BMW M6

BMW's M6 coupe and convertible are cars to love and to hate.
Their power and performance are awesome. With a 500-horsepower V10 engine mated to a transmission with six or even seven gears, the M6s develop a race-car-like 100 horsepower per liter and 383 lb-ft of torque by 6100 rpm.

As rear-wheel-drive cars, the M6s also have all kinds of high-tech equipment to maximize handling and to tailor features for an intimately personal experience. But it takes lots of time, patience and referrals back to a hefty owner's manual to get there.
The M6s aren't easy to drive, either. Speeds are deceptive—what feels like 30 mph is really 50 on the speedometer, and neighborhood speeds feel like "crawling" mode.
There's also BMW's Sequential Manual Gearbox that makes the M6s difficult—some might say virtually impossible—to drive smoothly. The M6 fuel economy ratings are like those of a big, heavy sport-utility vehicle and BMW made sure to include its long-criticized iDrive programming system in the M6.

So, buyers best be clear what they want from a car like this, because the M6 presents a very fine line, indeed, between a car to love and a car to hate.
Technology EverywhereBMW has been among the most aggressive car companies in putting technology into a wide range of its cars. And the M6s have a much higher "tech content" than about any other BMW-branded vehicle.
The only thing that's missing, it seems, in the M6 models is all-wheel drive. But then, BMW officials wanted the M6 to have the "pure" sports car attitude of rear-wheel drive.
Unlike many cars where a driver can start up and drive without having to immerse himself immediately in technology, the M6 coupe and convertible, particularly with standard SMG and Drivelogic, don't offer this luxury.
This gearbox setup has 11 shift modes—none of them particularly smooth, from my experience. So a driver tends to start fussing with the seven-speed SMG right from the start. (Note that beginning in spring 2007, BMW officials finally decided to offer a more familiar, six-speed manual.)

Then, there's the M6 engine. It's programmed to start in a setting called P400 that keeps peak horsepower at 400. If a driver wants the full 500 horsepower from the V10 that came with the car's purchase, he or she has to activate it via a button.
And to select and tailor suspension settings, a driver must go through a series of menus via the large iDrive knob in the center console. See what I mean about technology in your face? Most cars simply have a button on the center console to adjust shocks and leave it at that.
So, an M6 driver better like more than just the image of himself in the car, because there's a lot to oversee and "manage" in this car.

A showcase engineThe sophisticated, 5.0-liter V10 is new in the M6 Convertible for 2007, having been put in the M6 Coupe in 2006. The powerplant puts out an impressive 100 horsepower per liter and peak torque of 383 lb-ft at 6100 rpm. This is no typo. The M6's V10 even has a redline of over 8000 rpm, which is like a race car's, and the tachometer scale goes to 9000 rpm.

It's no surprise, then, that the federal government fuel economy rating is low at 12 miles a gallon in city driving and 19 mpg on the highway for the convertible. The M6 coupe rating is 12/18 mpg. Note these are about the same fuel mileage rating as a 2007 Cadillac Escalade SUV.
And one thankful—18.5 gallons—of the M6's required premium gasoline these days costs well over $50, which also is more akin to the gas bill for a big SUV. The gas went down like water in the test vehicle, which didn't even get 12 mpg in combined city and highway travel, by the way.