BMW X6 M

– Detroit, Michigan

Part sports car, part SUV, and part coupe, the BMW X6 M attempts to blend several competing vehicle types into one body. It has, after all, essentially the same “S63” biturbocharged heart as the M6 and the outgoing M5 sedan, with humongous power and capability. And it’s an SUV, which should offer practicality, yet there’s less room than BMW’s own X5 M. As a purely rational purchase, this vehicle makes no sense: In trying to do too many things, the X6 M only comes off as compromised.

Pros

Tons of power. Twin-scroll turbos mounted within the valley of the engine spin up quickly and will deliver all 553 pound-feet of punch from just 2,200 rpm. At any engine speed, in fact, boost arrives near-instantly. And with a total of 567 horsepower on offer, the 4.4-liter V8 makes ultra-swift work of pretty much any road you can find, punching hard at the merest nudge of the throttle.

Configuration shortcut buttons. Like many modern performance cars, this BMW offers a plethora of modes for its components: three settings each for the engine, suspension, steering, and transmission. To make things easier, BMW lets you pre-program two modes that can instantly be selected by M1 and M2 buttons on the steering wheel. This makes it simpler to preset and dial up the exact drive-mode configuration you want without Konami-style button-mashing.

Sounds heroic. Whether natural or generated through the speakers, the sounds from this BMW are full-bore muscle machine. Baritone rumble...