Falling For An M6 Drop-Top On The World’s Best Road

A few weeks ago, I took a road trip from San Diego to Monterey to cover BMW Motorsport at the Tudor Championship Monterey Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. I planned a great route that would wind up the famous Highway 1 through the beautiful coastline of Big Sur, and I would return home on some of the best-driving back roads in California. What I didn’t know while I was planning the trip is that the drive up and back would be more fun than the race!

To catch our members’ eyes while I shared my travels on the BMW CCA social channels, BMW of North America loaned me an absolutely gorgeous M6 convertible in San Marino Blue Metallic that was prettier than the blue of the Pacific Ocean! I know this because as I stopped at a few of the scenic outlooks in Big Sur, people were gawking and staring at the car instead of the most beautiful coastline in the world. Indeed, it was hard to look away, as the contrast of the Opal White Merino Leather turned the car into an absolute stunner.

I covered almost a thousand miles in the five days that I had the M6, and I learned quite a bit about the current and future state of BMW M GmbH. As some of you may know, I own an E46 M3 that I absolutely love—but it feels like it’s from the Dark Ages compared to this car. The M6’s seats will hug you as you start driving a little aggressively. It will tell you when you’re leaving the lane by vibrating the steering wheel; a notification will appear in the head-up display if the car in front of you is slowing down and getting too close; and when you need to back out of a parking spot, it will provide you with an aerial view of the car and tell you how close you are to things around you with amazing accuracy.

But there were three things that I learned from the M6 that has changed my thinking about what BMW is doing with the M brand.

1. Turbos can be fantastic

I used to own a turbocharged car. It was quite a bit of fun when the turbos actually kicked in; the single turbo in my Subaru would produce boost somewhere around 3,500 rpm, and it would put you back in your seat. In the M6, if I couldn’t hear the whoosh of the turbo as it spools, or the pffft of the wastegates relieving the boost pressure, I would never know that the M6 was turbocharged. 

The BMW M6 accelerates quickly for a big car, pulling hard from low rpm all the way to redline, thanks to all the torque that the turbos provide—the same torque that gives you the ability to pass a slow-moving car without having to shift down a couple of gears. And even though the M6 has all that torque and 560 horsepower, while cruising on the freeway, I was able to get over 22 miles per gallon!

2. Carbon brakes are amazing

When I first heard that carbon-ceramic brakes were coming to BMW M cars, I was really excited, as I love seeing race-car technology make its way into a normal sports car. Then, when I was configuring a new car with this option, I realized that for some models, these brakes can be 10% of the total cost of the car! Your brain then starts to think about how long it will be before you have to replace them.

So I was really happy to see that the M6 was outfitted with the carbon brakes, as I wanted to give them a good test. It took me a couple of hours to get to some good twisty roads, and I had almost forgotten that the car was equipped with them. Then I stomped on the binders to slow down the 4,500-pound car before a tight corner, and was amazed at how quickly the speedometer dropped! Then I did it again—and again, and again—and every stop was exactly the same: There was no fade at all! I can’t wait to try these on a much lighter car like the M4; I will need to be sure I am strapped in tightly! 

If you have optioned a new BMW M car without the carbon brakes, you are doing it wrong.

3. DCT is definitely the future

I grew up in the computer-game generation; I mastered the Mario Kart drifting jump turn for faster cornering speeds to beat my brothers and sisters. I learned the Scandinavian Flick while rallying in the World Rally Championship in Colin McRae Rally. I stayed up to all hours of the night—okay, morning—perfecting my Nürburgring Nordschleife lap times in the Gran Turismo series. And when I shifted, it was at virtual race-car speed, at a tap of a button.

I remember when the E46 M3 was launched with the SMG transmission. All the writers seemed to fawn over the race-car technology and the way that it shifted [except for Satch.—ed.]. As that technology aged, it did not age well, so I bought my M3 with the manual. However, I still yearned for that video-game-like gearshift.

I found it in the M-DCT.

The M dual-clutch transmission (M-DCT) can shift fast—very fast. But you already knew that. What you were wondering is whether it takes away from the driving experience. The answer is an emphatic no; instead of thinking about whether to rev-match that downshift—will I need to heel-and-toe it as I locate my braking point and apex, while hoping there isn’t a slow-moving car admiring the beautiful coastal view just around the corner?—I can just tap the pedal for the carbon-ceramic brakes, pull back the paddle for a perfect rev-matched downshift, and eye my apex, allowing me to fully enjoy my time behind the wheel. Plus, when you get stuck in traffic, as I did in LA, you can throw it into auto mode and cruise along in stop-and-go traffic.

4. Convertibles have their place

I know I said three things, but I really wanted to point out how great the convertible was on this trip. A few days before I left, the Santa Ana winds kicked up, taking the normally pleasant coastal temps up to almost 100ºF in my home town of San Diego. Due to the heat, I changed my plans and headed for the coast, since it was a much more comfortable 82º on Highway 1 instead of what I am guessing was 1,000º in the central California valley. 

As I rolled out from lunch in San Luis Obispo, the tempetrature started to drop as I approached the coastline, and I dropped the top to enjoy it. Driving perhaps one of the most scenic highways in the world, with the ability to see—with no obstructions—the amazing panoramic landscapes as the sun set on the ocean, and hear the exhaust sounds bouncing off the hillside, was almost dream like. In fact, I am pretty sure I have had that dream. 

But no, it wasn’t a dream. I’ve got the photographic proof on our Instagram account right here!—Nate Risch