Celebrate The Incoming BMW 8-Series With A Sub-£5k 650i

Right now, BMW is busy testing its all-new 8-series coupe in Wales. And despite the fact the mules are still camouflaged to a certain extent, it’s easy to see that it’s going to be a handsome brute, and a fast one - even the half-fat M850i will have 523bhp to play with, after all.

But after a few options, we doubt you’ll get much change from £100,000 when buying one of these. So, if you want something along similar lines but for a considerably smaller wedge, what do you do? Allow us to present the E63 6-series.

Succeeded by the F06/12/13 generation car - which the 8-series will be indirectly replacing - the E63 was the first BMW to take on the 6-series moniker since the old shark-nosed E24. When first released it received plenty of flak for its controversial, Chris Bangle-led design, but the years have been kind to this thing. It’s quite a looker on the right wheels, isn’t it?

It’s also cheap: the earliest cars are now 14 years old, giving plenty of time for depreciation to wreak havoc with used values. The cheapest examples of the 630i and 645i are now hovering around £4000, and you can even snag a 650i for under £5000.

You will need to spend a little more for a 650i that doesn’t have galactic-spec mileage, though. This one is £7500 and has a more reasonable 85,000 miles on the clock, and while there’s a frustrating lack of detail in the advert, we do at least know it has a full service history.

Under the bonnet you’ll find a 4.8-litre naturally-aspirated V8, pushing out a useful 376bhp. 0-62mph happens in just under six seconds, and the top speed is the usual electronically-limited 155mph deal.

It won’t be as cheap to run as it is to buy, of course, and among the usual outlay for insurance, tyres and servicing, the 4.8-litre engine does have known issues associated with oil leaks to contend with. That said, the 650i is immune from the notorious coolant transfer pipe leak that can affect the 4.4-litre version of the N62 engine found in the 645i. Should you go for a 645i and encounter that problem, you could be landed with a disgustingly large bill to fix it.

What do you think of the E63 650i? Would that be the bargain GT car for you, or would your money go elsewhere? Let us know in the comments.