BMW M6 with 5.0 liter V10

BMW launched the M version of the 6-series in the UK – the BMW M6, powered by the same venerable 5 litre V10 engine found in the ultimate luxury sports sedan – the BMW M5. More details are available after the jump.

The BMW M6’s 5 litre 90 degree V10 engine won 4 out of 12 categories in the 2005 International Engine of the Year awards, in the “Best New Engine”, “Best Performance Engine”, and “Best Engine Above 4.0 Liter” categories, as well as bagging the overall Engine of the Year award.

Some basic engine statistics. The M6 engine makes 507 horsepower at 7750rpm and 520Nm of torque at 6100rpm. The redline is at 8250RPM. The top speed is electronically limited to 155mph (250 km/h), though with a bypass it could easily go beyond 200mph (320 km/h).

This advanced engine employs more than 1000 individual components, all working together to produce maximum power out of a production engine meant to last (unlike an F1 engine’s short lifespan) and they are all controlled by 3 32-bit microprocessors that can process 200 million calculatons per second. BTW, each of the 10 cylinders in the V10 block has it’s own throttle butterfly. 10 throttles baby… the sound at high revs would be orgasmic. These electronic throttles read the throttle position 200 times a second.

The engine is mated to the same 7-speed SMG gearbox in the M5. The engine weighs only 240kg. This light weight helps balance weight distribution between the front and back of the car closer to a 50-50 ratio.

One thing the M6 has an edge of over the M5 is a carbon fibre roof. Previously a carbon fibre roof was only available on the BMW M3 CSL, which only had a limited production run, unlike the mass-produced M6. Front and rear bumper supports are also carbon fibre.

What about handling? The car has Electronic Damper Control – allowing infinitely variable shock absorber behaviour in normal mode, and two fixed Comfort and Sport modes.

The M6 also has the Sensotronic power steering, which automatically adjusts sensitivity according to vehicle speed and also the way the driver turns the steering. I heard this needs a little getting used to. It’s kind of like the Mouse Acceleration feature in Windows.

The M6 has 19″ M Light alloy wheels wrapped with 255/40/ZR19 at the front and 285/35/ZR 19 at the rear. The front wheels are 8.5 inches wide and the back wheels are 9 inches wide.

At the front the brake discs are 374mm x 36mm while at the rear you have 370mm x 24mm units. 100km/h to 0km/h is achievable in 36 meters. Calipers are light-weight two-piston units.

Interior touches – the M6 has a projected HUD display showing some information like gear position, projected so it appears at the end of the bonnet. Funky stuff.

BMW has made 400 cars available so far for the UK, and the waiting list has already fully booked all units. The M6 has a 45kg weight reduction over the BMW M5, so that attributes to it being 0.1 seconds faster than the M5 in the 0-100km/h sprint – 4.6 seconds instead of 4.7 seconds.

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • Edison on Nov 11, 2005 at 12:29 am

    its just ugly

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  • Great Wall Of China on Nov 11, 2005 at 12:34 am

    wow..

    the most superior BMW made car….

    err..what's the price??

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  • mousanc on Nov 11, 2005 at 12:34 am

    5.0 litre engine..!!!

    don't know how much the insurance and road tax will cost..

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  • zongtwi on Nov 11, 2005 at 12:38 am

    You've got to see it in the flesh man, it's an absolute peach! I saw it in the car park the other day, fell in love with it straight away.

    Btw, the V10 is brilliant. Guess how much it costs? £30k per unit. Putting it into context, the V8 found on the top of the line 550i costs only £7k.

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  • yhtan on Nov 11, 2005 at 12:41 am

    I consider this car as good!

    the exterior is looks like a normal BMW car,

    but the engine performance,handling is marvellous

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  • Jeremy C on Nov 11, 2005 at 12:45 am

    *sigh*

    I'm still waiting for the day when I can own ANY BMW…let alone a 6-series…

    That reminds me, time to buy 4-D later.

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  • SEE FU on Nov 11, 2005 at 12:47 am

    Awasome!!

    YAU MOU GAU….CHOR!!! I want to try it!!!

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  • SEE FU on Nov 11, 2005 at 12:53 am

    Sorry I don't think will not buy it even if I can afford it, because she just like TEMPORARY excitement for me, not for long. The price really SUCK***** my POCKET money….so more BURN my petrol money…………PANADOL only!!

    YAU MOU GAU….CHOR!!!

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  • Steve Cheng on Nov 11, 2005 at 12:57 am

    cool.. damn nice.. + V10 engine… great car..

