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What would you do if you were handed the key to a 2007 BMW M6 with a 5 liter V-10 engine capable of pumping out 500 horsepower? Would you enjoy the car to its full potential? Well, that’s what we’re trying to figure out, because if handed the keys, we would want to take it for a ride on one of the local California highways.
However, an American road simply won’t suffice to truly enjoy this machine. No off-ramp is long enough, no highway straight enough, and no empty parking lots to test the car’s true cornering potential. Our roads are too small for it, plain and simple. What BMW did was take the 6-Series coupe and make a faster version. The problem is the car can only be appreciated when it’s cruising at higher speeds as intended for places like the Autobahn. The M6’s transmission, when on American roads and—worse—in American traffic--queues the automated first-second shift. Then the computer disengages the gear, the throttle goes down to idle, the digital clutch considers its options a moment before re-engaging in second gear and orders the throttle back into action. This process takes a while, so when the gear re-engages, the M6 lurches like it's sucked up a bit of bad gas. Like most German cars, the M6 doesn’t like to stick around in first or second gear for long; instead, the M6 functions better all around in its higher gears. And enthusiasts wouldn’t want it any other way. The V10, 40-valve, high-compression (12.0:1), all-alloy block is equipped with 10 throttles (one for each cylinder), and BMW's stepless variable valve timing, all controlled by some sophisticated engine computers. The BMW engineers could have dialed in pretty much any character they want into the engine and we think they could have put the power lower in the rev band. The M6’s horsepower peaks at 7,750 rpm which close to the Honda Civic SI. This means that the car can’t reach its full potential unless you mash on the throttle and let the car do what its supposed to do for a while. Our take? If you’re planning to buy this $100,000 coupe, which can go 190 mph and rides smoothest at speeds over top national speeds, make sure you have race track access. You’ll thank BMW if you do. Otherwise, reconsider your purchase careful.
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