Bmw X6

What a gruesome effort.

I spent about an hour driving up the M6/74 near one of these the other day. It really is the the worst thing I have seen since the 1 series came out.

From a practical point of view (if that matters with this kind of car) you would need a ladder to get up to the boot opening. It must be 3 feet off the ground.

utterly hideous things. soon to be seen in their thousands on a school run near you.

i hate that car with passion! (maybe because i own an alfa )

I'm not one of your usual BMW haters, but fair does, that is an ugly car

It's the ideal car for someone who
doesn't know anything or care one
bit about: cars, wasting their money,
society or anything else for that matter.

A big seller if ever I saw one.




A real life "Homer".

i love them......sorry....na, im not sorry actually..each to their own....utterlly pointless for sure, but in reality, anything more than a diesel focus is utterly pointless for 95% of drivers.....vive la difference i say...

Originally Posted by biggbn

i love them....

The X6 or the "Homer"?


Well I suppose it's an academic question.

I hope it's a commercial flop.

apparently it is absolutely fantastic to drive....supremely composed, fast and very, very able..typically teutonic then..the fact it loos, erm, different is the icing on the cake for me....at least it isnt overtly ugly like the cayenne and q7 monstrositys....

Originally Posted by biggbn

apparently it is absolutely fantastic to drive....supremely composed, fast and very, very able..typically teutonic then..the fact it looks, erm, different is the icing on the cake for me....at least it isnt overtly ugly like the cayenne and q7 monstrositys....

Sounds like you'd have one then?
"biggbn, is that your new car?"
"Yeah, it's my new BMW X6 xDrive 35i. It's a whole new class of vehicle, don't you know - the Sports Activity Coupe."
"But it has four doors.. and is that SAC for short?"
"Well, it kind of looks like there's only two. See how they've done that styling?"
"No."
Well it's mostly a coupe because of its sloping roofline."
"But doesn't that restrict your rear vision?"
"Ah, well they though of that - there's an optional reversing camera."
"I see. But the roofline would restrict rear passenger room, right?"
"Well maybe. There's no third row of seats, but it's a coupe. It's made for going fast."
"With that high ground clearance and high centre of gravity? Looks like it was made to go offroad?"
"Um.. no, can't do that with road tires."
"Well if it's fast then, can it go as fast as an M6 Coupe?"
"Um.. no, but I couldn't get an M6 instead cos I might get stuck on the wet leaves on my driveway.. and I couldn't do my Sports Activities in one of them either."
"What sports activities are those?"
"You know, the.. ones with the, um, outdoor activeness.. activity, with the things.. um, kayaks and stuff. Fit them on my optional roof bars, see, look. Lifestyle, um, pursuits and that, you know."
"You've been had, haven't you."
"No no, no I haven't. It's a whole new class of vehicle, does everything. They call it the Sports Activity Coupe. Hey where are you going? um.. bye then!"

I am sure the BMW press-corp Autocar and the like will say how wonderful it is till the cows come home


PS: It is true though that the Cayenne does look worse!

Originally Posted by Ben_NZ

Sounds like you'd have one then?
"biggbn, is that your new car?"
"Yeah, it's my new BMW X6 xDrive 35i. It's a whole new class of vehicle, don't you know - the Sports Activity Coupe."
"But it has four doors.. and is that SAC for short?"
"Well, it kind of looks like there's only two. See how they've done that styling?"
"No."
Well it's mostly a coupe because of its sloping roofline."
"But doesn't that restrict your rear vision?"
"Ah, well they though of that - there's an optional reversing camera."
"I see. But the roofline would restrict rear passenger room, right?"
"Well maybe. There's no third row of seats, but it's a coupe. It's made for going fast."
"With that high ground clearance and high centre of gravity? Looks like it was made to go offroad?"
"Um.. no, can't do that with road tires."
"Well if it's fast then, can it go as fast as an M6 Coupe?"
"Um.. no, but I couldn't get an M6 instead cos I might get stuck on the wet leaves on my driveway.. and I couldn't do my Sports Activities in one of them either."
"What sports activities are those?"
"You know, the.. ones with the, um, outdoor activeness.. activity, with the things.. um, kayaks and stuff. Fit them on my optional roof bars, see, look. Lifestyle, um, pursuits and that, you know."
"You've been had, haven't you."
"No no, no I haven't. It's a whole new class of vehicle, does everything. They call it the Sports Activity Coupe. Hey where are you going? um.. bye then!"

no mate..im not the kind of muppet who falls for marketing mumbo jumbo and salesman speak...im also unlikely to buy an x6...(rarely spend more than a grand on a car...)....i do however like the way teh car looks....styling is a very subjective thing.....and i admit, perhaps im wired up wrong when it comes to this point.....many cars that are lauded by others seem to leave me cold....the audi a8 for example...looks like a characterless cross between a bottle nosed dolphin and a smart roadster to me...new xf...mondeo crossed with an aston....

i have a history of liking unique, some might say eccentric designs...avantime, citroen sm, c6 for instance......i think the x6 proportions and stance are exactly right for the kind of car its attempting to be...why should a 4x4 be built like a breeze block with no concession to aerodynamics or driveability....most quick 4x4 suvs are quick through a combination of advanced electronic aids and computer controlled traction systems etc.....now, obviously the x6 has all this too..but surely basic physics would suggest it should drive better than a taller, narrower suv....

