Road Test
BMW X6 xDrive35d
Test date 11 June 2008
Price as tested £44,590
For Excellent turbodiesel engine, impressive dynamic ability, quality interior
AgainstConspicuous image, price of options, poor fuel economy
This is BMW’s third X model. Its first was the X5, in 1999, which it claimed was the first Sports Activity Vehicle, because it was meant to be — and was, in truth — a decent drive on the road. That was followed by the X3 in 2003.
BMW didn’t show a concept of the X6 until the Frankfurt motor show in 2007. The production car had its debut at Geneva in March 2008, and BMW has already sold its first year’s allocation of the new X6.
It is, the company claims, a Sports Activity Coupé, and it will shake up the posh SUV market in the same way the X5 did 10 years ago. Think of it, really, as BMW’s tall answer to the Mercedes-Benz CLS. It’s largely the same as the car on which it’s based (the E-class in the Mercedes’ case, the X5 here), only with rather more design flair and quite a lot less practicality.
Because of the way it looked, the CLS was generally very well received. With the X6, mostly because of the growing opposition to SUVs, BMW may have a rather different battle on its hands. To many it won’t make any difference that the 3.0-litre diesel version we’re testing here uses less fuel and emits less carbon dioxide than a 2.5-litre petrol Ford Mondeo.
That, of course, is an issue for BMW and the X6’s buyers, but this road test has a rather simpler job: to find out if the X6 is actually any good.
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