My take on the X6

[ravenheart]

Originally Posted by LeMansX5

I have at least 3 people tell me that the road hazard insurance was worth it.

It came in handy again - the new tire got a screw in it. But that is not the end of the bad luck - we got a cracked windshield as well (which is not covered by road hazard insurance). Dealer quoted us $1500 for parts and labour. Our insurance will cover the first $900 but would prefer us to use an independent shop - in which case they would cover everything. Don't really trust 3rd party shops and since we are taking it in for the tire anyway I am thinking those $600 will be well spent.

[Low Note]

I've got a 2010 X6 5.0 currently in 112 order status, and should be built within the next four weeks. Decided on mineral silver, since the police in our area (northern Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC) love to follow red and black sporty looking cars...which I can attest to via personal experience. I went for the active steering, since it did not appear to detract from the steering feel, but made the steering more linear at all speeds. Especially useful on roads with high center crowns that would normally cause one to turn in the wheel toward the crown to go straight. Active steering eliminates that problem. Also better at taking corners on back country roads between 30-50 mph, since degree of steering wheel motion appears to be at unity gain with degree of road curves. Also, for such a large vehicle, I feel that AS helps it to handle much more nimbly and predictably. But that's just my take on the subject.

[Low Note]

Originally Posted by ravenheart

Hey all

I thought I'd post a small review of our X6 once I got some decent pictures. Its been 3 weeks and still haven't gotten around to taking said pictures, so its probably not going to happen However, it is a run of the mill X6 so not much imagination is required. Also - take what you read with a grain of salt - its just personal opinion which may vary from yours and/or the truth.

We got a Vermillion Red X6 50i, with black interior and ash grain wood. It has sport, premium, cold weather, ventilated seats, premium sound and rear climate. As for options we got comfort access, HUD, leather dash, running boards, soft close doors, HD radio and rear view camera. Basicly we got everything except active steering, spare tire, smartphone intergration and satelite radio.

Now - as far as practicality ... well - the boot is very spacious - easily fitting the same luggage as our E53 would. However the rear seat headroom is lacking. If I sit in the back, my head is resting against the roof when I lean against the head rest. Also rear leg room is not good either - sitting behind a short person my knees still rub against the front seat. I am 6'3 - so some of this is to be expected I guess - but I've never had those problems in an X5.

In the front there are more issues - while I fit perfectly well and is comfortable, the seats are a little harder than the comfort seats was in our old E53. Also the active driver's seat is pointless - it may help back aches like it says in the brochure, but it is most certainly not 'imperceptibly'. It feels like someone is shoving a fist through your butt cheek.

Interior build quality is also a bit off - some trim pieces doesn't quite line up and pushing the dash in certain places will make it give quite a bit - not as bad as in a caddilac, but still - it has hints of cheapness. Also some of the plastics are a bit too hard and chinzy. Having said all that, the interior is nicely laid out and up to BMW standards - I just wish it was better put together.

Sound from the premium sound package is also a little disapointing - while it certainly works, I doubt I would have missed it had we gotten the standard system - which we probably would have if it wasn't for the USB/iPod option. And oh my ... the iDrive - that thing drives me crazy - how they made it as un-intuative as they did is beyond me.

At this point you are probably thinking that I am being down on the X6 and that it might have been a mistake getting it - but no - I am getting to the point

The engine is good - it has lots of power and sounds fantastic when on the throttle. Sometimes it does sound a bit like a turbo-diesel van engine - but I can forgive that because of the power. The power delivery is not as urgent as it was in our Z4M, but it is much easier to use.

Now I am getting to the part where it all begins to come together - the handling. This thing, this big 4x4, takes corners like no car I have ever driven. A sharp 90 degree turn with a suggested speed of ... let's say ... 15 mph - can be taken at much higher speeds ... like ... let's say 40+ mph, and you never feel like you are about to loose control. In the Z4M that corner was ... I mean ... let's say it would have been scary. In the E53 it would have been slower. All of the sudden it makes sense why there are 11 inch rubbers in the back And the adaptive drive and DPC really shines.

