  2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe. Click image to enlarge |
Review and photos by Peter Bleakney
With a starting price of $127,900, the 2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe asserts itself as the flagship of BMW’s M performance division. And yeah, ‘tis a lofty perch.
Monarchs must wield power and the M6 flaunts a prodigious 560 hp and 500 lb-ft from its twin-turbo, direct-injection, 4.4L V8. In its press material BMW states the rear-drive M6 Gran Coupe “features the most powerful engine ever fitted to an M production car”. While true, this semantic trickery is a tad misleading as the same engine powers the M5 sedan, M6 Coupe and M6 Cabriolet, and showed up in those cars first.
Actually, this blown V8 (albeit in a slightly lower state of tune) made its debut in the X5 M and X6 M SUVs.
Usually kings are bloated, slow and kind of funny looking thanks to generations of inbreeding and too much mead. Not so in this case.
We here at Autos.ca think the four-door coupe version of BMW’s 6 Series is a classic beauty. Sleek, understated, sensuously taut and muscular, this car looks stunning from any angle. BMW hasn’t actually been on a styling run of late, but the 6 Series Gran Coupe knocks it out of the park.
The M treatment adds more – a snout with larger air intakes and chrome grille inserts, sculpted side panels, unique 20-inch deep-dish alloys, gold-painted Brembo calipers, a carbon-fibre rear diffuser and carbon-fibre roof panel. The latter saves 22 kg over the base car’s steel lid with sunroof.
This tester sported an uber-cool matte-finish Frozen Silver Metallic Paint ($3,000).
Plop yourself into the contoured M seats and you won’t be questioning that 130-large sticker. The 6’s interior is artful and beautifully rendered, incorporating a flowing cockpit design that feels intimate and driver-focused. The King gets standard Merino Extended hide, head-up display (HUD), illuminated “M6” door sills, M driver’s dead pedal, exclusive carbon-fibre and Alcantara trim, and 10.3-inch display.
   2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe. Click image to enlarge |
It’s a fair bet that most buyers will opt for the $10,500 Executive Package that adds soft close doors, powered rear sun shade, side shades, ventilated and multifunction front seats, four-zone climate, LED headlights, high-beam assist, heated rear seats, upgraded audio, surround-view monitor and a couple of safety systems – blind spot warning and lane departure warning.
The package also includes a speed-limit info icon in the HUD, which in this car is a handy feature. On the highway, the M6 Gran Coupe will creep into impoundment territory before you know it.
This cabin had a few more regal touches – piano black trim ($1,000), Bang & Olufsen audio ($5,900) and Individual Full Merino Leather ($5,900) which I can only assume sacrifices a few more bovines in the name of mobile opulence.
Rounding out the option list here are $6,750 M Carbon Ceramic Brakes that do a fine job of reigning over all 2,009 kg of this super sedan. Unlike many ceramic brakes, these are linear and easy to modulate.
Time to put this puppy through its paces. Oh… wait a sec. I live in Southern Ontario. Sorry. I’ll just have to rumble around, look for the occasional empty on-ramp and otherwise suck back premium fuel while joining the procession of law-abiding Corollas and crossovers.
Okay, I did have the car in Grand Bend, where there are a few stretches of open road – but nary a corner to be found. All that Nürburgring testing is sadly going to waste this week.
    2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe. Click image to enlarge |
The M6 Gran Coupe shares it mechanical bits and wheelbase with the M5 sedan. As such, the 4.4L V8, with its two twin-scroll turbos nestled within the engine’s V, drives the rear wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and trick electronically controlled multi-plate limited slip differential. It develops its peak output of 560 hp from 5,750–7,000 rpm and all 500 lb-ft of torque is on board from 1,500–5,750 rpm.
BMW’s patented Valvetronic fully variable intake valve control system eliminates the need for traditional throttles. Engine power is controlled by the amount of valve lift, and this nifty system saves fuel and sharpens throttle response.
