M6 Real world fuel consumption

[JonnoMcJoncliffe]

Looking at buying one of the cheaper 10 cylinder cars on the market. A car that I have previously overlooked.Been reading up loads and all looks good. Could someone who's driven one please tell me what the real-world fuel consumption might be? No town driving envisaged. I know what it will do if hammered, but would like to know what it might do on a gentle run. Thanks.

[JoeShaw]

JonnoMcJoncliffe said:

Looking at buying one of the cheaper 10 cylinder cars on the market. A car that I have previously overlooked.Been reading up loads and all looks good. Could someone who's driven one please tell me what the real-world fuel consumption might be? No town driving envisaged. I know what it will do if hammered, but would like to know what it might do on a gentle run. Thanks.

Had mine for about 2 weeks so far - averaging 16-17. I wouldnt say that's hard driving by any stretch, especially with the current weather conditions - mainly in 400bhp mode with the odd "M Mode" blast.

Just be aware that she will drink..........alot of fuel!

[Aeroresh]

I wouldnt get too hung up on mpg in these cars. Maybe 2 or 3 mpg less than the equivelant AMG car that's all.

Having said that the real issue is the tiny fuel tank which makes the situation appear to be worse than it actually is.

Must admit if I use my M5 regularly I do tire of fuel stops every 200 miles (or every other day!)

[contracttor]

14.5 MPG avg over 35K miles. 65/35 motorway/urban. It's not the urban per-se that kills it, it's the acceleration between stops/roundabouts.

I knew this when I bought the car so it doesn't bother me and I don't let it influence my driving style. What gets me is the 200 mile range.

I could probably get my avg up to 16-18 but that would take the fun out of driving.

ETA - gentle run maybe 22-24mpg

Edited by contracttor on Wednesday 26th September 13:19

[rassi]

I was somewhat shocked when I did a 6 km city run with a cold engine (1st, 2nd and 3rd gear only) and managed 39.5 l/100 km...

Did some experimenting and at steady (cruise control) 150 kph it was doing 13 l/100 km, which is acceptable. Accelerations brings this down very quickly.

Full tank gives a DIS readout of 500 km range, which after 2 km of city driving is down to 400 km.

Really wish that it was possible to retrofit a larger (or auxiliary) tank to bring it up to 90 litres like the E34 M5!

[JonnoMcJoncliffe]

Doesn't sound tooooo bad. It's not going to be a daily driver. It's just reasuring if you HAVE to drive somewhere, it need not be too crippling. Obviously, quite happy to pay to hear it wail!!!

Any other real-life issues?

[muhnkee2]

I use mine as a daily driver 70% stop-start traffic, 30% motorway and i average 13.5mpg.
That in itself doesn't irk me, its the stopping twice a week to fill it up that is starting to annoy me!
Apart from that its a total joy to drive, i do the team Nandos run once a week to buy team lunch, just because there is a tunnel between the office and nandos - a few blips on the throttle in tunnel never gets boring!

[contracttor]

JonnoMcJoncliffe said:

Doesn't sound tooooo bad. It's not going to be a daily driver. It's just reasuring if you HAVE to drive somewhere, it need not be too crippling. Obviously, quite happy to pay to hear it wail!!!

Any other real-life issues?

Most of what is in the E60 sticky at the top of the M Power forum applies to the M6 so thats a very good starting point.

[JonnoMcJoncliffe]

Reading through it and very informative it is too thanks.

Just looking for some encouragement to take the plunge. It's done 90k, fair money and lots of fun and a fairly unusual car too. All cars have their scare stories, including the SL AMG for example. But this is something different and I like!!

[Plainview23]

I got 24mpg doing a 120 mile motorway run by getting into 7th gear quickly and setting cruise at about 78mph.

[contracttor]

JonnoMcJoncliffe said:

Reading through it and very informative it is too thanks.

Just looking for some encouragement to take the plunge. It's done 90k, fair money and lots of fun and a fairly unusual car too. All cars have their scare stories, including the SL AMG for example. But this is something different and I like!!

So the car might be cheap to buy, but it will still have 80K car running costs. A BMW warranty is highly recommended but at that mileage there might be lots of wear/tear wriggle room. You can get a quote from www.bmw-warranty.co.uk but I think 160 per month is ballpark.

