2013 BMW X6 M Test Drive - Popular Mechanics

BMW holds to the X6 M's bold bruiser roots, with little meddling beneath the skin of this high-performance crossover SUV. Also new for 2013 is BMW's Active Sound Design, which pipes engine noise through the stereo's speakers to enhance the aural experience of driving this big sport ute (though plenty of gearheads consider this new trend to be cheating ). By the mean,... One BMW executive describes it as "a high water mark for engineering defying physics," and we don't disagree. An automatically decoupling roll bar also enhances ride quality at lower speeds, while the newly incorporated Active Sound Design feature heightens the perception of speed by artificially enhancing the exhaust note. All of this makes for a fleet 4x4 that can't quite compete against BMW's other M cars for outright agility but otherwise makes a surprisingly entertaining case for itself. Now that this unlikely offering is proving a viable option against pricier alternatives like the Porsche Cayenne Turbo (which, incidentally, barely edged out the X6 M last year—the Porsche sold 12 more units in the U. S. ). So BMW can savor an "I... Source: www.popularmechanics.com