Here she is. The color is Monte Carlo Blue with Canyon Brown individual leather interior. It cost a little extra and also pushed delivery back 6-8 weeks. The color is the M5 launch color but it was not officially available on the M6. I'm very happy with the result and very glad I made the effort to spec it this way.
Overall, I am very very impressed with this car. I am not looking for this to be like a Scuderia or 911 GT3-- I was looking for a sporty GT and thats exactly what this is. Its basically a 7 series convertible on steroids. Ive never driven a convertible that is so stiff. It is much stiffer than the Ferrari 458 spider I drove a few weeks ago. On the 458 the rear view mirror was jiggling around all the time, as our roads are pretty uneven. On the M6 the rear view mirror is stable. There is some judder/ shutter over the worst road imperfections, but compared to every other convertible Ive ever driven, this is a huge improvement. I guess structural integrity plays a large part in justifying the 4500lb curb weight- yep- it really is a 7 series.
The DCT is a delight. This is the same basic Getrag 7 speed DCT that Ferrari uses. The differences are software and gearing. The Ferrari during full power shifts gives a little more of a slam between gears, thus making it more dramatic and visceral. Also the paddles feel better on the Ferrari and they are steering column mounted vs the steering wheel ones on the BMW. I prefer the Ferrari approach here- but its a minor issue. During full acceleration gear shifts the M6 also gives a little bang and I like that. Its so good. This transmission is actually smoother than most automatics.
The throttle response is excellent in sport plus mode. There doesn't seem to be any turbo lag. The motor feels strong through out the rev range but from the mid point on it feels like the VANOS opens up the CAM profile more and the car transforms from simply fast to a beast!! There's always that 4500lbs of mass that the power has to overcome, but it overcomes it quickly. The motor seems like it likes to rev- I haven't really driven it all that hard- I just have ~140 miles on it (and thus, also on the Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, which seem to me to be fantastic).
The steering in comfort mode has good weighting, the other modes are too heavy and seem to swap the minimal steering feel that is there for extra weighting. There is feel there, but its only good when judged against the cars of today.
The brakes feel like BMW brakes. Good feel, great stopping for street applications. I stayed with the steel brakes, I did not see a reason to go with the carbon brakes. That basically covered the cost of the semi custom color choice. The M painted calipers are nice. I wish they did something a little more for the rear calipers but now I'm nit picking and the brakes work well- and they are huge which is always neat to look at. I suspect on the track they would get overheated- again this is a big heavy car- but I think they would hold out for a little while- which is probably an improvement over the prior M brakes. However, for driving on the street, these seem like a great choice. I have no doubt at all if I had to panic stop the car would stop immediately.
The car feels much more nimble than a 4500 lb car. From the drivers seat it feels 1000 lbs lighter. I have not really pushed it in corners (again brand new car and tires) but its typical M car- feels sharp for street driving, probably has some understeer as you really get on it, thats good for most people. The other day I took a turn a little more aggressively and I got on the power and I could feel the tail wanting to step out and power slide- so its also typical M car on that. Ive found the preferred suspension mode is sport. Comfort is actually ok and isnt overly floaty but I like the more buttoned down feel of sport. Sport plus isn't rock hard but its a little too over dampened for most public roads.
I should note the car has 3 settings (comfort, sport, sport plus) for each of:
engine/throttle
suspension dampers
steering weighting
So in essence you have a car that is true to what I think M cars should be which is powerful, relatively nimble, and has an edge to it; yet its safe, practical; and relatively easy to live with.
The best thing I can say about it is I can't stop driving it. I want to drive it everywhere. So here she is.