There’s simply no getting away from its 6 Series origins as a large cruiser – a yacht; not a speed boat
635CSi was styled by Karl Elmitt, but under Bangle’s watch, it too had a ‘Bangle Butt’.
When Bangle left BMW his 2IC Adrian van Hooydonk (a dutchman, phew) took the design reins and made things more, erm, sensible. This wasn’t a fait accompli, as van Hooydonk also worked on the controversial E65 7 Series. Design is a serious issue at BMW: just ask about grille size these days…
Bereft of Bangle, the F12/13 Convertible/Coupe follow-up was somewhat of an outlier: a more conventional, less polarising interpretation of the most exclusive BMW Coupe. In hindsight, some have come round to the Bangle era, but for the most part the F13 is the hammer 6 Series they always wanted without the hammerhead looks.
While its sculpted and toned body makes it the most attractive coupe to wear the M6 badge, it wasn’t entirely fuss free, stirring the pot with a third body style: the coupe and convertible joined by the Gran Coupe – a ‘four-door coupe’ which in reality was a smartly styled five-door liftback to rival the Porsche Panamera and Audi RS7.
Regardless of the name, or who designed it, the hero BMW coupe had always meant one thing: power and status. The F13 M6 broke the $300K barrier to put on the road in 2012, in the wake of the GFC, $60K more than the M5 and more than double the price of an M3. The final update in 2015 underlined the M6 as a big boy’s toy with serious numbers: $292,600 plus on-roads, 441kW and 700Nm, measuring 4898mm long and carrying 1850kg. Claimed 0-100km/h was a seriously supercar-like 3.9 seconds.
Like all M cars, the M6 was significantly advanced over its 6 Series stablemates. That less confronting Hooydonk styling saw 20-inch wheels push the unique front thermoplastic guards 20mm wider as the larger footprint added to stability. Inside these were 400mm front discs squeezed by six-pot calipers painted blue. Other body changes included an aluminium bonnet, fibreglass bootlid and an SMC carbon glass-fibre composite material roof which cut 4.5kg off the M6’s weight. The reduction was countered by significant steel body stiffening plates front and rear, carefully crafted for the M6 to also feed air up into the front brakes and provide improved underbody aero.
Motivating this svelte coupe was the ballistic 4.4-litre S63B44T0 twin-turbo V8. Shared with the M5 of the time, the powerhouse used two twin-scroll turbochargers, direct injection, BMW’s Valvetronic variable valve timing and Double-VANOS continuously variable cam control. Initially, the F13’s numbers were 412kW/680Nm, then 423kW when the Competition Pack was standardised, but the stats grew again in 2015 (March build onwards) to balloon to 441kW/700Nm. All Australian iterations used a seven-speed M-DCT with unique ratios and while the lower-spec 6ers used an 8-speed ZF, with its 700Nm on tap from 1500rpm the M6 didn’t need another gear; it filled its lungs seemingly instantly and never ran out of puff. On an autobahn, you’d reach the 250km/h limiter with ease and with plenty in reserve.
In a straight line, it felt like the M6 could bend the laws of physics as the V8 spun to 7200rpm. Yet despite the 400mm rotors and sixpiston brakes up front, turning the M-Sport steering wheel couldn’t hide the mass of this remarkable machine. There’s simply no getting away from its 6 Series’ origins as a large cruiser – a yacht; not a speed boat. BMW pitched the 1850kg M6 Coupe against the 991 Porsche 911, which in Turbo S guise weighed a comparatively light 1605kg.
Yet given the Gran Coupe body style offered, the M6 came across as almost lithe against its contemporaries. The Audi RS7 and Porsche’s Panamera Turbo all carried nearly two tonnes, the Mercedes-Benz AMG S63 L breaching that with 2095kg, making the M6 Coupe the relative lightweight of the lot. Yes, considerably