by Joe LaMuraglia, www.gaywheels.com
In the world of automotive product planning, car companies around the globe are always looking for that unmet need. That's how the minivan was created: for years, families with more than 2 children had few choices when shopping for a vehicle. Then in 1983, someone at Chrysler figured out that there was a need for 7-passenger van that was easy to drive, got good fuel mileage and could carry people and cargo with ease. Boom! The minivan was born.
Sometimes the 'unmet needs' are emotional ones. We Americans clearly love SUVs, but we want them to act and look like sexy beasts, too. And that's what gave birth to the BMW X6—one of the few vehicles ever to attempt a hookup between a sport-utility vehicle and a sleek coupe.
What's in a name?
If you're like me, a coupe is a two-door, two- or four-seat vehicle with sporty styling that essentially defines the driver as young, fun-loving and having limited people-carrying requirements. With the advent of the Mercedes-Benz CLS, the 'coupe' descriptor has been slowly expanding to include larger vehicles with 4 doors that maintain the sleek, sporty styling of a traditional coupe.
That rationale must have caught on in Germany, because VW joined the party with the Passat CC. BMW has entered fashionably late with the X6– all with four doors and seating for four.
In my opinion, the X6 has stretched the definition the most. The X6 is clearly an SUV, down to the front end of an X5. From the B-pillar back, it evokes a traditional coupe, but it's still an SUV at heart. And yet, the sexed-up roofline takes away some of what makes it an SUV, and gives it a truly unique shape. SUV or coupe? Does it really matter, so long as it's attractive?
Functional funkiness
The X6 looks like an SUV but acts more like a coupe—and that's not always a good thing. SUVs are supposed to be functional. While the sleek styling and rear-sport seating limit the X6 to a four-seater, it does have surprising cargo capacity and with the two rear seats folded down, a trip to Costco or the swap meet won't be cause for any embarrassment. This baby can swallow cargo like a porn star swallows his ... yeah, pride ... that's what I was going for.
The styling does cause compromises, though, most notably in the rear seats. They're a snug fit for anyone over 5'11' and it only fits two additional humans, not three. This fact was the subject of debate over dinner at the event. Some journalists were stuck on the fact that the rear seats weren't as roomy as the X5. My argument is: If you need rear-seat room, you don't buy an X6, you get an X5. Bottom line: This vehicle isn't designed for someone who needs to carry people often. It's more of a personal vehicle with additional seating for those occasional times you have friends or family around.
Driving
If you read my BMW X6 preview, you know that I didn't get as much time behind the wheel as I would have liked. Damaged fuel tanks and roadside guard duty does eat up a lot of the day. I did manage to pilot an X6 from Greenville, S.C. to Atlanta, Ga., and that trip, combined with the morning of the test day, gave me approximately 3.5 hours of seat time.
The X6 is available with two engines, a 3.0 liter inline 6-cylinder in the xDrive35i and a 4.4 liter twin-turbo V8 in the xDrive50i. We were in the xDrive50i up to the point of impact and then switched out to a xDrive35i for the remainder of the day and for the drive to Hotlanta. I preferred the V6 for a few reasons, most notably because it was easier to drive fast and felt lighter than the Xdrive50 V8. 'Lighter' is a bit of an oxymoron when speaking of the X6 because in both trims, it is a large, heavy vehicle that via the magic of technology, drives like a much smaller car.
On the road, the X6 Xdrive35i drove well, had plenty of power to pass and get past legal speeds with ease. The driving feel is familiar to anyone that has spent time in an X5 and the instruments and controls, with all their idiosyncrasies, are from the X5 as well. Rear visibility is compromised by the design, but once you get used to using the extra-large side mirrors, it is easy to pilot down the road. the car's computer indicated that the vehicle averaged 19 MPG on my jaunt to Atlanta.
Verdict
With the advent of increased productivity and the power of computing, it is becoming feasible for manufacturers to create niche products for smaller and smaller target markets. The 2008 BMW X6 was created to satisfy the 'unmet needs' of a very specific target market and does its job very well. It wasn't designed to be all things to all people; it X6ists to please those who want a personal vehicle that happens to be an SUV.
X6 xDrive35i starts at $53,275; X6 xDrive50i starts at $63,775.
