The 2020 model-year X6, known internally under the code name G06, flaunts a predictably evolutionary design with a bold front end featuring a new interpretation of BMW’s signature grille that can now be had with optional illumination, a broad-shouldered body and heavily curved roof line – cues that have characterised the big four-wheel drive for over 11 years now.
At the rear, the new BMW model is arguably sleeker than ever before, sharing its look with the second-generation X4, most notably in the shape of its tail lamps and exaggerated angle of its large tailgate.
In a new development, BMW now offers both a standard on-road and optional off-road package on selected models – the latter of which gives the X6 a noticeably more rugged appearance than any time in the past, with added underbody protection, added ground clearance, specific mapping and driving modes for the four-wheel-drive system and off-road tyres.
The X6’s relationship to the more upright X5 and newly introduced X7, alongside which it is produced at BMW’s Spartanburg factory in the US, remains a close one.
It sits on the same modular Cluster Architecture (CLAR) platform as its siblings, uses the same electronic hardware, and features the same choice of suspension systems, albeit tuned specifically to suit the X6’s more sporting brief.
The interior, largely shared with that used by the latest X5 and new X7, has been heavily redesigned with higher-grade materials and the latest generation of BMW’s iDrive system, complete with digital instruments and a 12.3-inch touchscreen display for the infotainment functions.
It is impeccably finished, runs just about every conceivable electronic driving aid BMW can muster, and thanks to broad front seats with every-which-way adjustment, it's wonderfully comfortable.
Seating remains restricted to five owing to the heavy curvature of the roof. However, occupying the second row of seats now benefits from added leg and shoulder room.
Yet despite the added length, boot capacity remains at 580L (65L fewer than the X5), increasing to 1530L with the 40/20/20 seats folded.
Heading the petrol line-up is the 2020 BMW X6 M50i ($155,900 plus on-road costs) driven here with a twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8 engine developing 390kW and a generous 750Nm of torque.
It will be joined from the outset of sale in Australia early next year by the $124,900 X6 xDrive40i running a turbocharged 3.0-litre in-line six-cylinder petrol unit delivering 250kW and 450Nm.
In M50i guise, it certainly feels brash and powerful, though if previous generations of the big SUV-cum-coupe are any indication, it will be the cheaper six-cylinder models that make for the best buying in the range. Time will tell.
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