Tuesday 26th June 2012

Driven: BMW M6

40 years of BMW M, embodied in the new M6 and a whoosh of twin-turbo V8

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The £93,820 asking price for the new BMW M6 is, depending on how you look at it, a right rip off or something of a steal. All depends what you compare it with really, which at first glance seems tricky. And then you start scratching your chin and, darn it, for the PHer in need of a 500hp-plus coupe and with a few quid to spend the choice is actually pretty broad.

New M6 looks the absolute business

Citing a shared turbo/tech mentalist approach, Chris Harris compared the Nissan GT-R with the M5 recently. And now the M6 is out of the blocks the Nissan has a more obvious Bavarian rival, even if the increasingly expensive GT-R - for now - undercuts the M6 by nearly 20 grand. Give it a couple of weeks and another 'revision' though...

So now it's looking a little pricey. And then you consider the alternatives. CL63 AMG? £117K. V8 Bentley Conti GT? A few grand more still. Even the more simplistic Jaguar XKR-S costs £97K.

So there you have it. The M6. It's a bargain. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is PH maths in action.

Having made the financial case, what's it like to drive?

Fewer revs, more turbos

Out with the old...
The previous M6 and its M5 equivalent walked to very much to the same highly strung V10 beat. And now, as before, the M6 shares a lot with its saloon brother. Which may or may not be a good thing.

To re-cap, though. The new M6 loses a couple of cylinders, gains a pair of turbos and 53hp over the old V10 and drives through a dual-clutch, seven-speed Getrag M DCT gearbox just like its M5 brother. That ain't all though - it also gains 140kg, offset by 501lb ft of torque from just 1,500rpm rather than the 6,100rpm you needed for the measly 383lb ft from the old car. And though you may miss that high-revving character it's hard to argue with the new M6's (official) 28.5mpg and 232g/km against the V10's 19.8mpg and 342g/km.

Quick, no dawdling Spaniards in the way!

For all its highly strung nature, though, the old M6 was pretty popular. BMW shifted nearly 15,000 of them, two thirds of those coupes. Pretty astonishing really. And quite an act for this new car to follow. Until you note that in the UK BMW sold just 25 in the last three years.

Mean, if not especially lean
First impressions are strong, though. Where the M5 almost plays it down a bit, the M6 is much more in your face. Coupe dimensions and an 82mm lower roofline help make it feel a little more compact than the M5, even if it isn't really, and the exterior, even in that insipid metallic ochre, bristles with menace and muscle. It's a seriously handsome car, classically well proportioned but bursting with intent and some beguiling styling flourishes. A fine celebration of 40 years of M too.

Stylish, opulent and full of toys in here

Given that the previous generation M5 and M6 were among the early pioneers of the multi-mode, driver-selectable programming it's no surprise to find this expanded in scope and complexity. How you respond to this depends on your tastes, but it's a clear ideological contrast to the more straightforward Jaguar XKR-S.

It does give the M6 massive reach though, the base setting a perfect everyday default. The now familiar configurable M1 and M2 hot keys at least simplify the huge number of settings - including steering, suspension, throttle, HUD and more - into on-demand preferences.

To the max
With everything up to 11 - 'Sport Plus' officially - the M6 is a very different beast, even if development boss Albert Biermann admits the most aggressive gearbox setting is only really there to cater to the "SMG enthusiast" missing the evocative thwack of skull against headrest.

Pick a mode ... any mode!

A more nuanced combination of settings mixing and matching Sport and Sport Plus according to taste achieves a more pleasing balance. But is it actually as engaging as the simpler, more honest approach of the Jag?

Variable it may be but the steering weighting never feels more informative than just that and there's enough jarring in the most aggressive settings for chassis and drivetrain to have you wonder what the point of having them might be. Credit where it's due though - the dampers do have a decent amount of travel and even on (optional) 20-inch wheels there's some vertical movement, but damped very effectively. Fluid might be going a bit far, but the ride is far from over-authoritative.

