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Is This A Great Idea For An M Model?
The BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe is already an issue of large debate. The essential business case for the car is that it's more distinctive than a straight 5 or 6 Series, and has much of the sense of space and luxury of a 7 Series. It has the wheelbase of a 5 Series, the relative width of a 6 Series, and an exterior length close to the standard wheelbase 7 Series. And, as we reported in our drive of the 640i Gran Coupe in May 2012, the 6 Series Gran Coupe costs pretty much the same as the 7 Series, engine trim for engine trim. The sedan (coupe?) is therefore a proposal clearly meant for an extremely particular clientele. There's no news yet on how well exactly the 6 Series Gran Coupe is selling in its chief markets, but we are curious. The Germans frequently tend not to break out their sales figures that way, mixing sales of the Gran Coupe in with the two-door 6 Series.
And, so, we have now arrived at the inevitable point where the M version must be introduced. Say howdy to the $113,000 2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe (actually $115,195 for starters with all of the taxes added). That's $4,650 more than the also highly priced M6 coupe. Let the vehement debates begin. The upcoming 2014 Audi RS7 should be priced right at this level as well, and the Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG (perhaps with an S iteration in the next allotment we get Stateside) should go for roughly the same.
First off, as a simple aesthetic comment, the M aero exterior bits and pieces have added much appeal to the stock 5 and 6 Series lineups, as has always been the case in this mid-to-large part of the BMW product portfolio. The story remains the same here for the M6 Gran Coupe, but we still do not love the front-end look of the design even in M trim. The kidney grille employed here seems weirdly out of style with the aggressive chin intakes, and the new 6 Series' recessed headlight units have never done the trick for us design-wise.
The rest of the car looks the business to a tee, and the new standard five double-spoke M 433 20-inch wheels are sweet units. The last good-looking functional bits on the M6 Gran Coupe are the lightweight carbon fiber reinforced plastic rear diffuser and aero roof, the first sighting of this latter component since the E92 M3 coupe in 2008. This roof trims some 50 pounds off that part of the car versus the standard car's sunroof-injected metal top – always good for lowering a car's center of gravitas.
So we'll hand it to BMW in that its designers are certainly trying hard with all of the good bits and pieces available to them for creating this very expensive, 4,430-pound sport sedan. (Sorry, coupe. Our bad.) But the M6 Gran Coupe is really meant to be an exquisite autobahn bomber dictated by the marketing department more than by anyone else. And, frankly, this launch event reflected that feeling to perfection. We were given half of one day in Munich to adequately test the car and learn about it, the other half of the day being given to the midlife Z4 roadster... a car which is already on sale and barely worthy of a thorough individual road test review, at least not in comparison to the perceived importance of the M6 Gran Coupe that has been impressed upon us by BMW.
We don't want to let that oddness color our first impression, because the M6 Gran Coupe is a great enough piece of work on its own and will bring joy and light to its exclusive club of owners. The drivetrain is pulled straight from the M5 and M6 (or X5 M and X6 M), so there was expectedly little surprise this way. We've loved the motor in those other M vehicles and we love it here. It's always impressive how light these two-ton-plus luxo-liners can feel on the longer stretches of high-speed autobahn when all 553 horses and 502 pound-feet of twin-scroll turbocharged torque go to quick work via the seven-speed M-specific automated dual-clutch gearbox. As always, too, acceleration to 60 miles per hour is underestimated at 4.1 seconds. And when you let the M6 Gran Coupe out to the 190-mph zone (with the M Driver's Package included, of course), it's once again a surreal experience as the little kilometers just fall like dominoes.
Article Credit: TLC
- MSRP
- $109,200 - $115,500
- Invoice
- $100,465 - $106,260
The BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe is already an issue of large debate. The essential business case for the car is that it's more distinctive than a straight 5 or 6 Series, and has much of the sense of space and luxury of a 7 Series. It has the wheelbase of a 5 Series, the relative width of a 6 Series, and an exterior length close to the standard wheelbase 7 Series. And, as we reported in our drive of the 640i Gran Coupe in May 2012, the 6 Series Gran Coupe costs pretty much the same as the 7 Series, engine trim for engine trim. The sedan (coupe?) is therefore a proposal clearly meant for an extremely particular clientele. There's no news yet on how well exactly the 6 Series Gran Coupe is selling in its chief markets, but we are curious. The Germans frequently tend not to break out their sales figures that way, mixing sales of the Gran Coupe in with the two-door 6 Series.
And, so, we have now arrived at the inevitable point where the M version must be introduced. Say howdy to the $113,000 2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe (actually $115,195 for starters with all of the taxes added). That's $4,650 more than the also highly priced M6 coupe. Let the vehement debates begin. The upcoming 2014 Audi RS7 should be priced right at this level as well, and the Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG (perhaps with an S iteration in the next allotment we get Stateside) should go for roughly the same.
First off, as a simple aesthetic comment, the M aero exterior bits and pieces have added much appeal to the stock 5 and 6 Series lineups, as has always been the case in this mid-to-large part of the BMW product portfolio. The story remains the same here for the M6 Gran Coupe, but we still do not love the front-end look of the design even in M trim. The kidney grille employed here seems weirdly out of style with the aggressive chin intakes, and the new 6 Series' recessed headlight units have never done the trick for us design-wise.
The rest of the car looks the business to a tee, and the new standard five double-spoke M 433 20-inch wheels are sweet units. The last good-looking functional bits on the M6 Gran Coupe are the lightweight carbon fiber reinforced plastic rear diffuser and aero roof, the first sighting of this latter component since the E92 M3 coupe in 2008. This roof trims some 50 pounds off that part of the car versus the standard car's sunroof-injected metal top – always good for lowering a car's center of gravitas.
So we'll hand it to BMW in that its designers are certainly trying hard with all of the good bits and pieces available to them for creating this very expensive, 4,430-pound sport sedan. (Sorry, coupe. Our bad.) But the M6 Gran Coupe is really meant to be an exquisite autobahn bomber dictated by the marketing department more than by anyone else. And, frankly, this launch event reflected that feeling to perfection. We were given half of one day in Munich to adequately test the car and learn about it, the other half of the day being given to the midlife Z4 roadster... a car which is already on sale and barely worthy of a thorough individual road test review, at least not in comparison to the perceived importance of the M6 Gran Coupe that has been impressed upon us by BMW.
We don't want to let that oddness color our first impression, because the M6 Gran Coupe is a great enough piece of work on its own and will bring joy and light to its exclusive club of owners. The drivetrain is pulled straight from the M5 and M6 (or X5 M and X6 M), so there was expectedly little surprise this way. We've loved the motor in those other M vehicles and we love it here. It's always impressive how light these two-ton-plus luxo-liners can feel on the longer stretches of high-speed autobahn when all 553 horses and 502 pound-feet of twin-scroll turbocharged torque go to quick work via the seven-speed M-specific automated dual-clutch gearbox. As always, too, acceleration to 60 miles per hour is underestimated at 4.1 seconds. And when you let the M6 Gran Coupe out to the 190-mph zone (with the M Driver's Package included, of course), it's once again a surreal experience as the little kilometers just fall like dominoes.
Article Credit: TLC
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