[SouthernBoy]

I now have about 4,500 miles on the new 2014 650i M-Sport Convertible. This is sort of an upgrade from the used (never titled) 2013 650i Individual in Brilliant White with Amaro Brown Full Merino Leather. That one was in the Detroit Auto Show, was driven by a BMW marketing executive for 6,000 miles, and had an exposed side airbag and the dealer did not want to proceed with delivery until they fixed it (and they tried to get the parts for 8 weeks with no luck or timeline as to when they would be getting them), so for $5k more, I got a brand new 2014 650i M-Sport Convertible in Alpine White. $88,000 for a car that costs $104,725 MSRP! Deal of the century?

Impressions:

Digital Tachometer - I really like the new digital tachometer on the 2014 model better than I did during the very brief delivery of the 2013 model. I know many of you will tell me that the manual dials are so much better, more classic, and make the car more of a BMW. Whatever! Get over it! They look fantastic and remind me of the BMW i8's tachometer. Dealer says it saves weight. I say whatever; it makes the car look more futuristic.

Exhaust Note - The exhaust sounds excellent (started sounding good after about 2,000 miles in Sport + with the shifter knocked over to the left)! Very throaty, mean, and expresses the power of the 445bhp V8 letting other cars know who's boss. In the 2014 M-Sport model, there is no need to tune the exhaust let alone do a cat-back. It does sound better than the previous year model did, although that one was non-M-Sport. I guess you could upgrade the exhaust if you were mad and wanted to attract cops.

Ceramic Controls - They're nice. They came with the car since it was already on the lot. Not much better than the standard controls.

Bang & Olufsen Sound System - Not recommended. Not worth the extra money, although it already came with this. I have some of the best sound systems in my houses, so I know good sound when I hear it. Heck, even my cheapest Polk calibrated studio monitors that are 10 years old sound better than the B&Os. I can't really speak for the base sound system in the 6 Series, but I say you're better off getting an aftermarket system put in that would probably be cheaper anyway.

Ride Comfort - Smooth in any mode, although Sport and Sport + are a little jerky on shifts. As long as you drive consistently fast in Sport and Sport+, it's fairly smooth. You can thank the V8 for that!

Steering Feel - Near Perfect! There is a significant difference from last year's model and the 2014's steering feel. I also noticed a huge difference on my 2012 F30 versus 2014 F30 in steering feel. I'm sure BMW has been busy working on the electronics to improve the feel, but I'm sure one of you guys out there can clarify what they've exactly done.

Adaptive Full LED Lights - They're nice. Not much different in terms of distance visibility than the Xenon lights on my 2014 F30. I can't tell that they actually light up the road "further" than the Xenons. Upgrade not recommended.

Fineline Oak Wood Trim - Can't really see the swirls in the wood on this unless it's very bright outside. It might as well be black. What I can say is that it looks significantly better than that Brushed Aluminum trim or even that Carbon Fiber trim I see on other models. I know many of you think it makes the car look like a Chris Bangle 90's car, but I think it makes the car look less cheap.

Navigation - Very speedy especially when zooming the map in and out. I know they've upgraded the hardware and changed the OS I think, but I can see how they managed to make the graphics "appear" speedier. They keep the large rectangular sky on top static in birds-eye view while the map changes depth. A trickery of sorts.

That's all I have time for.

Ask me anything!