Furthermore - I think its beautiful. Pictures really do not do this car justice. It plays tricks on your mind. The X6 is about as wide as a Navigator, but looking at it from a distance, it looks small. I could go on trying to explain it, but really - it is just a very nice looking car It looks nicely proportioned. If anyone still think it looks like an Aztec, they have their eyes stuck so far up their own ass that all they see is shit, and nothing I say can change that.

So here is the point - it is an expensive, gas guzzling (we get 16 mpg) SUV that barely seats 4 people and it is not well put together. It is big and ungainly and it polutes like few other cars ... but I love it. It is not a car that needs to be rationalised. I can imagine no better car for us at this point (and we looked at a lot of options).

A few things worth noting BTW:
- rear visibility is somewhat poor. Parking without PDC or the rear view camera is nearly impossible. Blind spots however are not bad - also the side mirrors are quite big which helps a lot.
- heads up display is really nice.
- the amount of brakedust is amazing - it looks like we have black rims in the front and normal alloys in the back. Much worse than in the E53. Of course I don't wash our car often - so I guess if it really bothered me I could just wash it
- Active steering alters/spoils the feel of the steering - if looking to get an X6 (or any BMW I guess) be sure to try both options to see what you prefer. For us it was an easy choice.
- Soft close doors are a cool gadget - but not that useful.

Oh - the one picture I have is from a cell phone - hopefully the general shape of the car is visible

Hi Ravenheart,
Very good overall review of the X6. Many people will never understand the beauty of this "work of art in motion". I almost went for a diesel X5, but once I saw the X6, all bets were off. Yes, my upcoming X6 5.0 will drink a lot of fuel. But it will handle far better than the X5, and will always challenge my driving abilities. Plenty of space in the back for our two cats (no kids), and my contrabassoon, which has a case 58 inches long. I went with most all packages and options, including ventilated seats, soft close doors and active steering. I did not feel that AS took road feel away. Just the opposite. I felt that the directional stability of the vehicle was more linear at all speeds (in other words, vehicle steered similarly at all speeds without having to adjust travel of wheel back and forth). Another thing that AS provides, is the ability to somehow remove the byproduct of having to steer into the central crest of a roadway. Since we all know that this is something that varies in all instances, and also is speed dependent on any road, AS takes that out of the equation. AS is actually something akin to the steering systems adopted for formula 1, but apparently not quite the same mechanism. But as they say, that's why they make chocolate and vanilla. Best of luck with you and your new X6. It really is a work of art.

[Low Note]

Hi Ravenheart (again),
Your comment about the premium sound system in the x6 is right on. It does not sound terrific out of the box, but will probably break in as it is played over the next several weeks. I design both home and mobile high end audio systems, and did some extensive research into the OEM "premium" sound system that BMW had Sid Harmon's group design for the X6. The subwoofers used have very stiff cones, and rather heavy magnets (as do all of the other mid and high frequency drivers), which is unusual for an OEM system. Also, the multi-band EQ used needs to be trimmed by the basic "bass and treble" pots, in spite of what one would think. Also, the backboxes of the subwoofers can be modified to provide better performance, but that would take some trial and error. But, in spite of this, the use of class D amplification will never provide the clarity and uncolored sound of old fashioned analog amplification with big power supplies. Sound still is better than the very overpriced B&O system offered in the Audi A8, Q5 and Q7. Being a musician, I'll never be satisfied with an OEM system. But for the price, the X6 system ain't bad.

[Low Note]

Originally Posted by LeMansX5

I have at least 3 people tell me that the road hazard insurance was worth it.

Thanks for the heads up on the wheel and tire insurance. Sound like a very good idea. BMW is beginning to offer a tire/wheel warranty policy which will start sometime this week. Looks like it is very comprehensive, competitive, and no limit on claims. I figure one flat and screwed up wheel will pay for the policy. Can't patch RFT's. I just hope that the new series 3 RFT's that BMW has a fleet exclusive with Bridgestone will be better than the horrible tires they were making before. I'm going to have nitrogen put in my tires, since it doesn't change much at all extremely different outside temps, and will not tend to leak or leach out of the tire as easily as regular air. Proved it on my last Mercedes, which only showed a 1 lb. difference between 65 degrees in Virginia and 15 degrees at Interlochen, Michigan last February. Pretty amazing. Had the nitrogen put in when car was new, and never had to add any nitrogen for 13,000 miles, which is when I traded the car in for my upcoming X6. BMWUSA corporate suits do not recommend nitrogen. Perhaps that's why they are the corporate suits and not in the trenches working on these vehicles. You know, Peter Principle in full force here.

