First Drive Review
Take an extra-close look at the pictures of the new X6, because the success of this new X5-based SUV depends on it. Is the X6 beautiful? Ground breaking? Fashionable? Or does it come across as a lifted five-door hatchback?
To arrive at the X6, BMW took the seven-passenger X5 chassis and created a lower-slung SUV with a dramatically sloping rear roofline that only seats four. The aggressive new sheetmetal makes the X5 look comparatively conservative, and it’s a key point here, because the X6 is less practical than the X5, while its price has been jacked up by as much as $8500.
However, if the styling isn’t exactly your thing, take a peek under the hood. In the base model, the xDrive35i, you’ll find the overachieving 300-hp, direct-injection, twin-turbo, 3.0-liter inline-six we all know from the 335i and 135i. The step-up model, called the xDrive50i, is powered by a new, twin-turbo 4.4-liter V-8. It’s rated at 400 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque, but if BMW works its turbo magic as it did with the inline-six, could the new V-8 feel more like 500 horses strong?
Not As Compromised As It Looks
When we first saw the X6’s sloping rear end, we figured the back seat would be nearly uninhabitable for adults and that BMW had seen fit to erase most of the X6’s cargo space in the name of style.
Surprisingly, it’s actually quite roomy inside. The back seat of the X6 loses just 0.7 inch of legroom and 1.8 inches of headroom compared with an X5, but it’s still plenty to comfortably accommodate a couple of six-plus-foot occupants. And the cargo volume is 60 cubic feet, a reduction of two cubic feet. As for looks, the X6 has an identical interior to the X5, except for the incredibly tacky knee pads added for driver and passenger, supposedly to encourage sporty driving. We pushed the X6 to its limits and never once saw a need for them.
However, rearward visibility has been sacrificed somewhat. It isn’t unacceptable while driving, but plan to opt for the $400 rearview camera for backup assistance because entire cars can disappear behind you.
Ridiculously Capable
Have you ever comfortably slid a 5000-pound SUV through a 90-mph sweeper? Up to this point, we hadn’t either, but BMW turned us loose at Michelin’s proving ground in Laurens, South Carolina, where we did just that.
Not only did it slide around controlably, but for something this big and heavy, the X6 has amazing turn-in and grip, and the brakes never overheated. Sure, the X6 understeers mildly at the limit, but the fact that it doesn’t plow like most every other ute is surprising. However, we tried everything—sharp steering inputs, jumping out of the throttle midcorner—and the rear end will not come around. (Except in the wet. We’ll get to that later.) Also surprising is the agreeable heft of the steering wheel as well as the meaningful feedback transmitted through it.
Did we mention that the X6 xDrive50i laps the Nürburgring nearly as quickly as a previous-generation E46 M3? It does.
The cars we drove were all fitted with the aggressive Sport package that includes 20-inch Dunlop SP Sport Maxx tires (275/40R-20 front, 315/35R-20 rear) instead of the base 19s, and on public roads it took a handful of tries before we could actually believe how quickly we could pitch the X6 into corners. We expect a skidpad number near 0.90 g, or as grippy as a 3-series with the Sport package.
The X6 almost needs more power equipped with this much tire. Even a brake-torque launch in the twin-turbo V-8 model doesn’t so much as chirp a tire. What fun is it to never be able to lose traction?
