X6 M Competition: 3.2-second 0-60, Off-roading Savagery

By Michele Lupini - September 9, 2020

Monster street cred doesn’t mean this big Beemer SUV can’t wander off the beaten track

I looked forward to test driving BMW’s monster X6 M Competition for a number of reasons. Mostly because it’s the first car since the M5 Competition smashed my test run records with a 2.8 second 0-60 blast a few months back. And this car packs the same heart.

So I grabbed my test kit and camera, snatched the keys straight from the lad who delivered the Vader-like black machine and headed straight out on a voyage of adventure. Appropriately enough, I was dressed to match the slippery ute with its slithers of rubber wrapping those superb 21 and 22-inch alloys. My old Supergas with a hole in the and faded skinny jeans kinda fitted the bill. Hold that thought.

The first order of business was to determine how fast this thing really is. The new Competition packs BMW M’s 617 horsepower and 553 lbs.-ft of torque with its TwinPower 4.4-liter biturbo V8. It benefits a 50 hp power hike over the old one. All those horses stampede through the default eight-speed M Steptronic tranny with Drivelogic to M’s xDrive all-wheel-drive.

Full-time AWD, No Hooning

While the AWD system is rear-biased, you can’t expunge the front axle. So hooliganism and smoking the rear axle is not an option. It does however pack 4WD and Sport modes and an Active M Differential to optimise traction and dynamics and see it to 60 mph in — wait for it — a claimed 3.7 seconds!

Knowing that BMW is notorious for its conservative claims, I quickly wired my X6 M Competition up, spent a few runs to acclimatise myself with the finer nuances of its launch procedure and lined up in my starting box. The first two runs were in the low 3.4s. Already superlative, but I felt they were not perfect.

First off you need to know where to go to even make M’s launch control work. It’s quite a rigmarole. Some rivals just need to push a button and get on with it.

Ready to Launch

And then it’s fussy how long you keep both brake and throttle planted before you release the brake.And how to release the brake. With all that figured out, my next run was in the low three-point-threes. Then I managed two perfect launches, both of which broke into the 3.2 second bracket to 60 mph!

In short, this five-thousand pound ’sports activity vehicle’ gets off the line like a literal rocket to crush 40 mph in 1.76 seconds. 60 mph happens in 3.27 seconds and it stops the clock at 7.95 seconds at 100 mph. To get to 125 mph takes just 12.33 seconds, a fraction of a second after flattening the quarter mile in 11.6 seconds at 121 mph.

That’s quite an achievement. But it’s sadly not an SUV 0-60 mph record for our little strip — that still belongs — believe it or not — to the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, which managed a 3.23 second run. I tried very to beat that, but only just couldn’t do it. Promise!

However, let’s just say that X6 M did not disappoint. No, not at all!

Comfortable and precise over all the various paved surfaces we attacked, straight line acceleration is something I’d describe in a manner not appropriate to such a forum. There’s minimal body roll, the brakes are fantastic. Not too sharp however, so there’s always a feeling of full control. The driver also enjoys a sense of full control and not a hint of panic — even if it has 617 hp and 553 lb – ft on tap!