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  • hmm.. why does it look like a porche to me from behind? (@_@)

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  • E-nabill on Nov 11, 2005 at 1:11 am

    i dont tink this is a new news la paul , i tink abt 2mnths back thy introduce the m6 in uk n germany…i hate the boot lid…ugly..bt the engine,wel its voted the engin of the year,so no complaints thr!..i tink it wil be more of a grand tourer rather than a super car m5 type

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  • yah but i havent blogged abt it yet.

    the back is a bit weird. like relaly weird. kinda peugeotish.

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  • zongtwi on Nov 11, 2005 at 1:52 am

    Seriously…you've got to see it in real life to appreciate the design. When BMW first came out with dodgy looking 7 series,and then the 5 series, everybody hated it. They were radical designs, but now everyone seems to love it. The design sort of grows on you…the more you look ak it, the better it gets. Now the M6 adapting the same styling, I personally think it's the best looking coupe around.

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  • Hameed Koyakuti on Nov 11, 2005 at 1:53 am

    Carbon fibre panel console…..Wow….

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  • nuggyn on Nov 11, 2005 at 2:02 am

    few months ago, i was over taken by a BMW 6 series….from the roar of the engine, i bet that fella must have been doing full throttle when he was overtaking me. The way that car pull away is something i cannot forget…and the roar of the engine is so sweet.

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  • michly on Nov 11, 2005 at 2:08 am

    Ugly buntut… Mod the engine take out the chip.. fly baby.. one hour to penang from kl. i think can …

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  • irbaboonz on Nov 11, 2005 at 2:14 am

    SWEET!!

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  • zongtwi on Nov 11, 2005 at 2:17 am

    Btw, a small correction to my earlier comment, the V8 found on the top of the range 5 series, costs only £4-5k per unit, not £7. The V10 engine does costs £30k per unit. This quote is for buying the engines at about 500 units a year.

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  • MutantTomato on Nov 11, 2005 at 2:36 am

    Yup..agree that the "buntut" is quite ulgy la… another thing; IMHO, the interior looks a liiiiiiitle bit too cluttered. Too many buttons here and there. And why on EARTH did they cover the panel with that shiny, blackish striped stuff?! Its so tacky man! An integrated sound system? What if you wanna change it? Heck, take some Ferraris as an example. The car is handmade la, finest quality la, designed by "champion" designers la, killa engine specs la, etc… But most of them have the most crappy sound system ever! And…if you could afford this Beemer, you'd definitely want everything nice or top of the range in your car.

    Bose soundsystem? Or Harman/Kardon? Or better yet, Macintosh! *drools…*

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  • deutsche volks on Nov 11, 2005 at 2:51 am

    heii..come on..who listen to radios when they own ferrari??…better listen to the engine…

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  • deutsche volks on Nov 11, 2005 at 3:01 am

    i think..if u want a car that good for the eyes, that have so silky design..u go to japan carmakers…they got lotsa crazy design cars which most of them is damn kool to look at…but if u insist for performance…choose germans…fullstop.

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  • peter on Nov 11, 2005 at 3:45 am

    It's nice apart from the looks. You're right about the Peugeot influence on the rear Paul. The current 5 series also looks a little bit like Peugeot from the back.

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  • ugly

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  • the birdman on Nov 11, 2005 at 4:48 am

    reply edison,

    ugly ? buy savvy lor , maniac~

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  • banana on Nov 11, 2005 at 4:50 am

    reply birdman n nick,

    nick is oso a maniac~

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  • narrowband on Nov 11, 2005 at 6:51 am

    It's ugly. The base model itself is ugly.

    The cabriolet (just 6-series cabrio, not M6) model is much sexier. But it's canvas top.

    AC Schnitzer recently modded the 6 series, called the TENSION. It's wicked.

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  • Sexythang on Nov 11, 2005 at 6:59 am

    i feel the m5 looks sharper. but its good to see this beast is a 2 door car and it looks muscular as well. just that the back looks like the 7 series back.

    would be good to be able to afford to try out different sportscars for ourselves then make our own decision from there.

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  • doc2mee on Nov 11, 2005 at 7:08 am

    Hi

    £30k abt

    210K rm????

    Wow wonder how much it will actually cost here

    500K ???

    For 200K it is a beauty

    For 500K it is ugly like shit … (one sour grape for me)

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  • macspeed on Nov 11, 2005 at 7:15 am

    8Ok in UK….so our money is 560k…. then .times 3 for tax……WAHHHHHH

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  • daniel on Nov 11, 2005 at 8:16 am

    macspeed : after 3 times of 480 (80 x 6 = 480),around rm1.44 mil? sure can ler.. then puasa the whole year, or till u can earn that rm1.44 mil back..

