The BMW X6's new hi-tech all-wheel-drive system means it's flat and tight in the toughest turns. Photo Gallery
No one asked BMW to build the X6.
Even so, it has done the job and is now expecting a showroom rush from those who see it and realise they cannot live without a car that is a combination of four-wheel-drive and coupe.
It's an unlikely and unusual collision of cultures, because the X6 drives more like a hottie M5 than an off-roader, despite its chunky looks.
But BMW believes it is the right idea at the right time. It has research that says more people are liking the idea of a high-rider but do not want a truck. Others will go for something new and interesting, and a third group who grew up in the back of, say, a Range Rover want a car that has more 21st century chic.
“The X6, once again, sharpens the profile of BMW,” says Frank-Peter Arndt, the BMW board member presiding over the Australian X6 preview in South Carolina.
“We are repeating what we did in 1999 with the X5. In a nutshell, the BMW X6 represents an entirely new concept — the sports activity coupe.”
Arndt describes it as “a fascinating car, the most sporting and agile member of the X series” and “unique in the segment.”
We believe it has some serious flaws, despite a great drive, and that people would laugh out loud at the styling if it wore a Ssangyong tag and not a BMW badge.
But BMW does not want to hear and is racing ahead with aggressive plans for the X6, which it is positioning against the Porsche Cayenne and Range Rover with a premium price in Australia from $111,500 — against the $85,000 starter mark for the X5 wagon.
It has taken an upmarket approach by loading it with its latest twin-turbo diesel six and a petrol six from the start (a turbocharged petrol V8 engine will follow), and plenty of goodies that include its excellent new xDrive active all-wheel-drive system with Dynamic Performance Control.
There are also 19-inch alloys, sports seats and steering wheel, adaptive bi-xenon lamps, a hi-fi sound system, head-up instrument display and the usual automatic airconditioning.
The two launch models are called the X6 xDrive35i and X6 xDrive35d — 225 petrol kiloWatts and 210 in the diesel. Both have a six-speed auto and will be in showrooms by August. The X6 xDrive50i V8 with 300kW is set for January next year.
The mechanical package is the same as the X5's and the X6 is much the same size and weight, but the cabin has only four seats.
So the boot is claimed as a class leader and the rear space has two cushy buckets in place of a bench.
BMW says the X6 can easily go off-road but is not expecting anyone to do anything more taxing than snow trips and perhaps gravel-roading on the way to a weekend escape.
It trumpets the way it has turned the hulking X5 into a much sharper drive than a Cayenne or a Range Rover Sport, which has been a huge hit for the British — soon to be Indian — company.
And it should know, as BMW insiders say the original plan for the hunkered down Range Rover was done by its engineers before it sold the company to Ford.
“The real stage for any car is the road, and this is where the race is won,” Arndt says.
In Australia, BMW is predicting it will have more customers than cars.
BMW Australia spokesman Toni Andreevski says they are hoping to get about 250.
“There will be a heavier skew to the diesel, though less than in the X5,” he says. “In a full year the diesel will probably still be the best seller, about 500 to 600 cars next year, so still a premium niche vehicle.”
And the Australian team knows exactly what it expects from the X6.
“The X5 is the car you have to have, this is a car you want to have,” Andreevski says.
On the road
The X6 is a mean 'mutha' of a car that looks right at home among the pick-up trucks and hulking four-wheel-drives in the US. As for the rest of the world . . .
It also drives brilliantly well. The performance is great without slurping too much fuel, and it handles corners like a sports car.
The new hi-tech all-wheel-drive system and suspension settings mean the X6 sits flat and tight in the toughest turns, following the wheel.
It is quick and composed, without the rock-and-roll pitching of any other 4WD short of the Range Rover Sport. Pushed to the limit on a soaked skidpad, the X6 is calm and composed.
Turn off the electronics and it becomes a seriously skid-prone device obviously tamed and refined by a Dynamic Performance Control system that feeds as much as 80 per cent of torque to the wheel with the most grip.
The diesel six works well in the X6. The V8, complete with a V8 note that sounds like a World War II fighter under heavy load, is well-matched to the rest of the package.
Still, I believe the X6 is seriously flawed — and not just because of bodywork that reminds me of a Ssangyong Actyon in a party dress. It has only four seats, and I know people who have already dropped the X6 from their shopping list because they have a family of five. The front seats are excellent but the rear is tight and hard to enter without banging your head, the load height for the boot is stupidly high if you are lifting anything heavy, the view through the rear window is like a letterbox slot and there are huge blind spots on both sides.
The best way for most people to park the X6 is to call for a valet. Fine in America, but . . .
Predictably, BMW rejects all but the measurable criticism and says it is impossible to measure the X6 against the standards for anything already in showrooms.
“You're saying it fails to meet a target or a goal we've not set for the car,” Andreevski says. “It's a sports car, not a Toorak tractor for mums dropping the kids to school."
“It's not trying to be practical. It's trying to be an awesome drive.”
We know it is going to sell and sell and sell. There are people who have already had three X5s who want something different, people who will be fascinated by the technology, and people who will love the driving response. Others just want the newest thing with a BMW badge.
But the bottom line is simple: the X6 is the answer to a question that no one has asked.
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