RE: BMW M6 Competition Pack: Driven (briefly)

[mr2j]

What is point competition pack?

[toppstuff]

Webber3 said:

toppstuff said:

A nice car, the M6.

Staggering discounts available, which make it very attractive IMO.

Not sure of the point of the competition pack, however.

What sort of discounts?

There is a nice sub 2000 mile car at a BMW dealer on Autotrader you can probably pick up for low £60's. Thats £40k off !

[JonathanLegard]

Nice pedalling, Graeme.

[jason61c]

Are you saying you can really feel the extra 15bhp in a two tonne car? Whats that percentage wise, less than 3%? Also bmw quote the lightest weights possible so without leather etc etc.

[Kong]

kambites said:

I'm sure it's very well executed, but it does seem to be rather self-contradictory. Would anyone really buy such a huge, heavy barge of a car then want the suspension set up for hurling down a track or twisty back roads? Surely if you want to do that sort of driving, the M3/M4 will simply be a better car for it?

Because people buy cars for lots of reasons. The competition pack is obviously aimed at people who primarily want a GT car but who is also partial to a hoon from time to time.

[R400TVR]

Give it a proper V8 exhaust note, strip out all the electronic overlords and unnecessary gadgets, brace it then give it a proper gearbox then its worth the competition tag.

[Palmball]

Kong said:

kambites said:

Would anyone really buy such a huge, heavy barge of a car then want the suspension set up for hurling down a track or twisty back roads? Surely if you want to do that sort of driving, the M3/M4 will simply be a better car for it?

Because people buy cars for lots of reasons. The competition pack is obviously aimed at people who primarily want a GT car but who is also partial to a hoon from time to time.

Yep, for precisely the reasons that Kong says, it is the absolute perfect car for my daily requirements.

I recently changed my SLS for an ex-demo 2012 M6 and thought it was an outrageously good car, even after stepping out of the Merc. In fact I loved it which surprised me somewhat (well, for the couple of months I had it!). If I was being über critical, the only faults were the weight when pushing on (which yes, you can feel), steering weight and feel and, whilst the brakes do work well enough, thats as kind as I can be. Otherwise, an extremely well (over?) engineered car that feels unbreakable, superbly refined and with eye-popping performance. Gearbox in particular is a revelation (especially after the Merc).

My dealer has just done a very silly deal on a new Competition Pack however I'm under no illusion that even with circa 20% discount the depreciation will still be somewhat painful. Competition Pack promises to deal with the steering feel issue and I've specified ceramics to deal with the overworked brakes, both of which should address the very few aspects that I thought less than perfect.

I totally get that this big boat isn't everyones cup of tea (cars of this ilk always get a poor reception on the likes of PH) but I personally get more daily pleasure out of it's all-round competence and refinement, which is combined with an incredible amount of thrust, than I would out of a driving something that most would deem more typical (or widely acceptable) at this price point. I traded my current car in a couple of weeks ago so am smoking around in an e39 M5 that I won on eBay until the M6 arrives in September. Whilst I struck reasonably lucky with the M5 (with only my fussiness forcing me to spend on it!), I'm very excited about the new M6 and am encouraged that CH has acknowledged the improvements that BMW claim.

[oilspill]

Schnellmann said:

The extra 15 bhp means an increase of not even 3% over the normal M6. I doubt that such a paltry increase is noticeable, although hats off to anyone who really is sensitive enough to pick up on it.

Didn't the stig get one of these to go faster in standard form than ego'd up?

[405dogvan]

em177 said:

405dogvan said:

"What's wrong with White - it's very popular and this car is available right now"

erm...

Surely that's a fairly standard reply to a stock car presumably sitting in the showroom?

A manufacturer who prides themselves on offering a bewildering range of cars and an even more bewildering range of options on those cars should not, really, be challenging someone's desire for a car which isn't in the same colour as every other one on the road, should they?

"It's very popular" may be the reason he didn't want it - or it could just be because White is generally a fking awful colour to put on almost any car - I can probably list the number of cars where I'd take a white one ahead of other colours on the fingers of one hand - perhaps even missing a finger or 2...

[moreflaps]

Must be hell of a sensitive driver to notice a <3% increase in power as a big jump in performance...

[Schermerhorn]

ste looking wheels.

[chelme]

R400TVR said:

Give it a proper V8 exhaust note, strip out all the electronic overlords and unnecessary gadgets, brace it then give it a proper gearbox then its worth the competition tag.

So,in other words, build an entirely new car ;-)

[jason61c]

moreflaps said:

Must be hell of a sensitive driver to notice a <3% increase in power as a big jump in performance...

I'd go for creative journalism

[lordgibbness]

http://images.pistonheads.com/nimg/28153/The_Compe...

