If you thought the term “muscle car” best described some seventies big-block Chevy or tire-fryin’ Dodge Charger, you might want to think again.
Fast forward to well, today, and “muscle car” perfectly describes the 2025 blunt instrument BMW X6 M Competition I’ve been driving. Or better still, make that “muscle” SUV.
Look at the thing. Those bulging fenders were surely modeled from Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s massive, gym-honed guns. That air-gulping front end had to inspired by a military A-10 Thunderbolt II, affectionately-known as the Warthog.
And while it has that high-ridin’, mountain-climbin’ 4×4 stance of a sport-ute, the sloping rear window has more in common with Steve McQueen’s Mustang Fastback from the movie Bullitt.
Then there’s the power and performance. Here, the word “insane” comes to mind.
Under that vast Texas-sized hood resides a BMW Motorsport-honed, twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 that’s paired with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system. Working in harmony, the honking V8 and all those ohms deliver a combined 617 horseys and stump-pulling 553 pound-foot of twist.
Pedal to the metal, you’re looking at zero-to-60 miles per hour blasts in a mere 3.7 seconds, with a top speed electronically-limited to 155.
This is officially BMW’s bad boy SUV, a $133,275-and-up, testosterone-fueled performance rocketship that butts heads with slopey-back rivals like Audi’s 591-horsepower RS Q8, the 650-horsepower Porsche Cayenne Turbo, and Mercedes-Benz’ 603-horsepower AMG GLE 63 S Coupe.
Of course it makes absolutely no sense. For less money–more than $5,000 less–you could get into BMW’s similarly-powered X5 M, which offers a lot more practicality and load carrying.
But who needs more practicality when you can have something that spins heads, looks this wild, breaks rules, and throws convention to the wind?
Plus, it drives like a dream. Step on the gas and the X6 M Competition feels otherworldly in the explosive way it delivers those 617 horseys. Koko the Clown being ejected from a Ringling Brothers circus cannon doesn’t feel this much thrust.
It’s not just off-the-line sprinting where it excels either. Merging from a freeway on-ramp, scything through slower traffic, or blasting out of tight curves are all just breathtaking.
And this forward motion is accompanied by one of the sexiest, deepest, rumbliest soundtracks this side of Luciano Pavarotti hitting the low notes in “Nessun dorma.”
This is truly one of the world’s great engines. That said, fuel economy sucks. Don’t expect much more than 13 to the gallon around town and just 18 on the highway. The EPA’s combined figure is a miserable 15 miles per gallon.
Show it a curvy back road however, and it all makes perfect sense. Surgically-precise steering, low-roll cornering and the kind of grip you only get with a gallon of Gorilla glue, makes the X6 M a sports car in disguise.
One downside is size. On the road the X6 M feels big and bulky, and rides with no shortage of jolts and jitters. Even with the adaptive suspension set in Comfort mode, potholes and sharp ridges send jolts through the body. It’s the price you pay for that Competition badge on the trunk lid and 21-inch front, 22-inch rear wheels.
Talking of trunk, while the X6’s fastback rear does shave a few cubic feet off the load space compared to an X5, it’s still an accomplished load carrier. Think 27.4 cubic feet with the back seat in place, and a whopping 60 cubic feet with its folded flat.
As you’d expect of a $133,000 BMW, the cabin is a wonderful place to be. It’s all glorious, hand-stitched leather–sexy red in our test car–with lovely diamond quilting.
New last year was the 27.2-inch sweeping curved center touch screen that looks like it came out of your local cineplex. The graphics are needle-sharp.
No, this latest X6 M Competition won’t be for everyone. But for anyone looking for a modern-day muscle car in an SUV coupe body, it’s an enthusiast’s dream come true.
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