BMW M6 Convertible Stats

L L O M L E G I N : S O T O H P

R A C L L A Does the droptop deserve its M badge? Hint: 500-hp V10 helps Low-level by Nigel Moll Convertibles get a bad rap from some diehard line: the M6 with the quasi-manual gearbox and an sports-car purists who dismiss them as semi-seri- umbrella for a roof had its work cut out to prove it ous boulevard cruisers a notch down from where deserved its M badge. they should be with the rigidity of a hardtop. When Befitting a $100,000-plus car, raising or lower- flying the man from BMW said the M6 to be delivered ing the ragtop requires nothing more than the push for this evaluation would be a convertible, my sense of a button. There aren’t even any latches in the top of anticipation encountered a mild downdraft. Per- of the windscreen frame to be released or secured. haps unfairly, what came to mind were rattles, body Pushing the button initiates the process (already shake and the damp aroma that can blight drop- found in much less expensive cars) of motors tops. The white leather interior didn’t help the car’s whirring, hatches opening and closing, canvas fold- case when it was delivered. ing and so on. In a few seconds, the top is stowed, BMW M6 The car had another strike against it: only two ped- opening the seats to the sun or, in our case, leaden als on the floor, and a sequential manual gearbox gray 40-degree F skies on the 330 miles of road Convertible controlled either by paddle shifters behind the steer- from central New Jersey to Falling Rock at the ing wheel or by a vestigial stick atop the transmis- woodlands resort of Nemacolin, south of Pitts- sion tunnel. To me, driving a sports car is like playing burgh in western Pennsylvania. With the seat heat, a musical instrument, requiring no less finesse with floor blower and appropriate clothing all on, the the clutch, throttle and stick to be rewarding. ride was bracing and invigorating but comfortable, Piloting a 612 Scaglietti with F1 shifters from even with the windows down as well. The rear win- New York to Washington, D.C. (more on this 60th- dow in the M6 is heated glass, and it (along with all anniversary hundred-Ferrari drive in a future issue) the other windows) can be raised or lowered fully not long before the M6 showed up had reinforced whether the ragtop is up or down. my mourning for the departed third pedal. Bottom Regardless of the wrapper, a 500-horsepower

58 BMW M6 Convertible Stats

Source: BMW

The five-liter V10 packs a mighty punch once the revs get wound up, but at lower rpms it lacks the torque that is a hallmark of other BMWs wearing the M badge. BMW V10 sprinkled with M dust is serious propul- sion. Granted, the car was new (it had only about 1,900 miles on it when delivered to us), but it made not one squeak or rattle during the 1,300 miles we put on it in a week, and its fabric roof and seals repelled every drop of the record rainfall that flooded the Northeast in mid-April. The white leather, however, was already soiled in some areas. The soft top keeps out the rain but it is largely defenseless against the exhaust note of the V10. The engine’s voice changes markedly between the lower rev regions and the 8250-rpm redline. Until about 3500 rpm, it emits a raucous flatulence that sounds like two Z06 dollar for dollar. What the M6 offers is a “Bavar- Coupe can also carry more luggage: 15.9 cubic feet discordant inline fives failing to harmonize, never strik- ian-ness” in the steering feel, the suspension damping versus the convertible’s 10.6 or (with the top up and the ing a singular note as clean and pure as a V12’s or even (befitting an M when in the firmest of its three modes), unused stowage space available) 12.4 cubic feet. Even a V8’s. Give it more revs, though, and the explosions in the tightness of the power train, the interior appoint- without using the back seats or the soft-top stowage the 10 pots are in such quick succession that by 7000 ments and so on, as well as a styling job by the contro- space, we managed to squeeze into the trunk two cases, they have become a Formula 1 scream. Tunnels and versial Chris Bangle that seems to be a broad hit. various loose bags, camera gear that included a sub- overpasses beckon, the better to sample this odd White rings linked to electronics encircle both the stantial tripod, and a bucket and cleaning supplies for assortment of decibels. tachometer and the speedometer. On the tach, the white primping the car for the lens. The 3.2-liter straight six in my own 1999 Z3 M ring adjusts to show the recommended max engine rpm The SMG transmission on this M6 offers regular au- Coupe has only about half the horsepower (240) and for the current engine oil temperature. For a cold startup, tomatic mode or manual shifting via paddles or stick 236 pounds-feet of torque at 3800 rpm, but at low revs the marker settles at about 6000 rpm, moving clockwise (blip it forward to downshift, flick it aft to upshift). To it propels that 3,100-pound car with considerably more to the full 8250 rpm limit as the oil heats (a swift process start from a standstill, select first. Nothing happens until enthusiasm than the V10 does in the M6. While the V10 in this car). On the speedometer, a red line on the white you give it some gas, at which point the clutch plates does not relish pulling the heavier M6 until it builds to ring shows the speed selected for cruise control. are signaled electronically to engage and the car the middle revs, there’s no arguing with a zero-to-60 Weight control was a crucial enough mission on the moves–just like a stick shift but minus the footwork on time of 4.6 seconds–half a second quicker than the M M6 Coupe that its hard top is made of carbon fiber, the clutch pedal. Each successive upshift then has to be Coupe. Peak torque on the M6’s five-liter V10 is a mod- which serves to widen the gap between the two cars on selected, and for hard, pedal-to-the-metal acceleration, est 383 pounds-feet at 6100 rpm. Consider that torque the scales. With all of its stowage mechanisms and the electronics manage lifting and reapplying the throt- from the Corvette Z06’s 505-hp, seven-liter V8 peaks at structural reinforcements to compensate for the van- tle as the clutch plates separate and rejoin for the gear 470 pounds-feet at 4800 rpm. ishing roof, the convertible has a curb weight of 4,398 change. It works smoothly, but the really clever stuff For raw, blistering performance, nothing beats the pounds, 489 pounds higher than the Coupe’s 3,909. The comes during downshifting. Continued on next page > 59 Low-level flying

