Niche-busting is the order of the day with BMW’s new X6 xDrive35i: a bizarre combination of SUV and Coupé that the Bavarian firm has slotted into its self-created “Sports Activity Coupé” segment.
Stylistically, the X6 is one of those cars you have encounter in the metal to get a true measure of its unconventional lines and features. It’s…well, difficult to call the styling a love-it or loathe-it affair, as I’m still trying to make up my own mind as to what I should make of it. The proportions are almost cartoonish, like a caricature of what you’d imagine an SAC to be before you actually encountered one.
The roof is low, seemingly compressed into a bold, deep mid-section that accommodates the company’s signature nose, a sharp shoulder-line crease, wraparound brake lights, two chromed exhausts peeking out of the rear valance and a slightly kicked up rear hatch that conspires with the low, curved roof to make the rear window something of a pillarbox opening affair. Combine these features with boldly flared wheel arches filled with 20-inch rims and the overall effect is an imposing appearance wrapped around a surprisingly compact vehicle – honestly, it’s not much longer than a 5 Series.
The driving experience is similarly unconventional. If you prepare yourself for an SUV-style (read body roll, wallowy suspension and woolly steering) experience, you’ll be caught off-guard. The models on test had BMW’s optional Active Steering module, which gave the wheel a satisfying heft at speed, yet felt lively and far from numb. The suspension is supple and on-road refinement s about as good as you could hope for in a vehicle with Coupé aspirations.
The driving position is fairly high, but not to the extent that you feel out of touch with the road, while the cabin is typically BMW-solid and will receive a nod of recognition from anyone who’s driven an X5 – the only downsides are limited rear visibility, interior space that cannot quite match the practicality of an X5 and thumb-tab style gearshifters on the steering wheel, which would have done better service as more conventional paddles.
It’s under brisk driving on winding roads that the X6 can pleasantly catch you out – you just don’t expect this car to plant itself to the road and scythe through bends as nimbly as it does. I’m guessing it’s the car’s unusual dimensions hiding a wide track and the safe, yet unobtrusive all-wheel drive system that contribute to the it’s disarming agility. With 225 kW and 400 N.m of torque on tap, the twin-turbo 3,0-litre straight-six doesn’t feel taxed by the car’s bulk and while its hard-edged snarl under a heavy throttle does not catapult the car along as abruptly as the noise would suggest, progress is still rapid and the powerplant is immensely tractable.
The X6 certainly makes a statement – it’s styling doesn’t look as though it’s destined to dissolve into obscurity and its driving dynamics are very respectable. It’s not as practical as an SUV, but then hybridising two polar models such as an SUV and a Coupe was always going to present a compromise somewhere along the line – an interesting model, we’ll just have to see what sort of car genre cross-pollination BMW will indulge in next.