BMW BLOG

Our friend Kamil over at CarGuyDad managed somehow to jump in as a passenger in the highly expected BMW X6 M. We have to admit: we are a bit jealous, but at the same time, we’re happy for Kamil and glad he decided to share the photos and his experience with us. For those of you that are wondering when you’re going to drive the X6 M, well, all we’re gonna tell you for now is that in less than 3 weeks, we will have an amazing experience behind the X6 M’s steering wheel.

So, it’s the X6 M everything we expect and more? It certainly seems so, according to Kamil the acceleration feel is very similar to the one of an M5, something that we were happy to hear. Shifting from first to second gear seems to be a bit jerky, but still quick enough for an automatic transmission.

As you might know by now, the 6-speed M Sports Automatic transmission is featured for the first time on a BMW M vehicle. There are two other modes available beside the regular Drive, Sport and M Manual. Gears can be manually shifted through the paddles located on the M steering wheel. The X6 M also features launch control which cannot be used for the first 1500 miles.

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The BMW tuner Hartge continues to surprise us by releasing a new aerodynamic kit for the BMW X6 Sports Activity Vehicle. Back in April, they released their original X6 kit and we weren’t overly impressed.

But the latest Hartge kit takes after the recently revealed X6 M, giving their X6 a far more aggressive stance which will turn heads.

The aero kits includes plenty of aerodynamic pieces, starting with the aggressive front bumper, a custom rear skirt and continuing with side sills, new rear difuser and stainless tailpipes.

For those of you interested in the actual parts used, Hartge released that earlier today:

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The New York Auto Show remains in history as the first motor show where BMW has officially revealed their first all-wheel drive M car, the X6 M. Even though the X6 M is not considered by BMW as being an SUV-type of car, bimmer fans will often refer to it  as the first M SUV.

We were fortunate to attend the official launch of this new Motorsport model and we were quite excited about  the design and technologies behind this car. Despite the always crowded BMW floor, we managed to spend some time with the car and snapped some photos for you.

Since we were waiting for the production model to launch before we can share with you all of our findings, we got beaten to it by Kamil at CarGuyDad, who spent some time himself with a production ready model near the Spartanburg plant.

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The German tuner Hartge is known for their BMW tuning capabilities, but what they are even more known for, are the wide selection of wheels and bodykits they offer on many BMW models.

Last month, they released a complete aerodynamic kit for the new BMW X6 xDrive35d and today, they continued their X6 exterior design improvement by releasing new exhaust options for the BMW owners interested in modding their cars.

The two new products offered for the X6 xDrive50i are available with either two or four stainless exhaust pipes. The exhaust systems come with a custom rear bumper which blends in with the rear end design.

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At the Great Designs in Steel seminar in Livonia, MI, the Research and Development team behind the BMW X6 Sports Activity Coupe was selected as the winner of the annual Automotive Excellence Award.

The criteria used for this award was “cost-effective use of ultra high-strength steels that meet new market demands for safety, fuel efficiency and emission standards”.

The idea behind Steel Automotive Excellence Award is to recognize individuals or teams who significant contributions to the advancement of steel in the automotive marketplace. Candidates were rated in several categories, including: implementation in production; overall contribution to the advancement of steel; challenges and benefits associated with cost, mass reduction and performance; replacement of competitive materials; and structural performance and efficiency.

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Updated: Added more matte black X6 photos

You have probably heard the expression “This <insert color here> is the new black….” many times before and it’s a phrase quite often used in the fashion industry. But today, we’re stealing their catchy phrase and pose the following question to you: Is the matte black really the new “black”?

We’ve been seeing a trend lately and we cannot wonder if it will go mainstream in the future since more and more people sport this matte black on their cars. The first matte black BMW was seen by us back in 2008 when coincidentally, it was an X6 model as well. In the following months, we came across the Lumma version of the M5, then a stunning black matte Z3 and more recently, a 335i and M3 spotted at the Bimmerfest 2009 event.

So when our friend Christian Wimmer decided to share these photos with us, our jaws dropped again and had no choice but to post them. While you know that we don’t always dig those pimped out cars and usually embrace the “clean look” of our bimmers, we admit that we have a soft spot for these matte black X6s.

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The final production version of the first all-wheel-drive hybrid from BMW, the X6, was spotted in the beautiful Munich. While the concept was officially unveiled at the L.A Auto Show last year in November, the production model has been seen around still carrying some minor camouflage. We already learned that the BMW X6 Hybrid along with 7 Series Hybrid will be launched at the end of this year.

The BMW X6 Hybrid is a two-mode hybrid based on an 8-cylinder gasoline engine which has been custom-made to meet the requirements of an SAV. The newer, greener X6 will utilize the dual-mode ActiveHybrid system, which has discrete modes for high-torque, low speed driving as well as for high-speed cruises.

The system uses a modular hybrid system which can be adapted to many different engine/vehicle combination, as opposed to a design-specific petrol engine/hybrid combination, which sees wider use in the automotive industry.

The two-mode hybrid uses about 20 percent less fuel than than a comparable vehicle with combustion engine. BMW is using a nickel metal hydride battery for the initial applications and unlike the other car manufacturers, the BMW hybrid engine will not be using cylinder deactivation. And second, if our sources are correct, then the BMW X6 Hybrid will feature the Start/Stop technology.

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Usually an ambulance is not something anyone should get excited about out, but when that emergency vehicle turns out to be a “monster on four wheels”, then things change. The high-end X6 model, xDrive50i, has been converted into an ambulance which features all the necessary emergency equipment along with all the associated external visual emergency lights.

As you might remember, the BMW X6 is powered by a 4.4 liter V8 engine producing 407 horsepower. And since in the end it’s still a medical emergency vehicle, the car runs from 0-60 in 5.4 seconds and has a top speed of 155 mph.

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After the Acura ZDX official launch at the New York Auto Show, many of the auto journalists began to compare the first Acura “SUV coupeish” vehicle to the already established BMW X6 Sports Activity Coupe. Of course, we jumped on the same bandwagon and wrote an article about the ZDX Concept as NOT being a major threat to BMW.

Sure, we might be call biased, fanboys, you name it, but we can certainly tell you that our assessment has not been affected by the love we carry for our lovely bimmers. Now of course, since you’re a tough crowd, you might not take our word for it, so we decided to give you a visual comparison between the two vehicles, from different angles.

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The famous German tuner Hartge just released their version of the BMW X6 xDrive35d, the Sports Activity Coupe diesel version. The Hartge X6 receives an aerodynamic kit made in high-quality PUR-RIM, an ultra-lightweight polyurethane plastic.

The diffuser is integrated into the front spoiler, while at the rear, the diffuser is placed between quadrilateral tail pipes. The Hartge X6 suspension set lowers the X6 by 30 mm and the car sits on CLASSIC 2″ wheels (10.5 x 22″ offset 33 at the front and 12 x 22″ offset 23 at the back).

The wheels are fitted with ultra-wide tyres, 295 / 30 ZR 22 at the front and 335 / 25 ZR 22 at the rear.

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