I've joined the dark side aka former VW/Audi fanboi buys a BMW

Yah, so after 20 years of VW's and Audi's plus a few Infiniti's the car that spoke to me this time was a BWM.

Just picked up my new toy today!

An early production M6 Convertible - a 2012 which according to many sites doesn't seem to exist....

Originally Posted by MattK-M6

Yah, so after 20 years of VW's and Audi's plus a few Infiniti's the car that spoke to me this time was a BWM.

Just picked up my new toy today!

An early production M6 Convertible - a 2012 which according to many sites doesn't seem to exist....

I love it!

Well, it's about time!

Sweet ride, congrats.

looks great

Sent from my XT557 using Bimmer App

About time!

Welcome aboard!

Great car! Great colour! Congratulations! You're going to be grinning from ear to ear for a long time!

Wonderful. Exactly what I want too. Except I will take mine in Alpine white over red leather.

Yes sir!

Welcome aboard, Mattk-M6.

How does the M6 compare to the other cars you've owned? Please share your likes/dislikes.

Production year 2012 will be a model year 2013.

Thanks for the welcome and compliements!

Alpine - I love white cars - but I just had one - after years of black, silver and dark silver cars I had a blue one on the brain and this blue was beautiful to me - so many blues are so dark you might as well go black. If I was special ordering I would have ordered exactly this or Singaporeor Space Grey over Sakhir Orange. This car was on the lot with exactly the options I wanted except for ventilated seats - that's all i woud have changed.

petriej - sticker and reg say 2012, not 2013

bmwsocal - wow that's a tough one. I've has VW golfs, jettas, Audi A4/S4/allroad, infiniti M35x, M56x...tough to compare and it's only been about 36 hours but my initial comments would be...more stream of consciousnes then order pro/con

-WOW this thing is FAST - the speed is crazy addictive. My M56X was fast (5.6L V8 ~4.5s 0-60). I've read a bunch of different 0-60 numbers for the M ranging from 3.7-4.3s but what really matters,20-60, 40-90 and er 70+ are simply AMAZING.

-The M6 is pure bada55-sexy looking. I went into the showroom having had a deposit on a Tesla Model S for 5 months but my build slot came up and after 2 TD's I just found myself making too many compromises to early-adopt the Tesla...maybe next time because it did have so awesome features. Anyway, I went into the BMW showroom to check out an M5...but this was on the floor and I dunno - rationality went out the door and lust kicked in. I always thought I was more of a 911 guy but it was too uncompromising to be my everyday driver; the M6 scratched my sportscar itch enough while giving me the COMFORT, features and luxury I also wanted.

-Yah, it doesn't have the road feel of a classic M3, or a 911, but I'm afraid nothing else does that isn't a true sports car; this is a GT and while it's handling is superb but I don't trust it yet; tons of power, tons of weight and RWD. I drove it 30 miles in the rain tonight and unlike the AWD cars I've been driving for the past 15 years...well, it's no audi in the wet - that's for sure!

-I LOVE the exhaust note especially the waste gate dumps off throttle.

-The 20 way adjustable seats are amazing - you really can customize the seat to your body; class leading.

-BMW nav is substandard compared to inifinit - even a 5 year old one; the infiniti system is superior in almost every conceivable way. It also falls considerably short of Audis current offering. Interface, software, features - all of it. It works fine but BMW is clearly lagging in this area.

-idrive, while hugely improved over previous versions I have tested, is still too many menus 'deep' for a lot of functions I want to get to more easily. The infiniti has a few more dedicated buttons that make a substantial difference. I'll get better/faster with iDrive but it's still...cluttered.

-heated steering wheel response time is faster than my infiniti was.

-OK there is a MAX AC button but I need a MAX HEAT button for driving top down in the northeast in the winter!

-iPhone integration when plugged in is vasty superior to over bluetooth - but the phone audio quality seems to suffer. Go figure.

-Soft close doors = gimmick. I'd love to have hands free trunk power opening/closing.

-Auto highbeams - I used them tonight; they worked way better than expected.

