BMW BLOG

BMW X6 M reviews have began to appear weeks ago and we reported on several of them. So far the reviews have been fairly positive, with more journalists giving thumbs to this first all-wheel drive M, a vehicle that created controversy prior to its launch.

The UK based magazine, EVO, sat in the X6 M taking it for a ride and they begin with this question: Can a 547bhp M Division makeover turn the X6 into a more loveable car?

We’ll go ahead and take a look at their report….

“Let’s get the bad news over with first. This will leave plenty of space for the good news that must inevitably follow when you’re talking about a new BMW powered by a twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 with 547bhp and 502lb ft of torque and which accelerates to 62mph in 4.7sec and has a top speed of 171mph.

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We’re glad to see that some automobile magazines are starting to agree with us. Back in July when we drove the new BMW X6 M, our initial impression was extremely positive. Driving the car on a race track showed us what it can really do and those that compared it to the X6 xDrive50i, are far from the truth.

The X6 M is not a slightly upgrade over the 50i, but rather a fairly new vehicle, engineered by the talented people at Motorsport. While we didn’t have the possibility to time its 0-60mph performance, the fellows over at Straigthline are here to satisfy our curiosity.

In their track test, the BMW X6 M ran from 0 to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds, but that’s not all, the overall handling and dynamics managed to leave a positive impression on them. Let’s see what they have to say:

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The “M Sports Activity twins”, BMW X5 M and X6 M, have recently started to arrive at U.S. dealerships and some lucky owners already entered into possession of the first all-wheel-drive M car ever built by BMW.

Since some of you might be reluctant to believe in the objectivity of the automobile magazines when it comes to these two controversial M models, we decided to go straight to a BMW owner that could share his personal opinion of the car. In this case, the BMW X6 M. SandmanTR from Xoutpost posted the following review:

“A bit of background history on me. When the X6 hit the market, I fell instantly in love with it. There was no question about it. But I do agree with most: You either love it or hate it.

As an X5 owner for quite some time, I was excited to see BMW create a coupe version of the SUV/SAV line so I was beside myself when BMW announced an ///M version for both of these great vehicles. We canceled our plans to order a MY2010 X6 and held on till someone (dealer) knew enough about the ///M version so we could place our order and start the waiting game for delivery.

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Ian James Poulter, English professional golfer who is a member of the world’s top two professional golf tours, the U.S.-based PGA Tour and the European Tour, decided to have some fun on a race track with the new, powerful….all-mighty BMW X6 M.

Having tested ourselves the X6 M on a race track, we can identify with the thrill he’s experiencing in this video. The X6M was built to be driven by anyone and judging from the footage, Ian is doing a great job.

On a second thought, he’s actually pretty good at cornering and pushing the car to its limits….. now we’re just jealous and already looking forward to our next encounter with the car.

A quick recap, the BMW X6 M is powered by the S63B44 engine, a 4.4 liter V8 unit which uses an an amazingly engineered and of course patented, exhaust manifold. The powerplant produces 555 horsepower, five more ponies than the Cayenne Turbo S, and also an impressive 500 lb-ft of torque at only 1,500 rpm. Turbo lag? Very very minimal.

Special thanks to Ian James Poulter and Tom S. from BMWNA for this video!

[Source: Ian James Poulter Youtube Channel]

Back in July, we had the opportunity to drive and review for you the new BMW X6 M.  Our first impressions of the first M all-wheel drive vehicle from BMW were positive and the car has lived up to its expectations. But some people called us “fanboys” and the debate about what a true BMW M car is, continued. Some people were already putting a big failure stamp on the X6 M future sales, despite the fact that we reinforced the “niche” market the X6 M is targeting and BMW’s goals for this car.

Well, with the first X5 M and X6 M cars arriving at the local dealerships, it was just a matter of time until a BMW owner will get his/her hands on the car and shared their own personal opinion. Ryan from Bimmerpost was kind to share with everyone some photos, videos and his take on the car he has just purchased.

