BMW X6 - Too Cramped, Complicated and Expensive | Car Review| Top Gear

our instructions to Jeremy were very very specific keep it cheap and simple right one simple film coming up the x6 is BMWs attempt to make a car which looks and goes like a coupe eh but as a tall driving position and a bit of off-road ability they call it a sports activity vehicle it's available with a choice of two petrol engines both of which will attract the new 950 pounds showroom tax and two Diesel's which won't in the cabin there is space for fall but those in the back will be awfully cramped due to the sloping roofline inside it's all typical BMW except for this some rock clever split opening glove box lid it works well here but what if you're the wrong way up [Music] to find out I went to Sydney which is in Australia obviously everything here is upside down and yet it still works beautifully and that is impressive so how does the x6 Drive in many ways it's quite annoying you can't see out of the back very well and it's got the iDrive system which can only be operated if you are 14 know what any of that means satellite navigation okay you're coming up to a complicated Junction trying to see which way it is and the Evo it's a bit chilly I'll just ease the temperature up and the squeeze [Music] then there's the gear lever it's all back to front cause if you want to change down you push it away and if you want to change you pull it towards you and there's no point resorting to the paddles on the steering wheel because unlike an ax normal car where one changes down a1 changes up in this they both do the same thing and what was the boss of BMW doing when all the clowns in the laptop department we're coming up with his rubbish I can only assume she was in a motel with a swiss spy now that would be preposterous still for a big tall car it's not bad in the bends unfortunately to make it not bad they have had to put quite a lot of beef and granite in the suspension in Britain that makes it really quite uncomfortable but what about countries where the roads are smooth to find out I went to Spain [Music] nope it's uncomfortable here as well the fact is this it would be more comfortable if it weren't so tall there's a similar problem with the performance yes the twin-turbo 3 liter diesel that I've got in this particular model will get me from nought to 60 in 7 seconds and that's not bad but how much faster and how much more economical would it have been if the body wasn't so enormous you'd imagine though that the advantages of that big high riding body would become clearer in the countryside but there's no low-range gearbox there's no ride height control and there's no locking differentials it doesn't take long for those emissions to have an effect [Music] now you see that really says a lot doesn't it they're the only way around this is to get out and complete your journey on foot it's the handbrake on and in park maybe though it can handle snow a bit better to find out I went to the ski resort in the hours [Music] no it can't so it's too focused on being a road car to be any good off-road and it's too focused on being tall and heavy to be any good on the road ever and that I'm afraid is far from the end of the story you see the x6 was conceived at a time when we all thought the bank's knew what they were doing but it went on sale moments after we discovered they didn't and I'm sorry but in a recession a car like this just looks ridiculous [Music] to explain what I'm on about I went in search for metaphor and inevitably that led me to Hong Kong [Music] see that skyscraper who on Batman jumped off it's not particularly beautiful it's not particularly useful it was built by a world for a world that doesn't really exist anymore remind you of anything to sum up then the Range Rover is a much better all rounder which is why we use them as camera tracking cars the x6 is too cramped too complicated and with prices starting at 42,000 pounds to expensive as well then you're going to need at least 1,500 pounds a year to run it not including depreciation now I think I'd rather spend that sort of money on a Caribbean holiday to find out I went to Barbados I think a bit more research [Music] no this is definitely better definitely [Music]

Channel: Top Gear

Views: 5,151,601

Rating: 4.8016925 out of 5

Keywords: BBC, Top Gear, Transport, Cars, BMW X6, Travel, Australia, Spain, Switzerland, The Alps, Hong Kong, Barbados, Jeremy Clarkson, Top Gear (TV Program), Review

Id: 5UwOBKSHl-c

Length: 8min 1sec (481 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 29 2010

Reddit Comments

[u/hmacfarland01]

And thanks to him we know that the glovebox works in Australia.

[u/Grand_Corgi]

I can’t believe they didn’t edit out the part where he almost hit the biker in Spain 😂

[u/yerFACE]

Ah yes the most expensive review of the most useless vehicle. Good memories of TG.

[u/Allrighty-then]

I can't decide if I enjoyed this clip or not. To find out I went to Brazil. From here I can tell, It's one of my favorites too.

[u/lionhurt24]

Literally travels all over the world to tell us that this car really sucks. I love Top Gear

[u/ZepHead2511]

Peak Top Gear, god I miss it.

[u/DhatKidM]

Fucking love a bit of Top Gear.

For me this was around the pinnacle - it was funny and irreverent, but also informative. It was also still firmly a car show, before it's descent into more what I'd describe as 'entertainment'.

[u/MasterRacer98]

I don't like the x6 but the off road stuff was really misleading. All 4 tires were spinning perfectly it wasn't the car's fault he went on frozen snow with summer tires.

[u/Raptor01]

So, I had an X6. Got it with the twin turbo V8. 400hp, 450 lb/ft torque. I even watched this review before buying it. The review really turned me off, but an impromptu test-drive at a BMW dealership that didn't have the M5 I was looking for really changed my mind.

It was a great car while it lasted. The engine was wonderful, it was fast, comfortable, and roomy. I didn't need the space of an X5, but I still enjoyed the higher seating position vs a sedan. It was fun and flat through the curves with the anti-roll air suspension, but it's not meant to be a canyon carver. It's the best road trip car I've ever had and boy did I take it on some great road trips. I'd always look forward to an empty stretch of road where short forays into 130+ would happen quickly and confidently. It was just really fun to drive on the highway and on country roads. It was absolutely not harsh like the review stated. Maybe he tried one with a different suspension than mine.

I'd have it to this day if the engine hadn't started costing me an arm and a leg at 85,000 miles, and don't even get me started about the price depreciation.