-The radio mode switches between AM/FM only. Why doesn't it simply ALSO cycle through satellite and BT or connected audio as well - that would save like 5 clicks/spins in idrive!

That's all for now....

MattK-M6: On your last point, note that there are 8 programmable buttons 1-8 to the right of the volume dial. So you can program button 1 to FM, button 2 to Bluetooth audio, you can program button 3 to dial home, etc. I never use the mode button.

I've done that - well some of that but then I can't use them as radio presets which is what I am programmed to do after 25 years....I guess I'll have to get used to the steering wheel/instrument cluster of surfing radio presets.

Originally Posted by MattK-M6

I've done that - well some of that but then I can't use them as radio presets which is what I am programmed to do after 25 years....I guess I'll have to get used to the steering wheel/instrument cluster of surfing radio presets.

I think you should be able to store anything that you can bring through the command menu on the top buttons, including radio stations. I also find the current voice-recognition software to be much better than earlier version. I use it quite a bit, including for radio stations. Just say FM 106.1 or whatever your favorite station frequency, it will go there no problem....

How does the M6 ride in comfort mode? I value my back, so unlike younger members of our forum I drive my 650 mostly in comfort+. How does it compare with your previous A4 and S4?

Thanks, I will be sure to check it out...there's a lot to learn with this car.

I've been keeping the suspension in comfort mode most of the time to be honest with you. The first day I set up the M1/M2 buttons as M1: comfort (dampers/steering) with sport (engine/transmission) and M2 as: all sport+ so that I could compare extremes. I have toggled back and forth a bit those rare times I've had a chance to play with the car but it's been a busy week and I have a very short commute so I've spent depressingly little time playing with my new toy. I haven't yet played with the DSC settings and have left DSC on fully except for about 5 minutes of parking lot hooliganism.

I've been out of the A4 and S4 for years now so it's hard to compare to them and even if I could they were 2000 and 2003 model year cars both of which I modified to some extent. Even in comfort mode the ride is considerably stiffer than my M56X which had 19" wheels; the M has the 20's and they're 30/35 aspect so they're rubber bands and you cannot do much to hide that. This is hardly a fair comparison though apples/oranges.

My guess would be that you, and anyone, would basically be fine with the M in comfort mode but it's still not particularly forgiving; that's not what the car is about.

One unintended consequence of the new car is my daughter (7- 2nd grade) asked me to pick her up at school every day last week (she would normally be on the bus but her school is 1.5 miles from the office) and despite the 45 degree weather we had last week she requested - no demanded - that the top be down every time.
I think she loves the car as much as I do - maybe more...

Originally Posted by MattK-M6

Thanks, I will be sure to check it out...there's a lot to learn with this car.

I've been keeping the suspension in comfort mode most of the time to be honest with you. The first day I set up the M1/M2 buttons as M1: comfort (dampers/steering) with sport (engine/transmission) and M2 as: all sport+ so that I could compare extremes. I have toggled back and forth a bit those rare times I've had a chance to play with the car but it's been a busy week and I have a very short commute so I've spent depressingly little time playing with my new toy. I haven't yet played with the DSC settings and have left DSC on fully except for about 5 minutes of parking lot hooliganism.

I've been out of the A4 and S4 for years now so it's hard to compare to them and even if I could they were 2000 and 2003 model year cars both of which I modified to some extent. Even in comfort mode the ride is considerably stiffer than my M56X which had 19" wheels; the M has the 20's and they're 30/35 aspect so they're rubber bands and you cannot do much to hide that. This is hardly a fair comparison though apples/oranges.

My guess would be that you, and anyone, would basically be fine with the M in comfort mode but it's still not particularly forgiving; that's not what the car is about.

One unintended consequence of the new car is my daughter (7- 2nd grade) asked me to pick her up at school every day last week (she would normally be on the bus but her school is 1.5 miles from the office) and despite the 45 degree weather we had last week she requested - no demanded - that the top be down every time.
I think she loves the car as much as I do - maybe more...

Ha Good deal... Your daughter has excellent taste.. :beerchug lol