[ravenheart]

Gratz Low Note - I hope you will enjoy your X as much as we are

I still cant come to terms with Active Steering - doesn't help I started out in a Z4 M - the steering in that car was perfect and I would like it that way in all cars I drive.

On a side note for those interested - I did go with the 3rd party company for replacing the windshield - they understood my concerns and promised to redo it if I was not happy - and they did indeed get it right on the first try

[cmyX6go]

I absolutey hated the active steering on a test drive. It was a no brainer for me. The HUD also annoyed me. Skipped that option too.

[Low Note]

Originally Posted by cmyX5go

I absolutey hated the active steering on a test drive. It was a no brainer for me. The HUD also annoyed me. Skipped that option too.

Active steering is very polarizing. Some people love it, and some hate it. I liked it because it allowed me to use similar steering input for low, moderate, and high speeds. Very useful if you are going to do any autocrossing, and will cut your competitive times substantially. Also, in urban traffic, which is what we have in the DC metro area, with a lot of drivers who don't know what they are doing (and are also very aggresive, bad drivers who have not earned the right to pilot a motor vehicle), having active steering will help me get out of their way much more easily, as well as avoiding the infamous DC potholes. But something that most people who test drive a vehicle with active steering don't know, and have not experienced, is how AS eliminates the need to steer into the crest of a road. As you know, depending on your speed, you need to adjust your toe into the crest differently at different speeds. So, if you are driving at let's say 70 mph on a center crested road, and suddenly have to reduce speed to 30 mph, you will have to rapidly adjust the wheel toe into the crest. On a large, all wheel drive vehicle, this can complicate matters, since the vehicle's front to back power division will also be changed, but not fast enough to accomodate for the toe in change required. There have been several documented incidents of all wheel drive vehicles spinning out of control on even dry pavement on center crested roads due to the driver's inability to properly immediately adjust toe in while having to rapidly swerve out of the way in accident avoidance. Since the theory of active steering was originally adopted for formula 1, this is one of the reasons why it was adopted, as well as allowing the drivers to have less "twitchy" directional stability at high speeds (as active steering goes in 15:1 ratio above 100 mph).

It is virtually impossible to completely assess all the positives and negatives of active steering on one test drive, without doing an immediate A/B comparison, and driving on several types of road surfaces. What BMW has somehow done, is to keep the steering resistance exactly the same at low, medium, and high speeds, thus providing the driver a much more balanced steering feel in high speed dynamic situations, such as accident avoidance and varying speeds of slalom courses.

I learned to drive in Germany many years ago, and still drive the same way that I was taught. With such a large vehicle as the X6, I think that active steering will enable me to drive much more safely, and in a more sporting manner when the opportunity arises.

[Low Note]

I forgot to respond to the argument against heads up display. When I was taught to drive in Germany, the idea of looking ahead with minimal eye distraction was drilled into me ad nauseum. That is why, when you drive on the autobahns, you will not see people casually switching lanes back and forth (and NEVER passing on the right the way it happens in the US with untrained drivers all of the time). You will see them staying to the right, looking forward, passing on the left and then immediately getting back into the right lane, all by just quickly looking at their mirrors, but mostly keeping their eyes glued to the road in front. At such high speeds, diverting your eyes to look down to the speedo, radio, or nav system can mean the difference between avoiding or being involved in a serious accident. That is why I think heads up is such a good idea. Of course, if you are the type of drive who multi-tasks while driving (cell phone, texting, etc.) heads up won't help. But if you are the kind of driver who wants to have as little distraction as possible while driving, I think heads is a great idea.

[cmyX6go]

I don't multi task. When I'm driving, I'm driving. No cell phone, no blackberry, no food, no drink, no makeup. Nothing but eyes on the road. I don't need to look at my speedo. I found the HUD to be distracting, where my eyes traveled to the display and took my focus off the road.

That's why they are options. Some like the features. some don't.