..and as for your point about off road tyres..show me any suv from this class that goes off road???....my mate has a cayenne with 22in rims...i think it is the most pointless car ever created and his is even more so by his choice of wheels....but he adores it....each to their own as i said....

realistically, nobody NEEDS an suv...nobody certainy NEEDS an suv 'coupe'......but then, nobody NEEDS a supercar...or a saloon with 550hp, or a 240hp hatch back....what we all NEED is something big enough to take us, our passengers and their goods and chattles on any journey we need to make..something that starts first time and keeps the rain off...something that doesnt use to much fuel and is cheap to maintain.....but hell, wouldnt the world be a boring place if we all drove mk3 golf td estates........

and as for the m6...now THAT is one ugly car....!!!!!...

POS... nuff said !!

apologies for repost..but my initial thoughts on the x6....

where do i start with the bmw x6....i was quite prepared to hate this car with a passion previously reserved for the turd like 1 series 5dr saloon. then i saw one glide past me. my neck swivelled and my mouth silently worked as i tried to push out the words jeezischristthatsugly......then the image of this lofty leviathian imploded on my brain...ugly is an oft used word, it is easily bandied around...its lazily used with regard to car design, and whilst i stand by my assertion that the 1 series saloon is mobile turdery of the first degree, the brain just lumps the x6 in that same category because a) its a bmw, and boy are we used to ugly bimmers these days..(cheers chris) and b) because your brain has no frame of reference for a car like this, nothing to compare it too.

this last point is important. what bmw have done here is created a niche for itself, just as mercedes did with the equally brave mercedes cls. its almost as if they have looked at mercs success in building the cls...a 4 door coupe with a plunging roofline remember, who'd a thunk it??, and thought hell, we take your 4 door coupe and raise you...na, we dont wanna see ya benz boy, we RAISE you..heres a coupe suv with the performance of a sportscar...how do ya like them apples, fritz??...

...and therin lies the problem with the x6. as i have already mentioned, WHAT do we compare it to. if it is to compete in the already overloaded suv market, you have to call its styling a success. the x5 and volvo xc90 are the only cohesive designs in that market segment...cayenne, q7...jesus, now THEY are really ugly cars. bling bling behemoths created and marketed to shout lookitme lookitme. the x6 does the same. but it does it in a wholly different way. it doesnt do it through sheer scale, sheer unbridled displays of conspicous consumption, it does it thru exercising its right to look wholly different to anything we have seen before. stand back from the x6. doesnt the rear end treatment remind you of an aston rapide, or the more humble and equally lauded mondeo/xf twins.....dont its lines ALMOST bring back a voluptousness missing from this segment. from some angles its donald campbells 'bluebird' with a kamm tail. this car is truly different. it aint traditionally pretty thats for sure, nor is it traditionally ugly. its as different as the avantime was. a whole new concept for awhole new market sector.

the difference between the x6 and the avantime is, however, that to start with, people who must have the latest, shiniest, biggest toy will BUY BUY BUY without giving the whole thing the thought that i have, and you most certainly will.... the 'magpie' buyers will swoop and buy the x6 for the same reasons they bought the cynical cayenne and the reprehensible q7... this will initially get the ball rolling sales wise..these people must have the latest bmw, the latest status symbol ..then, if the tests are anything to go by, the real enthusiasts will maybe take a test drive, the people who are intrigued by the x6, the people who see it as a stand alone product, the curious georges of this world...and they will be stunned by its compotency, amazed by the fact it offers such a safe, commanding feeling driving position without reverting to the stereotypical amorphous blob that suv's have become over the years. they will catch a refelection of themselves and, rather than feeling like cringing into the drivers seat, or visitng the nearest window tinting specialist, they will realise they are making a statement. this is a genuinely different product.

now, one of those groups of people might have considered an avantime, even driven one. but BOUGHT ONE???...no way, spend their own money...on a renault....and a shed load of money at that.....safer putting the lot on red at your local casino...only then they would have had a miniscule chance of geting a decent return, with the avantime they would have lost the lot!!! so, is the x6..or the glorious x6...or the gloriously irrelevant x6 as im coming to think of it, going to be a roaring success or a bavarian edsel??? i have a feeling its stand alone styling, the jump it has on its competitors, the fact that it cannot be mistaken for anything else may see it ploughing a lonely, if ultimately succesful furrow. and, as the french have stolen the germans advertising slogans for the new c5...above all its german....so the x6 should be advertised using french...X6...VIVE LA DIFFERENCE

Originally Posted by biggbn

I was quite prepared to hate this car with a passion previously reserved for the turd like 1 series 5dr saloon. .........and whilst i stand by my assertion that the 1 series saloon is mobile turdery of the first degree,

This is no segment-creating ground breaking
design