All images by the manufacturer Photo : BMW

There’s a new Sports Activity Vehicle crossover don’t-call-it-a-coupe in town. The new generation of BMW X6 is here, and it’s longer, wider, and vertically shorter than the one it replaces. But more important than that, BMW says the massive kidney grille on the front of the new big boy can also be back lit for extra snap. In case the optional 22 inch wheels were not enough to get you noticed, you can literally shine a beacon of BMW-ness at the world.




The design leaked earlier this morning, but now that the full press release is up, we can take a closer look at this aggressively uncategorizable car.


The big deal with this new big truck(?) is how much bigger it’s gotten. With a new 42 mm-longer wheelbase, the X6 has ballooned up 26 mm in overall length (meaning less overhang, that’s a good thing) and 15 mm in width. In terms of height, it has gotten 6 mm shorter, which is as near as makes no difference.

BMW doesn’t have a lot to say about the new vehicle yet, but it looks like the X6 will launch with four different engine options. I would venture that we won’t be getting the diesel variants here in the U.S. market, instead the X6 M50i and X6 xDrive40i will likely be the choices for us. The M50i will have a claimed 530 horsepower V8, while the xDrive40i will use a 340-HP inline six. Those will be bookended by a pair of new diesel X6 models as well, the X6 M50d and xDrive30d, making use of a 400-HP inline six quad turbo diesel and a 265-HP inline six respectively.

All models will be mated to an eight-speed Steptronic automatic and a new generation of BMW xDrive with a rearward bias.


It is here that I feel the need to discuss the hideousness of that McLaren 720S-esque *thing* aft of the front wheel. I don’t particularly like that style of sculpting on the side of the Macca, and it looks particularly bad on the Toyota Avalon, but holy moley BMW decided to really accentuate that on the X6 and it looks astonishingly bad. The X6 isn’t a particularly fetching car to begin with, and this design feature really kills it for me. Is it trying to be aerodynamic? Maybe they should have started with something that isn’t as big and lumbering as an e lk.


Advertisement