With which ingredients can you poison sporty driving fun? Take a body towering over 1,70 meters, stretch it to almost five meters in length and bring the weight of two full-grown bulls. Everything that the BMW X6. Theoretically, his data sheet is expected to slow down pulse-accelerating moments behind the wheel. But far from it.
Externally, the second generation of Bavaria, which has been available since 2014, continues to be impressive. The X6 continues to maintain its record-breaking format for European standards, blows unchecked on significantly more than two verstötende meter width, shows in the front however, more harmonious and closer to complacent base brother X5.
If you start the engine, the Bavarian luxury SUV can redeem the in-house claim in driving performance and dynamics even with the smallest gasoline engine. After just a few meters you forget that more than two tons of weight are being moved. The straight-six with 225 KW / 306 PS and 400 Newtonmeter torque easily accelerates the X6 in 6,4 seconds to Tempo 100. Once the colossus has picked up speed, not only do GTI and OPC runabouts quickly scare the left highway lane.
With species-appropriate spout the powerhouse always shows sovereign and smooth running. His sports automatic transmission works wide awake and the suspension almost transforms the largest Bavarian X model into a flying carpet. Depending on the field of application, the driver can choose between several levels of experience and, for example, switch from the prudent Eco- to the snappy Sport Plus mode. Visually changes then the soothing blue cockpit including bonus range indicator in warning reds. Feeling the throttled Efficiency King is an unabashed athlete. Fortunately, the awakened by the electronics response does not cause him above average thirst: If the heavyweight in city traffic is often held on the comfort or fuel economy line, contented the X6 xDrive35i with about 11,8 liters.
If you don't care about fuel consumption and the engine is too weak, you can order the more powerful petrol engine (330 kW / 450 PS) or the Godzilla X6 M with 423 kW / 575 PS V8 petrol engine from BMW. If a diesel engine is to work under the voluminous hood, there is a choice of three units with a power range from 258 to 381 hp.
Our test car with the "small" petrol engine concealed its huge dimensions while driving. Only in a few moments let him bring the many kilos and the high center of gravity significantly lower air. The advantage of the high stature is the majestic outlook and overview. He also spoils with feudal space in the interior. If you are bothered by the much-criticized sloping roof line, you should better reach for an old-fashioned automobile and stretch your giraffe's neck there. In reality, the oblique shape only slightly curtails the headroom of the rear passengers.
So that the dimensions of the X6 do not take revenge in the city and tight parking spaces do not force you to take measurements, the help of cameras is indispensable with the Colossus. Depending on the buyer's willingness to invest, a whole army of electronic rescue angels can watch over the X6. However, just a few small crosses are driving up the price level for luxury treats. Chic 20-inchers swallow 1.800 euros, if the adaptive chassis package Dynamic is to be on board, BMW charges a further 3.300 euros, for adaptive LED headlights an additional 2.000 euros are due and whoever wants a color other than black should average around 1.000 euros and allow up to 2.300 euros for individual paintwork. And nice gadgets such as steering wheel heating (250 euros), surround view (740 euros), a multifunctional instrument display (400 euros) or the razor-sharp head-up display (1.400 euros) quickly inflate the base price of 67.000 euros.
But just as any criticism of the self-confidence of the X6 ricochets, customers are not deterred from the Bavarian pricing policy. Even the proud surcharge of 11.600 euros that BMW charges for the X6 compared to the structurally identical and soberly more practical brother X5 does not seem to be an obstacle. The reason that the 258 hp basic model of the X6 is powered by a 27 hp diesel that is slightly more powerful and always has all-wheel drive will hardly suffice, while the X5 sDrive25 only offers rear-wheel drive.
On this topic, it is also worth taking a look at the arch-rival, because the only copycat from Stuttgart to date is even braver: there the GLE Coupé starts from 67.295 euros and is thus a whole 13.100 euros more expensive than the 54 hp weaker SUV variant. But what is wrong modesty now - after all, in both cases you get the much more pronounced character. The fact that its extravagant shape harbors small pitfalls in everyday life is nothing new. This is no problem for X6 lovers. After all, the SUV coupé does not want to mobilize masses, but rather be a rolling design statement - and completely different values apply here. (Adele Moser / SP-X)