2009 BMW M6 Convertible: Sports Car Mentality in a Luxury Skin

By Mike Blake, Carlisle Events

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

BMW brands itself as builders of “America’s Driving Machine,” and its loyal following swears by the Bavarian company’s ability to make powerful, sexy, stylish, quality automobiles that utilize the most avant-garde electronics and comforts while sacrificing nothing in the driving experience.

Since 1983, when BMW took the engine from its M1 and modified it as the M88/3 and installed it in the Series 6, the M6 line has been acclaimed as a luxurious, stylish performance car that accelerated and reacted even better than its 282 horsepower engine normally would. That incarnation only lasted until 1989, but it was brought back to life in 2005 with aggressive, liquid lines and even more power – 507 horses.

The latest manifestation of the genre, first introduced in 2007, is a convertible version that combines a sports car mentality with extreme luxury, at a $119,000 price tag.

Designed with a German-engineering feel and demeanor, the 2009 BMW M6 Convertible is built with 90 percent of its parts of German origin and it employs the difficult-to-master i-drive systems management system for its cockpit electronics.

The BMW exterior is unmistakable. My Space Gray Metallic test vehicle is sleek, sensuous, powerful-expressing and lavish-looking, from its spilt vertical-bar grille, to the blue-and-white, propeller-against-sky badge, to its sloping hood, aerodynamic roof (rag-top) and rear, to its sweetly contoured sides. The heavy, stable M6 Convertible tips the scales at a robust 4398 lbs. with artistic architecture that measures 191.8 inches long, 73.0 inches wide and a low 54.2-inches high on a 109.5-inch wheelbase. The center of gravity is low and it hugs corners as one would presume a vehicle with race car aspirations should.

The power thunders in at 507 horsepower emanating from a 5.0-liter 40-valve V-10 engine with M-Double Vanos steplessly variable valve timing. The set-up provides power at the rate of 383 lbs.-ft. of torque at 6100rpm, and the system drinks premium fuel at the EPA rating of 11 miles in city driving and 17mpg on the highway. Five hundred miles of tests in Pennsylvania’s Mid-state and Maryland’s Frederick-to-Hagerstown corridor earned my test ride an average of 16.1mpg.
During my tests, I found that the innovative 7-speed semi-automatic transmission – a manual gearbox without a clutch pedal, that operates as either a manual or automatic – is not as efficient as one would expect from a BMW. Shifting at low rpms causes a front lunge and the set-up employs high shift points and exhibits massive over-revs in either mode. The performance is hesitant to the point of a power outage until each shift is made by the transmission. At that point, however, after-burner-like acceleration is evident, and I was able to coax my M6 Convertible from zero to 60mph in a blazing 4.6 seconds en route to a 13.6-second quarter-mile.
In S-curve and autocross tests, traction control takes over and turns are tight, but the car is most fun to drive at high speed with gentle maneuvering, as high-speed corners display some oversteer tendencies.
On the highways, down country roads or battling city street potholes, the M6 Convertible delivers a smooth, coddling ride. Dynamic stability control, all-season traction with variable differential lock, vehicle speed-sensitive variable-assist power steering with M-Driving Dynamics Control, and independent suspension with stiffened dampers, springs and anti-rollbars, working in concert with modified rear axle geometry all serve to provide a confident, stable, soothing ride, while the aura of sports car driving is never too far removed.
In the plush cabin, there is more road noise then one would expect, and throaty engine growls permeate the cockpit. That is what a driving enthusiast would anticipate from a 507-hp engine, but not what a car inhabitant who wants car silence and sound system supremacy from a six-figure vehicle has come to require.
The interior is roomy with 4-passenger capacity. The cabin measures a comfortable 37.8 inches of front headroom with 36.5 inches in row two; leg room is 42.0 inches and a tight 29.0 inches while shoulder room is 56.4 inches in row one and 49.4 behind.
A dichotomy of comfort and luxury opposing taxing and exhausting, the interior’s state-of-the-art electronics is not intuitive and the learning curve necessary to master the i-drive can really put off full enjoyment of the car’s inside capabilities.
Elsewhere inside is a push-button ragtop devoid of latches, so there is no need for manual play. Instrumentation is stylish and readable, and the Indianapolis Red Merino leather interior massages a heated, multi-function steering wheel and heated, seats. Carbon-fiber trim surrounds a Logic 7 sound system, on-board computer, park distance control, Satellite radio, rain-sensing windshield and Bluetooth technology with voice activation.

From a safety perspective, BMW takes care of its drivers and passengers with BMW’s Advance Safety System, front airbag supplemental restraint system, front door-mounted side-impact airbags, rollover protection system, park distance control with rear and front end sensors and tire pressure monitor.

The 2009 BMW M6 Convertible stickers out at $107,500. My test vehicle added on $12,000 in options including a neat heads up display and other niceties making it look and feel every bit the part of a $119,000 car.

Visit www.CarlisleEvents.com for more on the automotive hobby.

Mike Blake, former editor of KIT CAR magazine, joined Carlisle Events as senior automotive journalist in 2004. He's been a "car guy" since the 1960s and has been writing professionally for about 30 years.

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