> Continued from preceding page In contrast to the Ferrari 612, whose paddles initiate almost instantaneous, hard shifting up or down, the M6’s manual mode electronically takes care of synchronizing the engine revs with the gear/road speed during downshifting. What this means is that as you shift down to third from fourth, say, at ap- preciable road speed, computers give the engine the requisite burst of revs so that when the clutch engages in third, the engine is already rotating at the cor- rect speed for a grease-slick meshing. Perfect footwork with none of the footwork that you’ve spent years practicing and perfecting. There’s a parallel here with the intro- Chris Bangle’s reinterpretations of the classic BMW form in recent duction of helicopter autopilots three or years have been controversial, to say the least, but the 6-series strikes the right chord with most who behold it. Above, the M6 four decades ago. Suddenly, electronics Convertible takes in the last light on the grounds of Falling Rock, could replicate the deft touch on a cyclic the AAA Five Diamond hotel at Nemacolin, the woodlands resort in the Laurel Mountains south of Pittsburgh. Bottom: vanishing stick, collective lever and anti-torque roof caught in the act. pedals that set helo pilots apart from all other mere mortals. With only their ﬂying intellect left intact, helo pilots did not immediately embrace the automa- tion that had stolen their magical pow- ers. The same goes for SMG. Now anyone can do a perfectly synchro- meshed downshift with the flick of a switch. Is this a good thing? Given the tiny percentage of U.S. new- car buyers who ever actively sought out and acquired three-pedal stick shifts, this tidal and $3,000 gas-guzzler fee took the as- change was inevitable once the racecar tested price to $114,990. crowd made it technically feasible. The Does this car deserve its M badge? similarly powered M5 sedan for the U.S. Maybe not as much as the Z3 M Coupe, market offers the option for a traditional a gecko-footed go-kart devoid of any six-speed manual transmission, and BMW baubles and bangles, or an M6 Coupe, but conﬁrmed to BJT that it is now taking the M6 convertible is undeniably a red- orders for a six-speed true manual M6 for blooded sports car, circa 2007. If you can delivery later this year. take the time to learn to live with BMW’s Our test car had a base price of iDrive “systems-management system,” $104,400 and about $7,000 worth of and if a folding top is a wind-in-the-hair options, including Silverstone Merino bonus rather than a blemish on a sporting II leather ($3,500), a comfort access pedigree, this car is a blast. J system ($1,000), carbon-fiber black trim ($300), a head-up display ($1,000), Nigel Moll earned his pilot’s license at age 17, six years HD radio ($500) and satellite radio before getting his driver’s license. He is the editor of BJT’s sister publication, Aviation International News. ($595). The $695 destination charge

The aviation The blue-and-white colors of the BMW circle logo are those of the company’s native behind the Bavaria, but the quadrants of the circle represent the propeller blades of an aircraft. badge BMW radial aero engines powered a variety of World War II aircraft, including the Junkers Ju-52 trimotor transport and the Focke Wulf Fw190, designed by Kurt Tank and widely regarded as one of the finest fighters in that conflict. BMW got started in the aero engine business by building Pratt & Whitney radials under license in the 1930s but soon designed its own, leading to the BMW 801 in the Fw190, a compact engine fed by methanol-water injection and with automated single-lever control. More recently, BMW teamed with Rolls-Royce in the 1990s to develop and produce the BR700 series, a new breed of turbofan to power the Gulfstream V and Global Express series of ultra-long-range business jets. I BMW Rolls-Royce-powered Gulfstream V. BMW-powered Focke Wulf Fw190.