Time to switch it up? (E63 M6 6MT)

[srmast1]

Hello everybody! So I have a 6mt e90 but no longer need a 4dr sports car, and I would love a powerful 6mt convertible of some kind but NOT an e93 (No offense to anybody). Now, I love the high revving nature of the s65, so i was leaning towards a 2010 e63 m6 6mt. I'm an aftermarket warranty kinda guy and the s85 can be a scary engine. I have an aftermarket warranty which i bought from my local bmw dealership on my e90 which I have utilized. I wonder if I could even buy a decent aftermarket warranty on a 8 or 9 yr old m6. The m6 would have to have less than 50k miles or be a well sorted higher mileage car with all standard maintainence performed, no leaks/weeps as well as vanos maintainence and rod bearings.

So what do you guys/gals think of the e63 m6? Ugly? Pretty? Unreliable? Inferior to the m3? Awesome? Also, if you all were in my situation what kind of car would you go with? I have an audi a4 for DD and my wife drives an MDX. Would you keep the m3? It has 57k miles on it and runs beautifully. We used to take trips in the m3 often, but now it is solely my weekend/personal toy and serves almost no utilitarian purpose other than pleasure for me. I would not want to spend much over $32k on another car and of course I would have to sell my e90m 1st. Thoughts?

[shimmy23]

I've always liked the m6. So my vote is go for it if you're looking for a sporty yet luxury vert.

As far as warranty, I think it'd be hard to find a company willing to offer a warranty on a car that old regardless of miles, maybe carmax offers something if you buy from them?

[Kamen]

To me, the soft top of the M6 kills it's looks, but that's pretty subjective

[tooloud10]

I would rather have my E93 than an M6 convertible, but that's just me.

[Shiza]

In my opinion soft tops always ruin the shape of a car and the E63 is not a pretty car to begin with. If you want a fun 2 seater and dont mind a soft top check out a 997.1. The convertibles usually sell for less and you could get one around your $32k budget.


But I'd keep the E90

[R3dliner]

The S85 with a exhaust is a force to be reckoned with. I'd jump on a clean one if you can find.

[zipper228]

If I was buying another convertible right now, I'd definitely be considering a Corvette 427. High revving - not so much, but checks the 6spd and power boxes, while also being somewhat unique. A lot of people seem to forget that it even exists. Might stretch your budget to the 40k range but I could see them holding their value well. It was a one model year car with limited production and a fantastic motor. Reliability should be no issue as well.

[spazzyfry123]

Originally Posted by Reed

In my opinion soft tops always ruin the shape of a car and the E63 is not a pretty car to begin with. If you want a fun 2 seater and dont mind a soft top check out a 997.1. The convertibles usually sell for less and you could get one around your $32k budget.


But I'd keep the E90

Agreed.

[JackieChiles]

Originally Posted by srmast1

Hello everybody! So I have a 6mt e90 but no longer need a 4dr sports car, and I would love a powerful 6mt convertible of some kind but NOT an e93 (No offense to anybody). Now, I love the high revving nature of the s65, so i was leaning towards a 2010 e63 m6 6mt. I'm an aftermarket warranty kinda guy and the s85 can be a scary engine. I have an aftermarket warranty which i bought from my local bmw dealership on my e90 which I have utilized. I wonder if I could even buy a decent aftermarket warranty on a 8 or 9 yr old m6. The m6 would have to have less than 50k miles or be a well sorted higher mileage car with all standard maintainence performed, no leaks/weeps as well as vanos maintainence and rod bearings.

So what do you guys/gals think of the e63 m6? Ugly? Pretty? Unreliable? Inferior to the m3? Awesome? Also, if you all were in my situation what kind of car would you go with? I have an audi a4 for DD and my wife drives an MDX. Would you keep the m3? It has 57k miles on it and runs beautifully. We used to take trips in the m3 often, but now it is solely my weekend/personal toy and serves almost no utilitarian purpose other than pleasure for me. I would not want to spend much over $32k on another car and of course I would have to sell my e90m 1st. Thoughts?

Personally I think it’s a terrible choice.

It’s super heavy and unreliable.

A 981 boxster s sounds like a perfect choice. Lightweight, incredible sounding and revving engine and 3000 lbs. its also very reliable. it’s an awesome car

I prefer the cayman, but I’m not a convertible guy.

Of course, if the m6 has a big appeal to you, who cares what we think?

[Montaver]

A sof top M6 has the chassis rigidity of a paper bag, the driving dynamics are severely compromised. My memory of reviews at the time is they were not particularly favorable.

For a $30k convertible its Boxster, S2K, Elise, or Miata - in that order.

[Siajoon]

Keep the m3

[srmast1]

Awesome feedback everybody..thats just the kind of stuff I need to hear (read)! I had never even considered a Porsche because I feel like they are better suited to older gentleman but I keep forgetting im 39 so I fall into that category now! porsches are a great suggestion!
The s2k and miata might be a tad small and yes of course keeping the m3 is the most cost effective route. I will look into the 'vette but 40k is probably a bit too high. As far as the m5 goes, I just don't want/need another 4 Door car but I do love the e39 and e60 M5s.

And yeah, the m6 isn't the prettiest and hard as hell to find with a 6mt and around 50k miles, but that s85 v10 with an exhaust is indeed a force to be reckoned with and it might be the best sounding engine ever! However, it took me a year to find the m3 as well. I might just be in the market for a Porsche now...

Please, keep the suggestions coming!

[Ab28]

Buddy of mine had an E63 M6 'Vert with an Eisenmann exhaust. The thing sounded unreal. One of the best sounding cars I've heard honestly. With the top down and the tach high in the range it was sick.