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  • Prometheus on Nov 11, 2005 at 9:05 am

    Ugly or not, give me i'll take. Looks fierce and nice.. The buntut probably made liddat for aerodynamics la. 320 KMH. Probably take to johor highway can lah. Johor highway, i feel is damn straight la.

    The whole dash is CF la. my dash only little bit CF (that also i think CF) but i got CF umbrella.. pictures in my blog. (click my name to see CF umbrella)

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  • Prometheus on Nov 11, 2005 at 9:14 am

    BTW.. Coupes are my favourite. Longer than a hatch, Shorter than a sedan, More covered than a cabriolet

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  • MutantTomato on Nov 11, 2005 at 10:39 am

    I think an amazing straight to test out any car is the Kesas highway, from USJ towards Klang. The best part starts when you see the Esso station. I guess the racing and testing happens here a lot, cos on weekends you'll see droves of modders and petrol-heads chilling along the road shoulder waiting for some drag race or other to start… :D

    But otherwise yeah, nice place to "tekan" la… I haven't tried it out though. When I used to use the road, I had my ol' Wira. Now, with my new car, I ain't doin no "top gear" schizzer man! :P

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  • MutantTomato on Nov 11, 2005 at 10:43 am

    Prometheus: Checked out your site bro… So… I gotta buy Mobil 1 before I can get the umbrella? Bummer… :(

    And by the by, Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind. He was a demigod. Fire was a privilege for the gods only. For doing so, Prometheus was banished to the mortal world. Something like the story of Hercules. :D

    Ok ok! Before anyone says anything, I will not deviate anymore! Ok?! :P :D

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  • Prometheus on Nov 11, 2005 at 4:09 pm

    yeah.. read quite a bit on his mythology. Cool fellow. I I can't rememeber how i first came about it though. Don't you think he was a 1st generation hacker.(not to say i am liddat) During his time, he stole technology from those who had it and gave it to those who didn't have it. Correct ah?

    But thats my usual forum name if i can get it.

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  • to consider buying a sport car I think I can only buy a Celica or Evos only…

    too expensive

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  • cbljkkj on Nov 11, 2005 at 5:15 pm

    I think aerodynamically, the M6 has a definite advantage. The exhaust wails produced by the M5 and M6 are completely different. The M5 sounds really whiny when it touches around 5-8 thousand RPMS while the M6 is a really mean grunt.

    The M6 is definitely an awesome car. I stood next to a 6 series and couldnt believe the size of the rims, let alone the size of the M6's. I would even cringe at the beautiful sound of the Skyline GT-Rs 6 throttle bodies but this has 10!!

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  • Nameless on Nov 11, 2005 at 5:36 pm

    i own this car now.

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  • jordan on Nov 11, 2005 at 5:39 pm

    i just like its engine and his interior design.

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  • i feel the m5 looks much more better……………the back of this car is just plain ugly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  • karheng on Nov 11, 2005 at 7:29 pm

    Ok dudes…let me settle one thing for you..i've seen an M6 on the roads before and when it was going downhill i tell u , even walking past the car just gives u the tension as if you're in it! it's a car you want to be in.

    Yes it initially looks ugly but when it strides past you on the street, you'll easily gobble and eat your words up again.

    To put it straight, i'd call this call a girl who isn't photogenic but pretty in the flesh…=)

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  • my_YARIS on Nov 11, 2005 at 7:59 pm

    I say those who ever got to drive any bimmer with 6 cylinder engine type at least will know tt they hv promised to deliver (gd accerelation & pickup) w/out upset de owner.

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  • ddkwh on Nov 11, 2005 at 8:25 pm

    SWWEEEETTT!! now, if only i were super rich to afford and maintain it… =p

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  • ex-mivec on Nov 11, 2005 at 8:32 pm

    20 thumbs up

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  • Marmitecrab on Nov 11, 2005 at 8:38 pm

    It's a seriously good coupe.

    But I was a bit puzzled why when it was launched, it was targetted towards women by BMW. They said they are recognising women as customers with high buying power and I'm sure there are out there but with that kind of strategy, it would have turned away some men who may have been thinking of buying one.

    Strange….

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  • hatukngkau on Nov 11, 2005 at 8:40 pm

    ermmm nice car but i could never own it… sob… sob…

    by the way abit off topic, i've came across some 320i lately… is it powered by a 2.0 engine? how much is the price? how bout some old 318? 1.8 engine? 2nd hand price?

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  • Holyday on Nov 11, 2005 at 8:40 pm

    You know…. I observed that every car you post, seems that got people say it's ugly.

