BMW M6: Catch It While You Can

BMW's M6 is rarer, better built and more of driver's car than the M5 - get one before anyone notices!

Here's a funny thing. The pecking order for body styles is usually pretty clear-cut: coupes have more appeal more than saloons, which in turn are more desirable than estates. In BMW M land, however, that order is turned on its head.

So it's the M5 Touring estate that's the coolest member of the E60/E61/E63/E64 family, followed by the M5 saloon. The poor old M6 coupe suffers from a malaise of perceived naffness. I'm convinced that's about to change.

M5s were always much more popular new than M6s. Being the first of the new generation of M cars, it was the M5 that grabbed all the headlines initially. When the M6 debuted in the UK in November 2005 (with the Convertible following in September 2006), its thunder had been kind of stolen.

Does the M6 have an image problem?

And very few people were prepared to pay the £20,000 premium needed to buy an E63 M6 Coupe when it was new (or the £25k add-on for an E64 M6 Convertible). It's estimated that as few as 650 M6s were sold in the UK between 2005 and 2010 - a tiny fraction of the number of M5s sold.

Today, the M6 is often derided as ugly, brash and generally not as desirable as the M5. But I think it's time the balance was redressed in the M6's favour.

First off, it's actually a better driver's car. It's stiffer, lighter and more compact than the M5, as well as having a pretty cool party piece in the shape of a funky CSL-style carbon-fibre roof. Obviously the Convertible doesn't get this but its ragtop is pretty neat in itself, folding away in less than 20 seconds. The '6' also has a superior interior to the M5.

Mechanically it's all but identical to the M5, which is no bad thing. I fell in love with the fabulously exotic 5.0-litre, naturally aspirated, 100hp-per-litre V10 engine as soon as I sampled it and heard its soaring soundtrack. It's good for 0-62mph in 4.4 seconds (0.3 quicker than the M5) and has proven itself capable of a sub-eight time around the Nurburgring.

True, not everyone likes the SMG sequential gearbox, but you have paddles to ease the frustration that we never got a manual-box M6 in the UK (as they did in the USA, weirdly). And the DSC stability control system can be switched in three settings from 'safe' to 'sorry' to allow you various degrees of tail-out terror.

Big miles, small price - yours for just £12,990

It's also true that you don't have anywhere like the rear seat space you get in an M5, but space is generous up front and the boot is a very usable size (even in the convertible, whose closed roof doesn't impact on space).

So here's the steal: M6s are really no more expensive than M5s. The cheapest M6 in the classifieds is an astonishingly low £12,990, but then it does have an interstellar 169,000 miles on the clock (and given the typical 10-15mpg averages, I've worked out that its former owners must have spent over £80K in fuel alone in that time - absolutely terrifying). On the plus side, it does have a full BMW history.

A rather mean-looking all-black private-sale example with only 49K miles looks to be decent value at £14,999. Perhaps the best colour combo is Interlagos Blue with light Merino leather, which is what this 64K mile example has. It also benefits from having just had a new clutch and throttle actuator.

Around £18K is where most M6s are pitched. If you value peace of mind, this silver M6 comes with a full BMW warranty and looks very tidy. Convertibles definitely pack a premium, with thecheapest up for £26K, and the priciest still at £33,950.

For that money, can you think of another coupe or convertible that offers such raw pace and such a sense of occasion?

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