Welcome to Autoxchange - The BMW X6 - contradictions aplenty!

Driven

Text: Dhruv Behl
Images: Anamit Sen


	Have you ever seen a professional wrestler do the Russian ballet? Well I haven’t either, but I suspect that it would have to be a very convincing performance indeed in order to actually enjoy watching what you can only imagine would be an ungainly wrestler attempting to perform a pirouette. Which brings me to the BMW X6, which is an SUV attempting to be a sports car. The same logic applies – it would have to be truly exceptional to look beyond the inherent contradiction, and appreciate the X6 for its supposed dynamic abilities and audacious character. BMW aren’t strangers to rewriting the rule book. When BMW launched the X5 in 1999, they transformed the way an SUV (sports utility vehicle) handled on-road, and therefore (rightfully) coined an all-new acronym – SAV (sports activity vehicle). With the X6, they’ve coined yet another acronym – SAC (sports activity coupe). Let’s see if it’s justified this time around as well.

From the Outside When I first saw the X6 in the US earlier this year, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. It really did look like the silhouette of a coupe transposed on the body of an X5. And while it did look bold and completely original, I wasn’t quite sure that it was a cohesive design. Well, when I saw this particular X6 in Delhi, it came as a bit of a surprise but it really did look stunning. It’s aggressive – menacing even – appearance and massive 20-inch wheels meant that there was no way it would go unnoticed. In fact, viewed from certain angles (the back especially, with its steamroller rear tires), it looked like a character from the film Transformers – you could almost envision it, if displeased, standing up on two feet and smacking you across the face. The massive rear tires, at 315/35 R20, are something you’d normally expect exclusively on Lamborghini’s. Nevertheless, they do look purposeful indeed – especially since they’re encasing dinner-plate sized brake discs. However, being Run Flats, the tires would be agonizingly expensive to replace – although, its best not to even broach the subject of value for money in this case. On the whole though, the X6 does look very impressive indeed, and the overall design is surprisingly cohesive once you get used to it.

From the Inside

Shut the soft-close doors as you enter the X6 and you’re greeted by a cabin that’s swathed in Nappa leather from the dashboard to the knee pads. Interior quality, as you’d expect from a high end BMW, is extraordinary – it’s difficult to imagine how an automaker could further improve on quality. To give you an example of the toys in the cabin, if you look only at the seats – ordinarily you would expect them to move up, down, front, back and perhaps also provide lumbar support as well. Well, if that’s as far as your expectations extend, you wouldn’t be anywhere near as imaginative as a BMW seat engineer – for the seats in the X6 are infinitely adjustable. You can single out any point in each of the front seats and adjust them accordingly. There are a few-dozen motors in each seat that allow you to add bolstering or support to just about any part of an individual seat – all the while being massaged, cooled or heated at the same time.

In terms of expected drawbacks, the sloping roof line doesn’t really affect interior space that much. In fact, even boot space is plentiful – that is, of course, unless you really do want to ferry around the kitchen sink, in which case an X5 may be more appropriate. The real downside, however, as you’d imagine, is rear visibility, which is limited at best through the steeply-raked and high-set rear windshield. Luckily, this particular car had a rear-view camera and sensors to help when reversing – the large side-view mirrors were helpful as well. On the whole, though, it’s a magnificent cabin in which to spend time – especially the drivers’ seat.

So, you find yourself sitting behind a beautiful three-spoke steering wheel, which is thick and sporty, in a seat that’s supremely comfortable but also hip hugging if you want it to be, staring at paddles to manually shift through the six-speed gearbox, and you begin to wonder if they’ve taken this sporty theme a little too seriously – after all, the X6 still weighs in excess of two tonnes and sits fairly high off the ground. However, you only question it till such time as you push the Engine-Start button – following which, everything you know to be true about the laws of physics simply goes straight out the window.