BMW X6 M IS BIG BUT SMALL AS WELL

By Paul Borden - Mar 2010

The operative word when it comes to BMW’s X6 M must be big.

“Boy, that’s a big car,” my neighbor said as he looked it over. Big.

“Boy, this is a big car,” my wife said when she first saw in the driveway. Yes, big.

“This is a big car,” said Shaquille O’Neal as he climbed on the stepladder to get into the driver’s seat.
You get the idea. The X6 M is a BIG car.

This is especially so in the back. This is some back end.
The liftgate bulges outward, the taillights are nearly at eye level, and the twin dual exhausts are almost knee-high.

It’s the Jennifer Lopez of crossover vehicles.Except once you get in it, the X6 M (If you’re not familiar with BMW, the M designates the upgrades in performance for the standard X6 line, which we will get into later.) is no longer so big.

It seats only four, unless someone in the back is willing to sit on the rear console, which we don’t advise because it wouldn't be very comfortable and there is no seatbelt there. And storage space behind the backseat is not all that great. With the second row up, storage capacity is but 25.5 cubic feet, which is much less than what you’ll find in a Lexus RX 350, for example, that costs about half the X6 M.

The glove compartment is on the small side, too, capable of holding, well, a pair of gloves and the thick owner’s manual packet but not a whole lot more. You can tow up to 6,600 pounds, however..

But let’s face it. You’re not going to buy an X6 M to make runs to the local Home Depot or Lowe’s. Its hauling capacity is second to its ability to haul you-know-what.

For that, you’ll find a 4.4-liter V8 engine rated at 555 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque. Even with a minimum of 5,324 pounds to haul around, that’s a lot of power. When you put your foot on the accelerator, it accelerates! BMW says the zero-to-60 time is under five seconds. Power is distributed to all four wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission.

Yes, I said automatic and in an M. The lack of a manual tranny is a departure from the traditional M line, but there are steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters for those who prefer to select their gears manually. It’s a compromise, but one many may be willing to live with.

The shift lever on the center console does take some getting used to, however. To shift from park into drive or reverse, you must depress a small button on the side of the knob. If you forget, the center screen gives you an annoying reminder, and to get rid of that you have to press a knob on the console. You shift into park by depressing a small button on the top of the shift knob.

The X6 M rides on standard 20-inch wheels, and you can adjust the suspension from normal to sport mode if you want to add a little zest to your daily commute. It doesn’t make this mammoth of the roadway zip around like a Z3 or Z4, for example, but neither does it lumber through turns or getting away from intersections. About the only real concession you have to make for its size is when you’re trying to find a spot to park it.


 

Click on pictures to enlarge

And there’s a whole lot of technology available to help you through that maneuver. In fact, sometimes you have to wonder if BMW is designing an automobile interior or an electronics lab. The X6 M, like about every model in the BMW lineup, is packed full of technological wonders that were impossible to master completely in the week of our test session.

The X6 M comes with BMW’s famous (or infamous) iDrive, but fear not. It has been simplified since the original system was introduced just after the turn over the century and the company had to issue special instruction cards so parking valets could start it.

The basics of the navigation system were easy to fathom, even for someone who has never browsed the web on his cellphone. And it was equally easy to get from station-to-station or AM-FM-Satellite mode. You can even adjust the temperature on the A/C by simply turning one of two knobs (one for the driver, one for the passenger). Imagine something so simple from German engineers.

But there are plenty of other options and functions for the curious to explore.