similar to its petrol sibling and the centre console is straight from the larger 7 Series. Our test car came with the plush beige-and-brown combination with wood and brush metal adding the necessary premium touch. The off-white Nappa leather upholstery looks classy but is a nightmare to maintain in our conditions and was already showing traces of use. Yes, you can get the cabin and seat leather customized to suit your taste. The super comfortable seats are among the best you can get in the sub-Rs-70-lakh bracket and the driving position is spot on, too.
At the centre of the dashboard and at the driver’s eye-level is a new 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system which comes with the usual Apple CarPlay and satellite navigation as standard. It also gets BMW’s gesture and voice control system that has also filtered down from the big Six. It’s a smart system which understands certain hand gestures and thus makes managing the iDrive infotainment system very easy on the go. For instance, you can simply flick your fingers in the air to control the Harman Kardon Surround Sound System. It’s a pretty cool system, once you get used to it.
There are a host of useful features that make living with the GT very convenient. Like the completely digital instrument cluster that can be fine-tuned to your liking. There are cameras all around that offer a 360-degree view of the surroundings which, along with the parking assist, is extremely useful while parking and comes in handy while manoeuvring the car through narrow roads. Our M Sport version also featured the very useful head-up display which now has full-colour projection that constantly keeps updating the driver with live information about the car and the navigation. In addition, there is a wireless smartphone charger, a soft-close door function and Isofix child seat mounts. The safety kit includes six airbags, ABS with brake assist, stability and traction control, and cornering brake and hill descent control.
The cabin is roomy and there’s more than sufficient space at the back thanks to the stretched wheelbase. As in the case of the petrol variant, the rear seats can be reclined and have a comfortable cushion attached to the headrest. The rear seat passengers get further pampered with the efficient four-zone climate control and a rear-seat entertainment system with not one, but two 10.2-inch screens.
