BMW M6 GranCoupe gets teeth

It is just about the most predictable car in the history of BMW, but that doesn’t make the M6 GranCoupe any less exciting.

BMW’s M hot house has stuffed the GranCoupe full of twin-turbo V8 engine, more luxurious interior trim, bigger brakes and a more aggressive suspension setup to create a better looking rival for its own M5 sports sedan.

With 412kW, the M6 GranCoupe will blast to 100km/h in 4.2 seconds on its way to a limited top speed of 250km/h.

Its driveline is familiar, even if the body appeal is new. Like the M5, and M6 two-doors, the GranCoupe's 4.4-litre V8 carries two turbo chargers inside its 90-degree vee angle, thumps out 680Nm and revs to 7200rpm. Domestic German agreements might have limited its top speed, but M offers a performance package that lifts it all the way to 305km/h, but that’s not likely to be offered in Australia.

It’s an engine that has taken M away from the linear, clean power delivery that once defined the brand and instead delivers its maximum torque from just 1500rpm and holds it until 5750rpm. It’s a similar story with its power peak, which the M6 GranCoupe reaches at 6000rpm and holds until 7000rpm.

The powerhouse, high-tech V8 mates to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and drives the rear wheels through a multi-disc limited-slip differential.

It’s not short on rubber, either, with 265/35 R20 front tyres and 295/30 R20 rears.

With such tiny slivers of rubber cushioning the bumps for the 20-inch alloy rims, a silken ride is not expected to be one of the M6 GranCoupe’s defining character traits.

Eschewing the vagueness that comes with most electric steering systems, the M6 GranCoupe uses the same tried-and-tested hydraulic system as is found in the M6 and the M5.

The addition of the M6 GranCoupe bumps up the 6-Series M count to three, creating an entire family of M hotrods that includes the M6 Coupe and the M6 Convertible.

With its underpinnings based heavily on the 5-Series, the M6 GranCoupe rides on a largely-steel chassis with a multi-link rear suspension and a double-wishbone front end, complete with key pieces made from forged aluminium.

With an unladen mass of 1875kg, the M6 GranCoupe still manages to attack the standing kilometre in just 21.8 seconds, while it whips across the 80-120km/h overtaking sprint in 3.6 seconds.

It stops as well as it goes, too, thanks to 400mm front brake discs with six-piston fixed calipers and 396mm rear discs with single-piston floating calipers.

Both sixth and seventh gears are overdriven, which helps it achieve the same 9.9L/100km combined fuel economy figure as the M5 sedan.

BMW is oddly quiet about the potential the sleeker, sexier M6 GranCoupe has to cannibalize the M5’s sales volumes. Insiders insist they expect the newer four-door to take some sales from the traditional M hero, but they expect it to bring a lot more new buyers across to M as well.

It’s not just a fast sled, either, with two-zone climate control air conditioning and a full leather interior, along with 460 litres of luggage capacity, satnav, a full multimedia system and BMW’s latest iDrive control knob.

One thing's for sure, it won't be cheap when it arrives Down Under. The standard 6 Series GranCoupe carries a circa $60K premium over its 5 Series equivalents and the M5 is priced from around $230K.

Thus, an educated guess places the M6 GranCoupe at around $300,000 - between the M6 coupe ($292,500) and M6 Convertible ($308,500) by the time it arrives Down Under.

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