It'd be nice if the M6 let you into the picture too

Overall though the M5's aloofness and reluctance to engage is carried over into its coupe brother. Which is how you can find yourself meandering along at what seems like a mind-numbingly sedate pace only to realise that you're actually nudging three figures - mph - on a single carriageway road.

Excitement versus competence
And if that's happening, by golly, you'd want to feel just a little bit turned on by the experience.

Perhaps anticipating this, BMW laid on some time at Ascari Race Resort and the opportunity to push the M6 a little harder. But, like any lard arse, sweating in the sun, the big Beemer doesn't feel entirely happy here either.

To be fair its balance and poise are excellent, understeer well contained for a big fella and easily and predictably dialled out with the throttle and M Differential once past the apex. And if you want to play the hooligan it'll respond with huge, smoky drifts if you want it to.

Well, they were changing tyres anyway...

A two-tonne coupe will never a track car make though and, wheezing in the mid-30s Spanish heat, after a couple of laps the powertrain falls back into self preservation mode, defiantly upshifts two or three ratios and remains there at the top of the stairs, arms folded and refusing to come back down. Cue arrival at that third-gear chicane, tugging the downshift paddle but still in sixth and somewhat missing that engine braking you'd factored into the corner entry speed.

At least the brakes - optionally upgradeable to ceramics for the first time on an M - are now up to the job and a big step up from what went before.

Back in that 'real world'
In truth it's not a natural track car but having experienced the upper reaches of what it is capable of to then be denied them by pesky things like traffic and speed limits is then doubly frustrating.

Looks like fun, be nice to feel it too

In short then the M6 is a car of impressive scope and ability, little of which it'll let you sample at vaguely sensible speeds. It does, however, look brutally and unashamedly aggressive and is brilliantly cosseting and stylish inside. At which point we should probably refer you to our much discussed 640d review and leave you to figure the rest out for yourself...

 

 

 

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BMW M6 COUPE
Engine: 4,395cc V8, twin-turbo, direct-injection
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto (M DCT), rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 560@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 501@1,500rpm
0-62mph: 4.2 sec
Top speed: 155mph (limited)
Weight: 1,925kg (EU, unladen)
MPG: 28.5mpg (NEDC combined)
CO2: 232g/km
Price: £93,820 (basic list)

[Luca Brasi]

Very desirable.

[Krikkit]

Does it still have an engine note delivered by stereo like the M5?

XKR-S please, despite all its flaws and not really looking as good.

[stuckmojo]

1925kg!

Is it made out of depleted uranium?

[10 Pence Short]

Luca Brasi said:

Very desirable.

Very derisible, more like! £93,000 is a lot of money for that car.

[Captain Muppet]

Luca Brasi said:

Very desirable.

I've gone from badly wanting one (based on spending loads of time staring at the safety car at MotoGP) to not wanting one at all as a result of reading that review.

[isee]

The article is spot on. the V10 M6 I used to have was the most frustrating car in teh world for it. To get exited you had to be over 6k RPM and with the third gear topping out at 94mph it was almsot always illegal.

Looks like more of the same here albeit at different revs and different reasons.

great car on paper though

[Dave Hedgehog]

my second fav current BM after the 1M

2000kg??? (as good as)

but the main thing, 90 f**king grand, jebus, close to R8 money

[MrTappets]

How can BMW peddle electric eco-chic 'i' cars on the one hand while adding 140kg to the mass of their twin-turbo v8 coupe? It's either accident, incompetence or hypocrisy. Give me a transplanted 635 any day...

[Dan Trent]

Krikkit said:

Does it still have an engine note delivered by stereo like the M5?

XKR-S please, despite all its flaws and not really looking as good.

This is how they phrase it officially in the press information:

BMW said:

As with the cars’ performance characteristics, the aural profile of the engine
can also be tweaked at the touch of a button. In parallel with the exhaust flap
control, a sound module is used to enhance the engine’s natural acoustic
components and this soundtrack is then conveyed into the interior. The
system’s digital signal processing technology exchanges data directly with the
engine management and adjusts its output to the engine’s revs, the amount
of torque being produced and the car’s speed over the road. This gives the
driver an impressively accurate impression of how hard the engine is currently
working and of the power being unleashed, and provides an even clearer
window into the car’s responses on the road.

