X6 is the kind of automobile strongly recommended only for extrovert people: any potential buyers must like to turn heads everywhere they go, because driving it will make that a constant. After all, while some cars make their owner look elegant, frugal or trendy, the world’s very first sport-utility coupé expresses money, to keep it short. This is the kind of car bought to express you are wealthy enough to leave everyday tasks to your other car(s), and use one of them just for pleasure. Of course, it is just as easy to spur bad judgement from other people, too, but both X6’s producers and customers probably just don’t care. As a result, the Bavarian upscale crossover has been a worldwide sales hit for seven years now.
As you can see, this new generation represents the aforementioned evolution for X6, rather than any change. And this is actually great, because it’s what people have proved to want. However, just like any player who is winning, one can say BMW got a little cocky this time, for good and for bad. The first part stands for the car being more X6-y than ever. The design shows clear signs of having noticed that its previous iteration was truly successful. A tiny crease was added to its famous rear section, in order to give that strong fastback descent a more elegant end. The side relief was re-sculpted into more agressive shapes, in order to drop the weight feeling and make it look more dynamic. And several details, like window line or tail lights, compared to the old ones, are just impeccable.
The overall result leads to think of a group of people dealing with a new member who is different from them in a particular body characteristic, such as hair type, height, skin tone or weight. From feeling out of place in the first days, the newcomer uses the time passage to learn how to embrace his differences, so as to develop a whole new image of its own which ends rendering everyone else breathless. The new X6 makes its previous generation look a little bland and even weird. So you can only start to measure how much has it evolved by remembering that the latter was already considered gorgeous. And when it comes to the bad part mentioned earlier, did you know that this crossover shares a lot of parts with X5? Well, BMW decided to take that to the next level now.
The reasons why this car is so interesting for BMW are purely mathematical: while the upscale proposal enables charging high prices, sharing as much as possible with the “conventional” brother reduces X6’s production costs. So the profits were increased a little more by taking its front grille, headlights and hood, along with platform and cabin. The latter, by the way, features the same evolution seen outside: everything became better, not different. The horizontal design is covered in high-quality materials and uses a 10.2” screen for iDrive (with rotary knob and touchpad) above the dashboard. Besides, the total cargo area was reduced to 1,526 l. But if you’re one of the few X6 buyers who care about that, the new volume has easier access, thanks to the 40/20/40 rear seat.
Initially, X6’s trim levels will be basic, upscale xLine and M Sport, but the all-new X6 M appears later this year. Between standard and optional items, this car offers cabin inserts in aluminum, leather or wood, premium audio system signed by Bang & Olufsen, Eco Pro function to stimulate fuel saving, LED headlights, torque-vectoring for the rear axle, soft-close function for doors and tailgate, variable-ratio steering, 19” or 20” wheels and all the typical electronic safety systems, among many, many others. There are also some aerodynamic accessories, like air deflectors on the wheel arches, “Air Curtains” at the rear intakes and “Air Breathers” behind the fenders. All of them with the intention of making X6 slip through air with less effort – and consumed fuel.
Despite X5’s new platform enabled a great weight reduction, the sporty brother changed most of it for all those new equipments. But BMW still managed to make the powertrain’s job easier, thanks to a 16 to 25-kg reduction. Speaking of that, the basic X6 will be sDrive35i, which debuts rear-wheel-drive. It’ll use a six-cylinder 3.0L unit, capable of 300 hp and 300 lb-ft – combining it to AWD composes the second variation, xDrive35i. Adding two cylinders and another turbo takes you to xDrive50i’s V8, and to 445 hp and 480 lb-ft – BMW says the first one reaches 100 kph in 6 seconds and the other in 4.8. Switching from gasoline to diesel, another six-cylinder 3.0L gets 255 hp and 6.7 s at xDrive30d and 376 hp and 5.2 s at M50d. Both lists will be increased later, respectively with M and xDrive40d.
Lançamento no Brasil (18/12/2014)
Junto com o irmão menor X4, o X6 se prepara para a virada do ano com a chegada da nova geração. O crossover mais caro da BMW chega ao país somente na versão xDrive50i com o pacote M Sport, custando R$ 459.950. Seu maior destaque é o motor 4.4 V8 de 450 cv e 66,2 kgfm, associado ao câmbio automático de oito marchas – a aceleração de 0 a 100 km/h se faz em 4,8 segundos e a velocidade máxima é limitada a 250 km/h. A lista de equipamentos inclui acabamento no padrão BMW Individual, bancos esportivos em couro Dakota, todos os detalhes de estilo interno e externo criados pela divisão M Sport, rodas forjadas de 20”, teto solar elétrico e volante em couro.
BMW X6 M e X6 xDrive35i (22/06/2015)
Uma das novas versões que o modelo da BMW acaba de receber no Brasil custa R$ 375.450. A xDrive35i usa um motor 3.0 biturbo de seis cilindros, que entrega 306 cv de potência e 40,8 kgfm de torque para acelerar de 0 a 100 km/h em 6,4 segundos – contribuem para isso o câmbio automático com oito marchas e a tração integral inteligente. O destaque, no entanto, aparece no outro extremo da linha do X6: ele custa R$ 529.950, traz sete opções para a cor externa (incluindo o novo azul Long Beach), e apresenta um 4.4 V8 biturbo que aumenta aqueles números a 575 cv, 76,5 kgfm e 4,2 segundos. A velocidade máxima, por sua vez, teve o já conhecido limite eletrônico passado a 280 km/h.
Por fora, as mudanças de estilo seguem a receita tradicional de mais anexos aerodinâmicos, entradas de ar maiores e mais agressivas, e rodas de aro 21” exclusivas. Por dentro, a lista de equipamentos foi incrementada com farois adaptativos inteiramente em LEDs, assistente de farol alto, head-up display, e o sistema Night Vision para detectar obstáculos. Passando à performance, o Launch Control otimiza arrancadas mais rápidas entregando a dose exata de potência e torque, e a aerodinâmica foi melhorada com itens como filetes da grade dianteira ativos, e tomadas de ar com desenho dedicado a reduzir o coeficiente de arrasto. Ambos modelos já estão disponíveis nas revendas BMW.