BMW M6 Competition Package (2009) CAR review

The M6 came out aeons ago (well, 2005), so BMW has seen fit to give it a refresh with the optional Competition Package, a collection of enhancements that ups the M6’s £83,700 sticker price by £2135. For that you get uprated suspension that’s 12mm lower at the front and 10mm lower at the rear. There are also more lenient stability control and ABS settings (ie the electronics will wait a little longer before jumping in to save your bacon), a gorgeous new bonnet complete with clamshell-like central strakes, a fresh twist on the brilliant M differential and 19-inch alloys that look the same but are half an inch wider.

Can you tell the difference between this Competition Package-equipped BMW M6 and any other?

Yes and no. We couldn’t pluck up the courage to do 100mph powerslides on our local slip roads, so the benefits of the revised differential elude us. Track time with the standard car does leave us a little confused, however – the regular M diff offers up to 100 percent lock-up and works brilliantly. What’s more, the handling nuances of the half-inch wider Pirelli rubber was also lost on us. But the competition pack is categorically not a waste of time.

>> Click 'Next' below to read more of our BMW M6 Competition Pack first drive