Where each one leads
Audi S6
- On Canada's official test the most frugal 2025 Audi S6 uses 10.8 l/100 km, the 2025 BMW M8 13.8.
- New Audi S6 cars registered in Europe in 2022 average 190 g/km of CO₂ on the WLTP test, against 260 for the BMW M8 in 2022.
BMW M8
- Against cars of the same year, the BMW M8 comes out better in New York safety inspections (fails 47% less often than average) than the Audi S6 (fails 41% less often than average).
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| Audi S6 | BMW M8 | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 1992–2025 | 2019–2024 |
| New cars registered in Europe | 17,483 (2010–2022) | 3,069 (2019–2022) |
| Licensed in the United Kingdom | 1,787 | 1,469 |
| On the road in the Netherlands | 1,083 | 156 |
| In traffic in Finland | 138 | — |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| Audi S6 | BMW M8 | |
|---|---|---|
| New York safety inspections failed | 1.0% | 0.4% |
| … against cars of the same year | −41% | −47% |
| Illogical odometer records (NL) | 9.4% | — |
| US owner complaints | 141 | 4 |
| Most complaints about | Engine | Vehicle speed control |
| Model year with most complaints | 2013 (42) | 2020 (4) |
| US recall campaigns | 21 | 4 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 10,257 | 384 |
| NHTSA defect investigations | 13 | — |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Safety
| Audi S6 | BMW M8 | |
|---|---|---|
| NHTSA overall rating | 5★ (2018) | — |
NHTSA New Car Assessment Program, most recent rated model year (public domain).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Audi S6 | BMW M8 | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | 10.8 l/100 km (2025) | 13.8 l/100 km (2025) |
| Real-world use in Europe, diesel hybrid | 8.8 l/100 km | — |
| Real-world use in Europe, petrol | — | 14.4 l/100 km |
| Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe | 190 g/km | 260 g/km |
| Average power of new cars in Europe | 253 kW (339 hp) | 459 kW (616 hp) |
| Average mass in running order | 2,086 kg | 2,048 kg |
| Dutch list price when new (median) | €132,826 | €246,599 |
| Average odometer in Finland | 181,000 km | — |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).