Monday 29th July 2013

BMW M6 Competition Pack: Driven (briefly)

Does a 'Competition Pack' make any sense on a two-tonne coupe? Harris has three laps to find out...

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Three laps of Estoril. That's your lot. If brevity is the measurement by which we judge the confidence of a car maker's method of launching a new model, then BMW is feeling pretty casual about the M6 Competition Pack. There's an M5 version too, but driving both would mean doing 1.5 laps in each, and that just wasn't possible.

More power, black tailpipes and £6.5K extra

We also had to follow a BMW driver on the track, but luckily this was Max who I've skidded with in Sweden before, and he's commendably disrespectful to anything round and rubbery. So, he set off like a loony and I tried to work out if the M6 Competition Pack felt any different from standard.

Brief and to the point
It did. It's flatter (spring rates, dampers and roll bars) grippier, more agile and the extra 15hp brings added urgency above 5,000rpm. See the official press info here for graph-based evidence. This makes a car which can leave you a touch breathless in standard tune feel crazy fast.

I spent half of the first lap soaking up this information, but then Max pulled a large drift and I sort of did the same, and then I spent the next two laps behaving, depending on your outlook, like a man who didn't really understand why we were doing this, or a man told to do an entire lap sideways.

Mean looking 20s included in the price

The tailpipes are now stealth graphite, the steering wheel is a bit different, the M5 rides 10mm lower, the M6 doesn't and the ceramic brakes remain a £7,395 option. I suspect the best compromise for UK use would be the standard suspension and the power upgrade.

Here's a video of a nice chap called Graeme following me around Estoril. As well as being an occasional PH scribbler he's rather a handy driver.

 

 

 

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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): 575@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 501@1,500rpm
0-62mph: 4.1 sec 
Top speed: 155mph (limited)
Weight: 1,925kg (EU, unladen)
MPG: 28.5mpg (NEDC combined)
CO2: 232g/km
Price: £100,680 (£94,180 for standard M6, Competition Pack £6,500)

[davidcharles]

does anybody really take these things on a track?

[GranCab]

Can you opt for "tyre squeal" sounds through the stereo as well ? (it would save on tyre costs ...)

[g3org3y]

Like.

Grill and boot badge still seem like afterthoughts though.

[Garlick]

I'd quite like one of these, not sure why as I've never been a fan of the M6 but this looks great to me.

[rtz62]

Totally pointless car, what ARE BMW thinking?
And I'm a great fan of PH and Mr Harris, but the point of this video was......????
Still, in sure Mr H will provide better footage at some future date combined with his usual eloquent accompaniment.

[toppstuff]

A nice car, the M6.

Staggering discounts available, which make it very attractive IMO.

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

[filski666]

does that car have one of those electronic engine noise thingies like the M5? It sounds crap- like a computer game - or is it just a ste sound recording from the camera?

I would hope the real car would sound better than that - otherwise very

[Devil2575]

I like the look of the new 6 series. A lot better looking that the version it replaced.

I'm not sure I see the point of a competition pack though on what is ultimately a Grand Tourer.

[Webber3]

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?

[405dogvan]

You mis-spelled "aftermarket-looking" as "mean" in the photo captions about the wheels...

I strikes me that once-upon-not-such-a-long-time-ago, everything in BMWs (car) range had a point and a reason.

You had saloon (3 sizes), mini-estate (really a hatch at best - 2 sizes), coupe (2 sizes) and a small cabrio for hairdressers - there were proper M variants for some and semi-M variants of others and a huge and complex options list to customize those to your needs.

Now - well massive chunks of it's bewildering and ever overlapping range are just utterly pointless but within it there are still gems.

I feel sorry for BMW salesmen sometimes - they once had a simple system of "how much legroom, what kind of storage, how much handling do you want?" but now it must be like helping someone choose 1 banana from a banana boat...

If my last visit to one is anything to go by tho, they're still pretty ambivalent towards it. A customer expressed an interest in a 3 Series Coupe but said "I'd like this - it's perfect except that it's white" the salesman's reply boggled my mind

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

erm...

[405dogvan]

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?

Enough to get around our favourite case on these here forums of the £80K 6 which dropped 50K in 2 years (IIRC?)!!

[Fetchez la vache]

davidcharles said:

does anybody really take these things on a track?

Quite. "Competition Pack" due to people wanting to enter this car into a competition? I think not.

[kambites]

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?

[nathanmcauley121]

Putting BMW insanity to one side, this is IMO one car that they look to have "got right" - in terms of design and looks etc. It looks fantastic.

[chelme]

nathanmcauley121 said:

Putting BMW insanity to one side, this is IMO one car that they look to have "got right" - in terms of design and looks etc. It looks fantastic.

Really?? It looks fat and those wheels look so Max Power.

I know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder etc...

I think with all these new models and options, the range is becoming fudged and ill defined.

[Mermaid]

nathanmcauley121 said:

Putting BMW insanity to one side, this is IMO one car that they look to have "got right" - in terms of design and looks etc. It looks fantastic.

Residuals are often a good guide of how right they have got it. 1600kgs and this would be awesome.

[edo]

£30k saved for having 2k on the clock.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

[Schnellmann]

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.

[em177]

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?

[edo]

I know I will get beaten up for saying this, but having owned the previous V10 M6, the reality is the 640d is a far more usable car in the real world. As others have said, I'd bet a tiny percentage of these cars end up anywhere near a track.

I thought I would miss the M6, but I really dont and the 640d never feels lacking in the slightest with regard to moving along nicely. Ok it doesnt sound quite as good, but it picks up as quick (if not quicker if you arent in the right M mode etc in the old car).

Having said that, an M6 at 50k with a handful of miles on is a much better proposition.