Is it just me - or is the power curve in that PDF really aweful for an M car?

Peak power 1200rpm (or 1500rpm with the standard car) before the redline - then it just flatlines!

Now, I'm sure that's just been drawn by a computer, rather than a car on a RR - but still that must be the most aweful top-end I have ever seen.

I love the fact in my E46 M3 I have increasing power all the way to 8200rpm! But I suppose this is V8 turbo power for you...

Rob.

Edited by lordgibbness on Tuesday 30th July 16:01

Edited by lordgibbness on Tuesday 30th July 16:01

[Mr Whippy]

Schnellmann said:

The extra 15 bhp means an increase of not even 3% over the normal M6. I doubt that such a paltry increase is noticeable, although hats off to anyone who really is sensitive enough to pick up on it.

I agree. And when you see how it gets the extra grunt it's just holding onto the flat torque for a few hundred rpm longer. I doubt you'd notice it at all even if you wanted to. And given the accuracy of logging gear like a vBox you probably won't even detect it either.

Dave

[kambites]

Kong said:

kambites said:

I'm sure it's very well executed, but it does seem to be rather self-contradictory. Would anyone really buy such a huge, heavy barge of a car then want the suspension set up for hurling down a track or twisty back roads? Surely if you want to do that sort of driving, the M3/M4 will simply be a better car for it?

Because people buy cars for lots of reasons. The competition pack is obviously aimed at people who primarily want a GT car but who is also partial to a hoon from time to time.

I guess so. I'd assumed that the standard M6 was about as "focussed" as they could realistically make it whilst maintaining the GTish nature of the car. I suppose the normal M6 is softer than I'd assumed.

[Kong]

kambites said:

Kong said:

kambites said:

I'm sure it's very well executed, but it does seem to be rather self-contradictory. Would anyone really buy such a huge, heavy barge of a car then want the suspension set up for hurling down a track or twisty back roads? Surely if you want to do that sort of driving, the M3/M4 will simply be a better car for it?

Because people buy cars for lots of reasons. The competition pack is obviously aimed at people who primarily want a GT car but who is also partial to a hoon from time to time.

I guess so. I'd assumed that the standard M6 was about as "focussed" as they could realistically make it whilst maintaining the GTish nature of the car. I suppose the normal M6 is softer than I'd assumed.

I suppose it all depends on your expectations. The Competition Pack changes don't seem to make the M6 much less of a GT car but on the other hand don't exactly turn it into a BMW version of a 'Black Edition' Mercedes.

It's all marketing guff anyway, most of the things //M division sell have nothing to do with motorsport. That said the M6 Coupe(2dr) is my current favourite BMW, I was following a regular 640d today and it really is nicely styled. People say its expensive compared to an M5 but it's £30,000 cheaper than a Continental GT V8 yet has 50bhp more. If you look at it that way it's a bargain!

Edited by Kong on Tuesday 30th July 18:41

[Palmball]

lordgibbness said:

http://images.pistonheads.com/nimg/28153/The_Compe...

Is it just me - or is the power curve in that PDF really aweful for an M car?

Peak power 1200rpm (or 1500rpm with the standard car) before the redline - then it just flatlines!

Now, I'm sure that's just been drawn by a computer, rather than a car on a RR - but still that must be the most aweful top-end I have ever seen.

I love the fact in my E46 M3 I have increasing power all the way to 8200rpm! But I suppose this is V8 turbo power for you...

Rob.

No, on the contrary it makes the car epic at the top end. You have the full 1200rpm of max power rather than just at a fixed amount of revs.

Believe me, this is outrageously quick at the top end as a result and, whilst it's not the most charismatic of engines (compared to say the AMG 6.2), it is remarkably revvy for a turbo car. Don't forget that it revs a good 1k rpm more than other turbocharged engines typically do, so you get huge torque low down combined with high-end (ish) power, something people (including me before I drove one) often overlook on these M5/6 engines. Equivalent turbo engines deliver similar power but at 1k less and they stop there....not sure how that is better in terms of power delivery.

Yes, we'd all probably prefer n/a engines but that's not going to happen going forward. You could say that the flat power curve at the top is wasted because it demonstrates how artificially restricted the engine may be and as such, BMW could have delivered even more top end power as a result. Probably a fair argument, but you never really feel like you're missing any power!

[Mr Whippy]

In all the cars I've driven with flattened power curves (albeit not 550bhp+ cars) the sensation isn't what I'd call epic. It feels like the engine is broken to me.

I prefer a nice curved out peak power point. Anything flat or falling feels weird or just anti-climatic.

Dave

[R400TVR]

Give it a proper V8 exhaust note, strip out all the electronic overlords and unnecessary gadgets, brace it then give it a proper gearbox then its worth the competition tag.