Will he back up our story or are we truly guilty of “fanboyism”?

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BMW X6 M launched early last month during an international event at the Road America track in Atlanta. We were there to first report our impressions on the first Sports Activity Vehicle Motorsport model from BMW.

While most of the test driving there took place on the track, we’re anxiously waiting to see how the car handles on the road.

The fellows at Car and Driver got their hands on a press car prototype and took it through a few test drives, from a drag race to a track and onto off-road.

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We just received word from our buddy Collin that the controversial, but yet great M SAVs are available for order at your local BMW dealership. The BMW X5 M and X6 M made their debut last month at Road America in Atlanta where yours truly had the chance to aggressively drive the new X6 M.

As far as pricing, the BMW X5 M has a base price of $85,400 while the X6 M is priced at $88,900. For those of you that missed our previous articles, here is a quick recap: BMW X5 M and X6 M are powered by a tuned up 4.4 liter V8 M engine delivering 555 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 500 lb-ft of torque from 1,500 to 5,650 rpm.

The engine uses the twin-scroll twin turbo technology with High Precision Direct Injection. By positioning the twin-scroll turbochargers together with the catalytic converters in the “V” section between the cylinders, it minimizes the turbo lag and offers better fuel efficiency. The M TwinPower Turbo V8 engine is matted to a 6-Speed Steptronic automatic transmission that offers three driving modes: Normal (D), Sport (S), and M-Sport.

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It was just brought to our attention that the BMW X5 M/ X6 M minisites have been updated and beside the multitude of information and photos, the official BMW X5 M and X6 M catalouge is available for download.

While some of the information printed in this catalogue might not be an unknown to you, we still recommend you download it, just so you can see some new shots of these two M Sports Activity Vehicles photographed in a downtown scenery.

Digging deeper into these new BMW minisites, we could finally see the entire palette of colors offered by BMW on the X5 M and X6 M. Beside the now classic Alpine White, Space Gray or Black Sapphire colors, BMW introduces some new exterior paint options for these M SAVs : Melbourne Red and Monte Carlo Blue.

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The BMW X6 M international launch took place two weeks ago at Road Atlanta and your own favorite site, BMWBLOG, was there to get first hand experience of the new, but controversial, X6 M SAV. Despite the fact that our comprehensive review covered most of the X6 M angles, we would still like to share with you reviews from other auto media publications.

This week, the Aussie fellows at Carsguide.com posted their first impressions of the BMW X6 M. Has the first BMW M SAV met their expectations?

“The super-sized X5 and X6 M are SUVs, but that doesn’t stop them making a sub-six second sprint to 100km/h, hitting a top speed held back to 250km/h, and flaunting the sort of macho body bits that always move an M machine away from the BMW mainstream.

Cranking up to 240km/h down the back straight at Road Atlanta raceway, in a racer red X6 M, was the cement-solid proof that the oddly-styled SUV works better with an M makeover. We’ll have to wait for the X5 with M, but it promises similar stuff.

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This year yet again, the MotoGP pilots’ battle for pole position is not simply about obtaining the best starting position in the subsequent motorcycle road racing championship, but also about winning the BMW M award. Next weekend (17 – 19 July 2009) the Sachsenring will again be the setting for the spectacular contest for the fastest lap time. During the qualifying prior to the ninth of a total of 17 rounds in the current racing series, the riders can collect further points in the seasonal assessment for the BMW M award. At the end of the season, the best qualifier amongst the MotoGP pilots will be rewarded with a BMW M3 saloon car.

This year, the MotoGP race at the Sachsenring is the only round in this motorcycle road racing championship to be held in Germany. The organizers are expecting more than 200,000 motor sport fans to turn up during the racing weekend at the Grand Prix track which underwent extensive modernisation as recently as 2007. Visitors can already look forward to thrilling performances by the world’s best motorcycle pilots during the qualifying rounds, because similar to the world championship, the battle for the BMW M award will also be entering its decisive phase.

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