So that'll be a long-winded 'yes' in other words!

[TheDeadPrussian]

This and the current M5 are not what M-Cars should be...they should be exciting and ‘raw’, powerful and light(er)weight; cars that challenge and reward a driver.

I honestly struggle to think of a car I want less - especially at £93K.

[0a]

Fake engine note and fake smg gearbox shunt. The first M car I'm entirely indifferent about.

[Schnellmann]

As a new purchase the M6 doesn't seem to make much sense. 640d offers 90% of the performance, much cheaper, much better residuals, same comfort/gadgets and almost same looks. At least with the old M6 you got a special engine (although you didn't get a special gearbox!)

Still, when one comes up for sale 2nd hand in 3 years at 30% of its new price it may look more attractive. Unfortunately that presupposes that someone is going to buy it new.

[XJ40]

Schnellmann said:

As a new purchase the M6 doesn't seem to make much sense. 640d offers 90% of the performance, much cheaper, much better residuals, same comfort/gadgets and almost same looks. At least with the old M6 you got a special engine (although you didn't get a special gearbox!)

Still, when one comes up for sale 2nd hand in 3 years at 30% of its new price it may look more attractive. Unfortunately that presupposes that someone is going to buy it new.

I agree, the car doesn't make a lot of sence to me. I think as a daily driver the 640d has it pretty much covered off, and would you buy an M6 as a fun second/third car? For that money there's all sorts of more fun possibilities.

[E38Ross]

I'd much rather take the M5. People arguing about the money but it's no more expensive than its other rivals in reality and still offers blinding performance. R8,V8 vantage (or rather db9 to be honest as a 2+2) are all more expensive.

I wouldn't buy one, it just doesn't appeal like the old one to me.

[Schermerhorn]

Hang on, is that article correct? BMW sold just 25 of the E63 M6 coupes from 2009- in the UK? Really?

Mind you, the facelifted version debuted in 2010 with the F10 spec Idrive and controller if I recall correctly and I haven't seen any of those floating around Autotrader or Pistonheads classified.....

Hmmmm, interesting.

Does that mean that all M6's on the market are now out of warranty in the UK (extensions excepted)?

[Schermerhorn]

If BMW did a 2 seater sports car with exotic looks using the same engine/transmission combo, this sort of price could be justified.

Audi did is using the RS4 engine/gearbox combo to create the R8 and look at the reception that had.

I think BMW missed a trick here in my opinion.

£90,000 for a 6 series is an awful lot of money. Then again, the previous generation cost similar money when full specced up too.

I'd take a 2009/2010 spec CL63 AMG, get the same sort of performance, a soundtrack that sounds like thunder and save £50k

[Dr Interceptor]

Pending Friday/Saturdays imminent lottery win, I'd rather spend £103,000 on an XKR-S Convertible, than 90+ Grand on a Beemer.

It's a very impressive machine, but it just seems to lack 'soul'.

[E38Ross]

Schermerhorn said:

Hang on, is that article correct? BMW sold just 25 of the E63 M6 coupes from 2009- in the UK? Really?

Mind you, the facelifted version debuted in 2010 with the F10 spec Idrive and controller if I recall correctly and I haven't seen any of those floating around Autotrader or Pistonheads classified.....

Hmmmm, interesting.

Does that mean that all M6's on the market are now out of warranty in the UK (extensions excepted)?

Bit of a stupid statistic considering it ended production over 2 years ago iirc.

[Dagnut]

Why is this 140kg heavier?

Lazy engineering, they get the extra economy and reduced Co2 from the Turbo's and then off set it with 140kg of extra weight..all the Mercs are getting lighter why are BMW's getting heavier?
People complain about the GTR's weight ...this is 2 tonnes!! just ridciulous

[BarbaricAvatar]

It's alright. But i prefer the previous M6, much like i prefer the previous M5.
Wouldn't buy this if i had the money.