    Gee… wonder what car will everybody or most ppl say nice/beautiful

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  • my_YARIS on Nov 11, 2005 at 9:05 pm

    Holyday said,

    Gee… wonder what car will everybody or most ppl say nice/beautiful

    > a sawi for u maybe?

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  • karheng on Nov 11, 2005 at 9:31 pm

    Holyday:

    Taste is a very subjective thing. One man's meat can be another's poison. That's why God made each person different. Who will marry the fat if everyone wanted thin? Who will marry the barely lookable if everyone wanted the very lookable?

    Simple..that's why some people own the jUara or the fiat multipla. Because they don't need a car which attracts too much attention. But if it was me..of course i would choose the multipla anytime over the champ. Inner beauty of the multipla is way better than the juara…hehehe..

    so it's the same for cars..not every man will agree that Liz Hurley is the hottest looking MILF ever. Some might just say that Angelina Jolie is better..then again..they're both very MILFalicious.

    Now who doesn't agree?

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  • rainbow7j on Nov 11, 2005 at 10:52 pm

    sorry but the rear is plain ugly, like the rear of Honda City, has to remind myself it is a car not a iron for clothes

    :)

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  • SEE FU on Nov 11, 2005 at 11:01 pm

    rainbow SEVEN JJ arr!!

    How'S did you KNOW IT??? Yes!! The original concept is REALLY Based on IRON! Remind me the brand……. called National Steam Iron type!! Kwak…kwak…kwak :)

    YAU MOU GAU….CHOR!!! What a Genius!!! x3 Claps hands!

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  • nuggyn on Nov 12, 2005 at 12:11 am

    ugly butt some of you said?

    you should look at the real car, especially at night with the LED lights…

    [thumbs up]

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  • Holyday on Nov 12, 2005 at 12:35 am

    It was said in jest la…

    aiyo, lighten up people!

    Ugly, Beautiful…….if GIVE to you, you think you will resist?

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  • eMalaysian on Nov 12, 2005 at 12:58 am

    the back look like gen2 lah

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  • siren on Nov 12, 2005 at 2:19 am

    I wonder y to me it looks like a BMW cetak rompak version of the GEN2 …. same silhouette, same eyes… similar butt…. Hmmmmmm

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  • oo yeah

    Proton designer made that M6?

    ahahah…

    MAlaysia boleh

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  • Driver on Nov 12, 2005 at 6:21 am

    Wah… that engine 5 liter NA… 11.3 compression ratio + two 32bit controller in ECU… hard to modify. The font looks like Z4, overall good looking. But, I still prefer the Auston Martin DB9 design.

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  • nohiddenagenda on Nov 12, 2005 at 6:25 am

    gen.2? quite true laa… aiyoo…

    proton copy merc.

    bmw copy proton.

    later some korean copy bmw

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  • A perfect dream car!

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  • doc2mee on Nov 12, 2005 at 8:12 am

    Yeah in my dreams tooooo

    Tooooo bad ……….. but actually I like to dream a Ferrari or a Lamborogini too

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  • zongtwi a.k.a. speed on Nov 12, 2005 at 9:33 am

    Driver said,

    November 11, 2005 @ 10:21 pm

    Wah… that engine 5 liter NA… 11.3 compression ratio + two 32bit controller in ECU… hard to modify. The font looks like Z4, overall good looking. But, I still prefer the Auston Martin DB9 design.

    —————————————————————-

    Alamak Mr driver…

    If you have an engine that got 4 out of 12 awards, including engine of the year award, why the heck would you want to modify it?

    Btw, DB9 design, classic and elegent. M6, modern, provoking and radical… two different themes. I agree with you, DB9 is stunning. But the BMW M6 it's either you like it or loath it kind of thing…

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  • karheng on Nov 12, 2005 at 8:11 pm

    Actually BMW has already had a concept M6 since 2001 which I saw in the UK mag of Autocar. The rear is really a BMW Z series concept copy and the body ratio for front and back is typically 6 series style.

    I honestly do not think that Chris Bangle would bother copying Proton. I think it's the other way around…

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  • takumi_trueno on Nov 14, 2005 at 6:55 pm

    perghh… it make me crazy when look out the engine..superb to driving at the plus highway… i think i can arrive at jb around under 2 hours la.. my v6 pun in 2 hours.. klu jalan mlm2 la… clear… but the price of car… there so many tax n duty la in malaysia..huh!!!!damn…

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  • c'mon on Nov 15, 2005 at 7:16 am

    the engine is hell kool..!! but the design.. buh… well.. Z10 is better.. =P

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  • CarNut on Nov 15, 2005 at 4:48 pm

    someone on top asked what is the diff between 318 and 320. both are 2 liter cars. 320 has double vanos.

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