BMW 2013 M6 Convertible Consumer Review

BMW 2013 M6 Convertible

BMW fanboys ritually enrapture themselves over the little blue, purple, and red “M” badge that designates the brand’s hulkier strains.

But these are divisive times for the Bayerische Motoren Werkes’ in-house performance search. The 7,104 “M” cars that created their manner into US driveways last year are however a sliver of the nearly quarter-million vehicles sold annually by the German manufacturer, nevertheless the boutique sub-brand is that the sacred cow which will lead the trustworthy to believe, or revolt and demand BMW has gone Buick with squishy steering feel and soft suspension.
The M6 is all grown up, with a big, subtle drivetrain, copious bells and whistles, all the pesky baggage that comes with middle age.

The lunatic fringe passionate about horsepower-inspired horseplay stalks new model specifications with fervor, and therefore the House of M has offered no shortage of variance over the years. for example, solely the primary 2 successive M5 models possessed constant engine layout, a naturally aspirated inline-6. Since then, a V8 dominated the roost till the V10 came along, an F1-inspired screamer that was each exhausting on the ears and therefore the fuel tank. Following that, the Munich-based cult proclaimeth the longer term would be turbocharged, despite earlier guarantees against M cars with forced induction.

Thus, the most recent M6 and its ragtop variant pack constant powerhouse because the M5 sedan, a 4.4-liter V8 with twin-turbos nestled cozily between the cylinder banks for tidier packaging and quicker response. This techy, direct-injected engine pumps 560 horsepower and five hundred pound-feet of torque — that commences at a leisurely one,500 rpm and doesn’t quit till the tach approaches half-dozen,000 rpm, just 1,200 rpm back of redline.

Performance parameters may be manipulated with opt for Your Own journey levels of options: A smattering of buttons round the shifter command everything from steering effort to throttle response, transmission shift patterns, stability management intrusiveness, and suspension damping. Buttons on the steering wheel may be programmed along with your favorite shortcuts to dynamic bliss, though it takes some fiddling to optimize the mélange of motoring variables, that I discovered throughout a day with the M6 Convertible on the highways and byways outside California’s sleepy bedroom community of Santa Barbara.

Hey, watch the leather, man. Photo by Basem Wasef/Wired

The cockpit is welcoming enough, with firmish however friendly seats that, just like the drivetrain settings, don’t lack for adjustability. Sensing a trend here? Yep, aspects of this automotive are geared toward your nephew, not you, despite the restrained instrumentation (typical BMW) and therefore the cinematic, landscape-oriented nav screen that, as additionally seen within the new 3-series, sadly doesn’t disappear beneath the dash.

Unlike the M5′s artificially enhanced acoustics (which route a simulacra of engine sounds through the speakers), the M6 goes au natural with an exhaust note that’s purely gaseous — and surprisingly hushed. The canvas high incorporates a carbon fiber strengthened plastic structure for strength and weight savings, and when it’s up, the M6′s engine appears like a retiring lilly of a mill, with barely audible whooshes and low frequency hums that belie the torquey acceleration on faucet. buzzing along the within of a tunnel, lowered windows and 2 faucets of the downshift paddles reveal restrained sounds returning from behind; not till you’re driving top-down do the engine notes become incrementally additional tasty (but never overstated), with a finely modulated hum suggesting the twin-power V8 is simply obtaining started, whilst it compresses you into your Merino leather seats with mean, pushy pressure. Even in additional aggro settings, the dual-clutch 7-speed transmission shifts swiftly and smoothly throughout most acceleration runs. With launch management initiated, the M6 ragtop will gallop to sixty mph in four.3 seconds. Brakes are appropriately effective, as repeated left pedal jabs along Ojai’s legendary Highway thirty three created reassuringly robust stops.

But speaking of weight, the terribly heft that appeared to disappear during a straight line nudges back to perception when the road bends. It’s not that the M6 willn’t handle itself intuitively — it does, due to a rear axle whose subframes are rigid-mounted to the body. however with the optional 20-inch lightweight alloy wheels wrapped in 265mm front and 295mm rear rubber, the M6 ragtop carries four,508 pounds of mass to hustle along in either direction, which poundage detracts from the loving attention paid to the punchy nevertheless silky V8, the sublimely howevertery but expedient gearbox, and therefore the spectacular compromises created between ride quality and road feel. Sure, there are hints at lag from low rpms before an exhilarating rush of torque that carries strongly through the powerband, however the engine’s robustness never causes you to pine for its predecessor, that provided ten p.c less horsepower and thirty p.c less torque.