The non-conformist BMW X6

In the world of car design, no one in recent memory has gained more popularity (notoriety?) for his designs than one Chris Bangle, BMW’s chief design executive. In fact, Bangle’s now legendary re-making of the entire BMW line already has its share of cliché lines, “He Bangled this, he Bangled that, blah, blah, blah…” But seriously now… Has the BMW’s desire factor decreased in any way since the debut of the “Bangled” 7-Series some years back? I’d say the effect has been the opposite, with many a car manufacturer taking bits and pieces of BMW’s design cues and incorporating them in their designs as well.

The latest “Bangled” BMW model to make it to these shores is the X6. And like any other “Bangled” BMW, it’s attracted its fair share of lovers and haters. Truthfully, one couldn’t have expected anything less. It takes an individual who thinks out of the box to come up with a design that marries the best attributes of an SUV with that of a coupe. It takes a certain kind of individual to appreciate such a marriage as well. At the end of the day, however, the success of a model depends not on how people initially perceive it, but on whether it performs out on the road the way it was intended to. In other words, even as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, performance has its strict parameters. And if there were one aspect of their operations that BMW has always been above board, it’s in delivering performance oriented vehicles.

So…enter BMW’s SAC, the Sports Activity Coupe to lead the way for all sports activity coupes (if anyone ever even tries to outdo BMW in improving on their very own idea) – the X6. The BMW X6, as BMW Philippines corporate communications director Lito German playfully yet succinctly puts it, “is the bastard child of the X5 and the 6-Series – were they actually capable of having a child”. Simply put, the X6 is the German carmaker’s foray into the world of the crossover vehicle. And what an effort it is.

To prove the vehicle’s mettle, BMW Philippines arranged for a small media contingent to get to drive the X6 in conditions that would highlight its prowess. They did, after all, insist that the BMW X6 is a sports car at heart – but it’s one designed with off road capabilities. So during one particularly rainy evening in August, we were whisked off to Subic – where a half-day session of driving nothing but BMWs to see just how far more advanced the X6 is awaited us. Thankfully, by the time we made it to the Subic International Raceway the next day, the heavens had decided to ease up a bit. A drizzle here, a drizzle there – enough to get the track just as slippery as it is still safe.

Here’s the best part. We had with us (get ready for this) a 3-Series, an X3, a 5-Series, the X6’s “parents” – an X5 and a 6-Series, and of course an X6, to drive around in differing track set ups. Why, you ask? Because BMW wanted to prove a point – that this SAC has what it takes to impress. And boy, did the X6 do just that.

Given its size, you’d imagine that the X6 delivers in spades on the versatility front. And that it does. What’s amazing is that despite most of the other models having the BMW alphabet right down pat, the X6 brings with it another new performance oriented technological advancement. Let’s see…Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), check! Hill Descent Control (HDC), check! Cornering Brake Control (CBC), check! Dynamic Traction Control (DTC), check! Automatic Stability Control (ASC), check! Dynamic Performance Control (DPC), wait a minute! What was that? Dynamic Performance Control or DPC is an advancement that makes its debut with the X6. What it does is distribute power to all the wheels properly given varying road conditions. At the center of the X6’s dashboard, you can even see how the system works as an indicator shows the amount of force applied on each wheel. If for example there is slippage on the left rear wheel, the system compensates by throwing in the needed torque so that the car balances out its performance parameters. What this does is help the X6 driver achieve better balance throughout the driving experience. It literally helps him become a better (and altogether safer) driver. Of all the vehicles at our disposal (yes, including the 6-Series) it was the X6 that showed the best overall balance.

At the end of our little exercise, we’d realized that the X6 is a special vehicle even in BMW terms because it pushes the envelope even further. It truly is a non-conformist – in more ways than one at that! Here was a vehicle that brought the versatility of an SUV, combined it with the driving dynamics inherent in a coupe, then threw that figurative middle finger up critics’ faces by being a fantastically safe driving machine – if not a universally accepted design icon. All that technology and what it brings to the table can be summed up in pretty much one word – amazing.

Oh, and just in case you’re wondering. The unique kind of individual who does not feel the need to complain about the X6’s styling that I was talking about earlier in this article? I’m one of them – because the BMW X6 does not pretend to be anything other than what it is – a Sports Activity Coupe. We’d never heard or seen anything like it before, but I reckon this is how they ought to look and drive. ’Nuff said.