Other than that it was pretty horrible. Cowl shake, heavy in the corners, even worse on gas than the E9x cars. Didn't care for the design all that much either.


-----

Would you feel better suited to a E92? If its just the 4 doors that are making you feel less sporty (totally subjective) there are a bunch of mods you could buy to offset that.

[srmast1]

Originally Posted by lat77

Buddy of mine had an E63 M6 'Vert with an Eisenmann exhaust. The thing sounded unreal. One of the best sounding cars I've heard honestly. With the top down and the tach high in the range it was sick.

Other than that it was pretty horrible. Cowl shake, heavy in the corners, even worse on gas than the E9x cars. Didn't care for the design all that much either.


-----

Would you feel better suited to a E92? If its just the 4 doors that are making you feel less sporty (totally subjective) there are a bunch of mods you could buy to offset that.

I have considered an e92 because I love the way they look and the agility of the car is amazing. If I was to go that route, it would look for a CF roof 6mt competition package. It's just that s85, where else can one find a v10 in a modern production car? It is however rather excessive, i admit that. I do not want to mod the e90. It is fully stock besides an ultimate clutch pedal and zcp shift knob.

[Ab28]

Originally Posted by srmast1

I have considered an e92 because I love the way they look and the agility of the car is amazing. If I was to go that route, it would look for a CF roof 6mt competition package. It's just that s85, where else can one find a v10 in a modern production car? It is however rather excessive, i admit that. I do not want to mod the e90. It is fully stock besides an ultimate clutch pedal and zcp shift knob.

Can't agree that the agility is better than the E90. The sedan is actually shorter and more rigid (barely though)

Only V10s I can think of are the Viper, Gallardo, R8, LFA, and Carrera GT lol

Talk about small company.

[InspireSiR]

Back in 2013 I had a chance to buy a brand new E92 M3 or a 2010 E60 M5 6-speed with approx 2k miles on it.

Went with the M3. Besides the NA V10, the M5 didn't tick the boxes I wanted. The transmission gearing was totally wrong for that motor. It handled so much differently than an M3, you could really feel the weight. And all the maintenance issues with Vanos, bearings, throttle actuators, etc. made me rethink if I really wanted to own that car.

Now, almost 6 years later, I definitely made the right choice. That iDrive user interface has not aged well at all.

Just my $0.02.

[srmast1]

Originally Posted by InspireSiR

Back in 2013 I had a chance to buy a brand new E92 M3 or a 2010 E60 M5 6-speed with approx 2k miles on it.

Went with the M3. Besides the NA V10, the M5 didn't tick the boxes I wanted. The transmission gearing was totally wrong for that motor. It handled so much differently than an M3, you could really feel the weight. And all the maintenance issues with Vanos, bearings, throttle actuators, etc. made me rethink if I really wanted to own that car.

Now, almost 6 years later, I definitely made the right choice. That iDrive user interface has not aged well at all.

Just my $0.02.

Don't get me wrong, I love my e90m, I just don't need a 4dr any longer. I'm also considering an m4 with 6mt. I'm just in no hurry to go back to turbo cars. Maybe an e92 also or perhaps a corvette.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by JackieChiles

A 981 boxster s sounds like a perfect choice. Lightweight, incredible sounding and revving engine and 3000 lbs. its also very reliable. it’s an awesome car

Are you seriously saying the 6 cylinder Boxer engine is 'incredible sounding' compared to the V10?

What?

[Richbot]

The E63 M6 vert is an amazing car. It's the only V10 droptop you can bring 3 friends in, and definitely the only one ever offered with a manual trans. The list of reasonable competitors is 1 car long: Aston DB9/S volante, and they only made a few dozen sticks. It's an experience you can't get many other places.

There will always be boxsters and 911 cabs laying around, flung aside to chase the latest and greatest GTS T R 4S Weissach Edition Special Plaid.2 version of each porsche, like so many used cigarette butts satisfying for 2 minutes and on to the next hit, so don't worry about finding one if you ever REALLY need to scratch that itch but pretty soon the V10 cars will all be blowed up crashed or stored somewhere by idiots who think bulbous flabby softtop GT cars are collectibles and aren't meant to be rolling and singing V10 noises in somebody's ears all day long

[xander_g]

Always had a soft spot for the m6, seems it never gets love. Hope you find a well sorted one.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by Richbot

The E63 M6 vert is an amazing car. It's the only V10 droptop you can bring 3 friends in, and definitely the only one ever offered with a manual trans. The list of reasonable competitors is 1 car long: Aston DB9/S volante, and they only made a few dozen sticks. It's an experience you can't get many other places.

There will always be boxsters and 911 cabs laying around, flung aside to chase the latest and greatest GTS T R 4S Weissach Edition Special Plaid.2 version of each porsche, like so many used cigarette butts satisfying for 2 minutes and on to the next hit, so don't worry about finding one if you ever REALLY need to scratch that itch but pretty soon the V10 cars will all be blowed up crashed or stored somewhere by idiots who think bulbous flabby softtop GT cars are collectibles and aren't meant to be rolling and singing V10 noises in somebody's ears all day long

Exactly. I've had the honor of driving the E60 M5 6mt with an exhaust a few times and it is absolutely memorable.

To discuss a Boxster in the same sentence as an E6X M is really worth of the banstick.

I am always amazed at the number of Porsche guys that haven't come out of the closet yet. Come out already! Go to Rennlist! And please come to a track day near me with your prized possession...

[spazzyfry123]

I know it's a truck motor, but have you given a Viper a thrashing if it's the V10 itch you're looking to scratch?

I think I'd rather have an E60, but a newer gen Dodge Ram, err, Viper ain't nothing to sneeze at.