2009 BMW X6 - Styling Review

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It’s a “sports activity coupe”—or so BMW wants you to think of the 2009 BMW X6, which marries the sport-utility architecture of BMW’s X5 SUV with a coupe-like profile.

Reviewers from around the Web were confused by the 2009 BMW X6. “Is the X6 beautiful? Ground breaking? Fashionable? Or does it come across as a lifted five-door hatchback?” Car and Driver asks.

“The front is all BMW with a big twin kidney grille and fighter-jet-size intakes at each corner,” Edmunds thinks. “The roof line goes on forever in profile, giving the X6 a hatchback-style look that's unique at best, a little too forced at worst.” Jalopnik says, “its looks are promising yet flawed,” and calls the rear end “huge”—while Edmunds believes it’s “kind of a supermodel from behind.”

The BMW X6’s roofline may seem familiar to sportscar fans. Truck Trend says “BMW designer Adrian van Hooydonk claims [it] is cribbed from the 6 Series.” They call it “striking”; so long as you “obscure the lower third of the X6,” it could pass as a sports coupe. Popular Mechanics goes to the extreme: “we think it’s positively dripping with machismo.” That machismo might be why Jalopnik notes, “that lip on the rear hatch is taller than an F-150's tailgate.”

Inside, the 2009 BMW X6 wears a more traditional outfit. The dash is similar to that in the X5, with dark trim pieces and lots of buttons and controls, though BMW’s iDrive handles much of the climate and entertainment functions. TheCarConnection.com notes that the center console rides up high, giving the cockpit a tighter and more claustrophobic feel.