BMW X6: Excessive and Expensive

The BMW X6's speed and handling don't make up for its odd styling, lack of a third row, poor gas mileage, and high price

by Thane Peterson

Editor's Rating:

The Good: Speed, handling, safety

The Bad: High price, weird styling, only holds four people

The Bottom Line: What was BMW thinking?

Reader Reviews

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Up Front

Just to get the basics out of the way, I am not a fan of BMW's (BMWG) new X6. It's too big, too late, too gas-hungry, and too expensive. It's also ugly. In this era of downsizing to save on gasoline, it stands out like a sumo wrestler at a yoga retreat.

New for the '08 model year, the X6 is an all-wheel-drive crossover vehicle designed to combine the high-off-the-ground seating of a sport-utility vehicle with the driving characteristics of a sports car. You'd think designers would have made it smaller, nimbler, and more fuel-efficient than the BMW X5 SUV, with which it shares a platform. Instead, the X6 is an inch longer (at 192 in.) and two inches wider (at 78 in.). At around 5,000 lb., the X6 is also almost as heavy as the X5. The big difference is that its roofline is three inches lower than the X5's at its peak point, and curves down dramatically in the back.

The main problem with the X6 is that it only seats a maximum of four—two up front and two in the bucket-style backseats—vs. a maximum of seven for the X5 and Volkswagen's (VOWG) Audi Q7, and five for Nissan's (NSANY) Infiniti FX50 and Porsche's (PSHG_P) Cayenne. In keeping with one of the more inane marketing trends among German manufacturers, BMW calls the X6 a "coupe," even though it's essentially an SUV with four doors (plus a rear hatch). Traditionally, coupes are supposed to be smaller than sedans and only have two doors—but, never mind. Coupes have a sporty image, and tradition mustn't get in the way of a marketing gimmick.

The X6 also is far from cheap, even though it was excluded from the price hikes BMW announced on most of its '08 U.S. models as of June 1. It comes in two trim levels, the least expensive of which is the xDrive35i, which is powered by a 3.0-liter, twin-turbo inline six-cylinder engine that generates 300 hp and starts at $53,325. The alternative is the xDrive50i, which has a 4.4-liter, 400-hp V8 under its hood and starts at $63,825. (The '09s will cost even more: BMW announced a 2.1% U.S. price hike on its '09 models to offset rising materials costs.) Both of the X6's engines are paired with a six-speed automatic with a manual shifting function and steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters.

The X6's fuel economy is pretty abysmal. Even the xDrive35i only gets 15 mpg in the city and 20 on the highway. (In 294 miles of mixed driving in an xDrive35i, I only got 16.4 mpg.) In the xDrive50i, mileage falls to 13 mpg in the city and 18 on the highway. Those mileage numbers are about the same as for the X5, as well as for rivals such as the Cayenne, the Q7, and the FX. But the numbers somehow seem harder to swallow for a four-passenger vehicle.

There's no reason the X6 couldn't sell well if it struck a chord with consumers. Demand for luxury SUVs continues to be strong, despite high gasoline prices. U.S. X5 sales, for instance, were up 32.2% in August, to 3,380, and up 1.5%, to 22,347, in the first eight months of this year. U.S. sales of the Cayenne were off 6.9% in August but up 3.8%, to 8,219, in the first eight months of this year.

However, the company says the X6 is a niche product that isn't intended to sell in large quantities. BMW only sold 466 X6s in the U.S. in August, and has only sold 2,886 all year. The X6 appeals mainly to wealthy men. Only 30% of buyers are female, about the same as for the X5, and an amazing 68% of all X6 buyers pay cash, vs. only 22.4% for the X5, according to the Power Information Network (PIN).