BMW M6 2015 Review

Luxury coupes don't come much bigger, faster or quicker than BMW's Competition Pack-equipped M6. This is the quintessential four-wheeled equivalent of one of Europe's very fast trains… In fact, look up autobahn blaster in the Petrolhedonist's Guide to the Universe and the chances are there will be a big arrow pointing to a picture of this very car.

Our LCI (mid-life) updated M6 didn't get to show one-quarter of its potential during a week tethered to yours truly. It rarely will outside its home market. It did, however, give strong hints at the mega performance that lurks under its long, wide and wonderful curves.

The once-optional (circa $12,000) Competition Pack is now standard on M6s. Included are 20-inch M light-alloy wheels, upgraded suspension and sharper steering, Active M differential, M Dynamic Mode option for stability control and a "premium" interior.

Buyers in this segment will likely appreciate that last item first… Indeed, there's no shortage of luxury in the latest iteration of the big BMW coupe. It seems almost every touch point gets double stitched soft-touch Merino leather and there's the most exquisite carbon-fibre detailing as well.

This is the cabin the M's i8 stablemate should get.

The updated M6's seats have a race bucket look but are heated and truly comfortable. Seatbelts are fixed into the driver and front passenger seat proper in the two-door, so there's no need to grapple behind you to buckle-up.

The only downside to this is the at time clunky function of the locking seat fold mechanism – it takes a purposeful hand to unlatch the seat when access to the rear seats is required and an equally demonstrative push to get it back in position.

About the only thing I could find missing on a cold Melbourne weekend was rear seat heating. DAB+ radio and Bang & Olufsen takes care of the entertainment duties and there's a certain perverse pleasure in driving around listening to V8 Supercar digital television coverage in something as potent as the M6 – even without the pics.

And potent it surely is… The M6's 4.4-litre twin turbo V8 already replete with 'adequate' kW and Nm, is further bulked up in Comp Pack trim. At 441kW, it's 29kW up over its predecessor, while peak torque has increased by 20Nm to 700Nm. The latter is artificially capped (one might suggest to keep the trannie and rear axles intact) but available from just off idle (1500rpm) through to 6000rpm.

BMW quotes 0-100km/h acceleration time of 3.9sec for the coupe. Perhaps more indicative of the car's true pace is its 0-200km/h time – 11.8sec. That's not far short of supercar territory. Top speed is capped electronically at 305km/h. BMW insiders say that unfettered it's actually closer to 325 – perfect for the Hume Highway…

At $292,600, the M6 is only topped in BMW's conventional line-up by its Gran Coupe and convertible counterparts. Although our satin white and black wheeled M6 looked enough like a stretched and bulked up M4 to fool even a couple of car-savvy mates at first glance, the price of admission is not far short of double.

Is it double the car? Not for my money. Indeed, if the discussion actually comes to the driving rather than the posing, it almost packs too much of a good thing.

Performance at this end of the spectrum may be academic in our heavily policed nation, but like it or not it's a large part of the attraction (and some part of the decision making process) when it comes to this high-dollar marketplace. As hinted at above, however, there are considerable day to day sacrifices you make for this latent performance.

Chiefly the usability of the M6 is marred by BMW's seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Like some of its genre, the price you pay for super-fast race-style changes in manual mode is an often harsh, clunky take-up away from the lights in normal traffic and nerve-wracking hesitation when parking and manoeuvring.

You get used to the characteristics of the gearbox after a few days, but inconsistency means you only get it 100 per cent right around 60 per cent of the time.

When parking I found myself hovering a left foot over the brake pedal just in case I was served up a 'lurch' rather than a 'creep'.

In traffic, the trick seems to be to get the car moving with very light throttle openings and then feed in the gas. Even in dry conditions, such is the sledgehammer torque delivery of the bi-turbo V8 that even at modest throttle openings the traction light blinks regularly. It's endearing for a day or two, but starts to get old pretty quickly…

So too the car's ride… The combination of the Competition Pack's gorgeous 20-inch wheels, low profile Michel Pilot Sports and the "modified suspension, damping and stabiliser set-up for enhanced traction" translates to suspension characteristics bordering on harsh – even in the kindest of adjustable settings. I didn't move the suspension settings off Comfort for more than a quick sanity check. You'll need a super smooth road or racetrack to need the others.

This is not a problem unique to BMW… It strikes me than given adjustable suspension is standard on this genre of car, there's an opportunity to tune a much wider span of settings to deliver a more comfortable ride around town.

Some readers will suggest I've missed the point of M6 by taking this tack. My counterpoint is that in every sporting measure (expect perhaps outright straight-line speed) the M4 is a better, more capable coupe. The M6 needs to be able to deliver huge performance and some degree of GT amenity to command relevance.

Perhaps the ever-so-slightly pragmatic nature of Aussie buyers means this is why the 6 Series has never been a big seller Down Under – even in comparative terms.

It seems locals wishing to impress with things big and Germanic tend towards Mercedes' large two doors. Be that the case, there's potentially for some reverse snobbery to come into play here – take the road less travelled, put up with the M6's foibles and there's a chance to stand-out from the crowd.