BMW X6M: review

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  It's 'distinctive'...in the same way a giant cane toad in a dinner suit is distinctive. Photo Gallery

Kevin Hepworth road tests and reviews the ‘distinctive’ BMW X6M

It is one of the mysteries of our time: what possessed a company like BMW to produce a car like the X6?

It is easy enough to summise that in the desperate race to one-up the competition and create yet another new sub-niche in this case a Sports Activity Vehicle the pressure in the new product room was getting a little intense.

Maybe the conversation went something like this: "We make good sportscars, ja? And we make a really good 4WD, ja? So why don't we now make a really, really big AWD sportscar with just four seats and styling to scare the kinden? OK, all agreed ... now lets go to lunch."

Maybe, maybe not.

However, and this is purely subjective, the X6 look — in any form — is, well, particular. And fascinating. Ugly is such a harsh word, so maybe ‘distinctive’ is better. In the same way a giant cane toad in a dinner suit is distinctive. That said, I am obviously out of step with at least 573 extroverts who chose an X6 as their personal solution to not being looked at enough in crowded places. Everybody looks at an X6 — at least once. You can't help it.

Those sales figures outstripped even BMW's most optimistic hopes for the model. The Bavarian Motor Works were hoping that maybe 300 antipodean buyers could find it in their hearts to love an X6. That almost twice as many did speaks as much for the company's standing as it does for the car itself.

Now they have handed the car to the performance meisters at the M factory. It doesn't really change a great deal ... it only makes the X6M a little more fascinating and no less ‘distinctive’.

Price and drivetrain

For just $179,900 you too can drive a 408kW, 680Nm monster of a four-seat grand-sports tourer set on an xDrive active all-wheel drive platform designed for a soft-roader and now doing duty getting the X6M's great gobs of torque distributed to all four wheels in a ratio decided by a bank of computing power that could conceivably send this brute to the moon.

The M-tweaked bi-turbo 4.4-litre V8 can shift the X6M's 2.3-tonne bulk from rest to 100km/h in a very impressive 4.7 seconds (claimed) — a tick quicker than Porsche's Cayenne Turbo and has to be held back to an electronically limited top speed of 250km/h. They are impressive figures, and to be honest the X6M is an impressive car once you come to terms with its shortcomings.

Interior

All the nice interior bits are there. The seats are wonderfully supportive, gripping and comfortable; the safety package is unquestioned with airbags to burn and all the electronic wizardry BMW's best has been renowned for; the entertainment package and navigation are excellent and the heads-up display is a personal favourite. There was a slight issue with the rear-view camera in the test car but it was no biggy and more significantly, the car has what is now rightly considered a crucial piece of safety equipment.

Driving

Now on to its M-ness. Historically, almost anything to come out of the M Division has been worthy of praise and desire. For model after model, generation after generation the mantra has been focussed, lightweight performance in search of driving enjoyment. A worthy quest, but much about the X6M flies in the face of that. And it is all about degrees.

For an SUV, the X6M is an extraordinary beast. It is almost $100,000 cheaper than its nearest performance rival (Cayenne Turbo) and divisions ahead of it's nearest price rival (Mercedes ML63) in capability. Yet, it is not satisfying in the manner of an M3 or an M5 or even an M6.

Riding on 20-inch alloys shod with the latest in run-flat technology the M suspension does a very admirable job of giving the X6M a firm but fair ride around town in its everyday applications. Everything about the car feels bigger or heavier, yet it is not unpleasant.

That is up to a point ... a point any responsible owner is not going to reach anywhere but on a race track.

Moving the two-plus tonnes of the X6M in a straight line is one thing. Getting that mass to change direction without a whole lot of fuss is another. There comes a point — albeit one further out than first expectations — when even the mastery of the boys and girls from the M garage can't disguise the laws of physics as mass meets moment of inertia and the true size of the X6M comes sharply back into focus. It doesn't necessaryly have to get ugly but it sure can get frantic.

There is also the small matter of the X6M's ‘optimised’ six-speed automatic. As smooth and efficient as it is, it is no substitute for the race-bred double clutch automatics available in the rest of the M range.

Yet, for all of that, I have to admit to enjoying my time in the big red beastie. Its size and presence imparted a sense of importance that probably says more about me than it does about the car.

Bottom line: A big, bold, powerful player ... warts and all.

BMW X6M
Price: $179,900
Engine: 4.4L/V8 bi-turbo, 408kW/680Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic, active all-wheel drive
Economy: 14.3L/100km (claimed), 16.8L/100km as tested
Rating: 83/100
Rivals
Porsche Cayenne Turbo S: $281,400, 86/100
Mercedes ML63: $171,500, 80/100
BMW X5M: $172,900, 84/100