Overview

The V8-powered BMW M6 Coupe is a very fast car – offering effortless and instantly available speed. In standard form it offers 552bhp and 680Nm of torque, and with the Competition Package this is boosted to 567bhp.

It’s available as a convertible and four-door Gran Coupe, with the muscular two-door Coupe using a carbon fibre roofskin to reduce weight and lower the centre of gravity. Even so it weighs in at just under two tonnes.

Twin-turbo V8 petrol engine

The engine makes this car what it is. The same unit as found in the legendary M5 saloon it features two turbos, and along with the excellent seven-speed automatic gearbox it can sprint from 0-62mph in only 4.2 seconds. Competition Package cars manage this a tenth of a second faster.

No matter what state of tune the M6 is in, performance is dramatic and exhilarating. Don’t expect it to be too unruly though, as while the power is enough to smoke the tyres if launched aggressively, the M6 Coupe has plenty of grip and traction, even if you can feel its considerable weight under quick direction changes.

Leave the stability systems on if you’re not an experienced driver though; the M6 will swing its rear end out wide with abandon if provoked – especially in the wet – and you’ll need to be quick to reign it all back in.

Genuine four-seater

Despite its coupe shape the M6 is a big car, and relatively practical with it. The sloping roof does limit rear headroom, and while full-sized adults will likely refrain from calling it comfortable, for growing children there’ll be ample space – certainly more than in the Porsche 911.

A sweeping but driver-oriented dashboard layout makes it feel slightly more exciting than the M5 it is based on, but there are no bespoke hand-made materials or components like those found in comparably priced Aston Martins. Still, that means everything will likely work with precision and without problem, for many years to come.

The boot’s pretty good too, offering 460 litres of space to fill, which is more than the VW Golf hatchback.

Better efficiency than before

The reason for fitting the M6 Coupe with a turbocharged V8 engine wasn’t just for performance, as efficiency was also high on BMW’s priority list.

Along with the seven-speed automatic gearbox, the 4.4-litre V8 manages to emit 231g/km. The near 28mpg combined economy isn’t to be sniffed at either.

To find out what this car is like on the road, read our full BMW M6 Coupe review.