BMW X6 M50d – Putting the sport back into SUV

We are on our way to Hidden Valley race circuit, not to drive a race car, a sports coupe or even a sports sedan; we’re driving a new kind of SUV from BMW. Well I say it’s new, but its not entirely, it’s a face lifted model with a new engine. We are here to drive BMW’s new X6 M50d SUV.

The X6 M50d is the first car to be launched under BMW’s new sub brand called ‘M Performance Automobiles’, essentially a new model line which sits between the standard cars and the full on M cars, such as the 1M, M3 and M5. These cars are not actually built by those who make the ‘proper’ M cars, although they borrow some parts off the M cars – mainly suspension components.  

The X6 has always been something of a lost cause in the BMW family, its problem being the X5, basically the two cars are identical beneath the metal, but the X6 is far less practical. For example; up until now it could only carry four people rather than the standard five, although there’s still not much head room back there, looking up at the windshield fixed mirror, and your likely to just see that sloping roof – rearward visibility is pretty poor, and the X6 has even less off road capabilities than its X5 sister thanks to standard 19inch wheels. So then, there’s not a lot to like about the X6.

It gets an M badge too!

But that’s all about to change. The M50d is powered by BMW’s new 3.0l tri-turbo (you read that right) straight six diesel engine, which develops a simply astonishing, 280kw at 5250rpm and (here comes the bit that will blow you away) 740nm of torque. To put that into context, the new Lamborghini Aventador has 690nm of torque. Power is sent to all four wheels through BMW’s xDrive system. This monster of an engine is mated to BMW’s eight speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters, should you feel the need to pretend your an F1 driver in you’re two tonne SUV. Jump on the right hand pedal and you will hit 100km/h in 5.3 seconds, thanks to three turbochargers, two small ones which spool up nice and early to remove any evidence of turbo lag, and one big one to cram stupendous amounts of air into those cylinders once you get going. The results are pretty alarming, an SUV which will worry your average sports car in a straight line, yet carry five in comfort and only drink 7.7l/100km.

Special M50d badge

So then what’s this two tonne SUV like on the Hidden Valley race circuit? It is simply incredible. There you might as well stop reading now, because that’s all you need to know. This car somehow can defy the laws of physics. A two tonne car with its centre of mass more than half a meter in the sky should not corner anything like this car does. You would expect to throw this car at a corner, and watch it wallow around like a pig in mud, but it doesn’t, it stays flatter than physics says it’s allowed to, and its exciting too, even though it has BMW’s xDrive system which can send as much as 100% of power to either axle it will send its DTC system into a fit if you floor it on a slightly damp or non-straight road. It performs and excites better than any other SUV and even some sports cars, a sports SUV then? Well yeah, it is its a proper sports utility vehicle.  

In this industry, the term ‘sports’ is thrown around far to much, car makers claim their cars are sporty or they are SUV’s, to the point where even a Toyota Landcruiser can be classified as an SUV, a sports utility vehicle, sure its a utility vehicle, but its in no way shape or form sporty. The X6 M50d on the other hand, truly deserves its SUV badge, it’s an immensely capable car, it’s quite and comfortable too, and like every other BMW product, its interior is great – no fuss (as long as there’s no carbon fibre trim).    

So has the X6 shaken off its lost cause image thanks to a facelift and new engine? Well we’ll have to wait and see what the X5 M50d is like, if it performs anything like its X6 sister, I’m afraid not.