So yes, the 2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe hauls keister in no uncertain terms. Power comes on in a strong, linear rush and the DCT (double clutch transmission) bangs off seamless shifts.
Fuel consumption is preliminarily rated at 15.5 L/100 km city, 9.8 highway and 12.9 combined. After a 250-km highway jaunt where I did my very best to stay under 140 km/h, the computer showed 10.2 L/100 km.
As with the BMW M5, this V8 is strangely muted. Fire up any Mercedes AMG product and you (and anyone within a one-block radius) is well aware of a barrel-chested bent-eight. I just stepped out of a Jag XKR, and its 5.0L supercharged V8 sounds fantastic, too.
At idle, the M6 quietly waffles. At my current place of work the cast of Spamalot were ooohing and aaahing over this silver bullet. Mention 560 hp and there is a revered silence. Mere mortals, especially medieval ones, cannot begin to grasp that number. I so wanted to impress them with an aural sign of this car’s supreme bad-assness. Nope. Blipping the throttle is a non-event.
Under hard acceleration, the M6 certainly sounds unique. No typical V8 howl. It’s kind of a techy mix of a whine and a whoosh. Like the M5, synthetic engine sounds are piped through the audio system.
Which is kinda’ the M6 Gran Coupe in a nutshell. This car is a massively impressive technological tour-de-force – a sleek four-door ‘coupe’ with a seriously split personality. It’s able to coddle and scare the crap out of your passengers in equal measure. But from the driver’s seat, the M is not particularly engaging.
Indeed, there are plenty of buttons for tailoring your driving experience. Available are three settings that alter the speed sensitive hydraulic steering, the electronically controlled dampers, the transmission mapping, throttle mapping and dynamic stability control. Find a couple formulas you like and they can be called up via the M1 and M2 buttons on the steering wheel.
   2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe. Click image to enlarge |
Nonetheless, like all monarchs, this regal saloon remains aloof and not particularly willing to speak to the unwashed, even if you did just fork out 160 large. The steering gives up little in the way of meaningful information, and while the car exhibits impressive grip and path control, you’re not getting back much in the way of feedback.
So you’re more along for the ride, but credit where credit is due. It’s one helluva’ ride (0–100 km/h in 4.1 seconds) and you couldn’t ask for a more fetching chariot. The M6 Gran Coupe’s rakish roofline does compromise rear seat room a bit, but two average-size adults will certainly be lodging no complaints about the finely contoured seats. BMW calls this 4+1 seating, so five can fit in a literal pinch. The trunk is a decent size but shallow.
Of interest to shift-your-own types, a no-cost six-speed manual is available, and it is a North America–only option. Apparently there was enough noise being made in the US about a manual transmission for the M5 that BMW acquiesced. And so it carries forward to the M6.
   2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe. Click image to enlarge |
BMW’s four-door super coupe is not alone up here where the air is thin and wallets are thick. The Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG, Porsche Panamera Turbo, Maserati Quattroporte and Jaguar XJ Supersport are worthy foes, and stay tuned for a review of the upcoming 560-hp 2014 Audi RS7.
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Not to say this M would ever be ruffled by its rivals. To paraphrase the French Taunter in Spamalot, it blows tire-smoke in their general direction. Anyone buying the 2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe will be royally tickled. It is indeed a rare beauty, delivering thundering performance equally matched by its luxurious appointments and on-road fluidity.
2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe
Base price: $127,900
Optional equipment: Executive Package $10,500; M Carbon Ceramic Brakes $$6,750; Full Merino Leather $5,900; Bang and Olufsen sound $5,900; Frozen Silver Metallic Paint $3,000; Piano Finish black wood trim $1,000
A/C tax: $100
Destination charge: $2,095
Price as tested: $163,145
Competitors:
Audi RS7
BMW M5
Jaguar XJ Supersport
Maserati Quattroporte
Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG
Porsche Panamera Turbo
Crash Test Results:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