[JonnoMcJoncliffe]

I'll look into the warranty. Never been one for warranties but also never been one for buying very expensive cars either.
Not often used a main dealer either! Just like cars that have done their depreciation and can enjoy.
Certainly do look fun!!

[Truffles]

Picking mine up tomorrow. I'll try and report back, but I suspect mpg will not be greatly over 15 for the first few tanks.

[ecain63]

JonnoMcJoncliffe said:

I'll look into the warranty. Never been one for warranties but also never been one for buying very expensive cars either.
Not often used a main dealer either! Just like cars that have done their depreciation and can enjoy.
Certainly do look fun!!

Please don't take offence to this but you've come in at the start with a very valid question about fuel consumption and been fine with the response. The latter entries are a bit concerning in that you sound like you're on a budget with the M6 with little or no experience in owning and running such a car. I don't want to tell you that you're getting in too deep with a potential grenade but have you worked out 100% if this is going to be a good idea?

Fuel consumption is one thing but the costs to repair, even at an indy (youd best find a good indy who knows M6's and M5's too as its not a simple car to maintain) can be really high. There are very few cost effective alternative parts to save money by and cheaper labour rates might be outnumbered by the number of hours on the job if the tech doesnt know his way around the car.

If the car is at 90k miles you'll struggle to get a warranty unless its got a perfect history. If it has got a viable past then youre looking at circa £1.5 to £2k a year to cover it. Then once over 100k its gonna be a joke to cover. However, (sorry, its not my aim to put you off) if its not got the history to back it up, do you really want to get involved in a car thats gonna be a potential bankrupting decision? As well as the usual niggles such as sensors and software the routine things are supercar priced. Minimum cost to do all the discs and pads via an indy and parts supplier will be £1200 all in (£2000 at a dealer). Plug service is not cheap and at 90k yours will be due about now. Clutch is bare minimum £1200 at an indy (£2500 at a dealer) with your own supplied parts.

All im saying is dont be that guy who bought the M6 because it looked fun but didnt know what he was buying. The M6/M5 is actually a really reliable car, mine has been ace. But thats because i know its past and love it to death. Still, even with that love, the car has cost the warranty £9k in only 2 years. At an indy it would maybe have been £5k-£6k but it would have been out of my pocket, and thats on top of £1000 on tyres, £1200 on brakes, more on service and inspection. Oh and fuel at around 40p a mile.

If you can afford to potentially throw money at it when needed thats cool and i wish you luck. If not, leave well alone else you'll be stuck with 2 tonnes of useless metal when its broken.
Be careful, be very careful.

Any questions, just ask.

Eddie

[skeeterm5]

Listen to Eddie - his post is really sensible and just about covers the really important points.

Mine is just about to go, but mine has also cost several £k in warranty work, and to be fair to BMW they havent really quibbled about anything.

I also hit a deer in mine (jumped out onto me) and it racked up a shockingly high bill. For example, one new headlight unit (adaptive) that will be £1200 to you sir...

It is these incidental costs that burn the wallet.

S

[scoobyc]

Drivetrain warranty is the only one available once you burst 100k miles I think.

[smokey145]

I was getting about 18.7 miles to the gallon. Mainly motorway miles.

Best car I've ever owned and I miss it so much.

[JonnoMcJoncliffe]

Thanks Eddie- I'm taking it all in. But if all that was true, no-one would ever buy such a car. Also you don't know anything about my car owning past. I understand about consumer parts (Porsche clutch for example).
Many people can write many things, but it's always good to hear from people who are (were) actually owners.

[ecain63]

JonnoMcJoncliffe said:

Also you don't know anything about my car owning past.

You did say you had little experience running such a car and little experience of buying one of such value. ??????

JonnoMcJoncliffe said:

Never been one for warranties but also never been one for buying very expensive cars either. Not often used a main dealer either! Just like cars that have done their depreciation and can enjoy.

As I said, I'm not trying to put you off, just stating the obvious that some people are in denial about until its too late.

Edited by ecain63 on Thursday 27th September 17:42

[Truffles]

Truffles said:

Picking mine up tomorrow. I'll try and report back, but I suspect mpg will not be greatly over 15 for the first few tanks.

Trip computer says 19.2 from the previous owner.