2024 BMW X6 xDrive40i

by Rich Taber

For some premium SUVs, it can be a bit of a high wire juggling fete balancing performance, personality and prestige, but not for the BMW X6 xDrive 40i. It assuredly has got its act together. On our week long test drive of the model, it never disappointed us in how well-mannered and sophisticated it would be even when pushed to be brutish.

Some might argue that that ability to remain calm and reserved under pressure is characteristic of the brand. We won’t dispute that other than to note that at times we hoped for a bit more flagrant use of muscle in its demeanor.

Nevertheless, BMW has fastidiously stayed true to form to a fault and that’s where it succeeds. It knows its customer. After all, getting all noisy and raucous while exerting ones power is so déclassé.

To be clear, the X6 xDrive40i does have plenty of power when needed with its 375 horsepower inline 6-cylinder engine paired with a 48V mild hybrid setup. Of course, you’ll pay a bit at the pump for this level of performance, but whose counting when you’ve spent $87,545 to bring home the likes of this test edition that’s loaded with options (see table below).

As for prestige, there’s no line item in the list to describe such an intangible. It comes with the brand’s well-heeled cachet. Even so, the sum total of luxury and convenience features that come with a car like this is not an accident. On paper, they might look like the same stuff you’ll find in the top level trim of many other vehicles. Somehow though, they come together differently in the BMW X6 to create that presence of luxuriousness that you experience as soon as you get in the car, and then gets amplified as you gaze down the road and lean into the accelerator.