2024 BMW X6 M Competition Review: Ridiculous, But That's The Point

There is a formula for excess in the automotive industry, a recipe, and automakers like BMW have made it a mighty successful one. Start with a mainstream model, hand it over to your in-house tuners, and encourage them to coax out even greater levels of ridiculousness. In the case of this BMW X6 M Competition, that means taking a regular X6 — hardly shy and retiring itself — and then liberating the M division to turn it into a supercar for the school run.

More specifically, that means cranking 617 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque from the X6 M Competition's 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 gas engine. 0-60 mph arrives in 3.7 seconds. Top speed is an electronically-limited 155 mph.

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They are wild and lavish numbers, though it's worth noting that even the "regular" X6 xDrive40i will do 0-60 mph in a plenty-fast 5.2 seconds, courtesy of its 375 horses. It starts at around $74k, whereas this M-ified version kicks off at $129,700 (plus destination). Just who, then, is this beast for?

First off, it'd probably need to be someone who enjoys attention, particularly when finished in Velvet Blue Metallic (which shimmers between purple and blue, light depending). Sadly BMW isn't offering that paint for the 2025 update, but its matte-finish Frozen Pure Grey Metallic — a $3,600 option — would be a handsome, if high-maintenance, alternative.

It's an SUV, but a slope-roofed one. Rides high on staggered wheels — 21-inches on the front, 22-inches on the rear — but this really isn't something you're going to go off-roading in. Not as practical as an X5 or X7, but then again not as impractical as an M8 Gran Coupe.

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High gloss black details, standard quad tailpipes, lashings of vents and sculpt lines, and distinctive LED lighting front and rear help the X6 M Competition stand out, though without straying into cartoonish proportions like some of BMW's current lineup could be accused of. The end result is shouty and hardly subtle, but then again that's probably not what a buyer is hoping for.

The strategy continues inside. Big, comfortable sport seats with illuminated logos in the headrests put you in mind of a BMW sports car, only with a more spacious cabin for those front and rear. There's less rear seat headroom than, say, an X5 would offer, but adults could still take a spot back there without feeling short-changed.

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BMW's Extended Merino Leather package is standard; a Full Merino Leather package with more duo-tone color options is a $3,500 upgrade. Matching panels on the doors, dashboard, and center console add to the sense of the X6 M Competition being a speedy cocoon, though whether you opt for carbon fiber, piano black, or wood for the trim makes a big difference.

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It's not like the typical X6 M Competition spec won't crest $140k by the time BMW's options sheet has had its way. A $3.1k Executive Package supplies the front seat ventilation and massage you'd expect, along with a panoramic glass roof and — luxury of luxuries — heated and cooled cupholders. The automaker has decided not to include features like Active Driving Assistant Pro, adaptive cruise, Traffic Jam Assistant, and lane-keeping assistance as standard, though, and to instead charge $1.7k for them — which feels oddly miserly.

A 12.3-inch driver display and a 14.9-inch infotainment touchscreen are sandwiched into a single, curved swathe atop the dashboard. There's a learning curve to BMW's software interface, particularly the climate control pages. Physical controls are limited to the basics (there are, at least, easily-twiddled HVAC vent adjusters, rather than a touch-led system as we've seen on other cars), with an iDrive knob in the center console plus shortcuts for the infotainment and various drivetrain adjustments.

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As with other recent M cars, BMW offers a wowing — perhaps too wowing — array of drivetrain options and configurations. Multiple settings for the engine, chassis, steering, and brake performance; three levels of aggression for the transmission shifts; and the M xDrive system with support for 4WD or rear-bias 4WD Sport. Throw in an M Differential setting, in addition to the option to switch the 8-speed M Sport transmission into sport manual mode to use the carbon fiber paddle shifters, and you could easily get overwhelmed on the move.

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Better, then, to spend a few minutes configuring the red anodized "M" buttons on the steering wheel. There are two of them, driver-customizable to summon your preferred drivetrain setup with a tap (or, if you want the traction control dialed back, after a precautionary second tap). Since the X6 returns to the previous settings when the M button is pressed again, it's a much easier way to flip between an everyday driver and something more fun.

Even in Comfort mode, mind, the X6 M Competition errs on the side of extreme. The adaptive suspension is dialed in firm and only gets firmer; the V8 awakens with a minor graze of the gas pedal, the 48V mild-hybrid system filling in any tiny gaps where turbo lag might've shown itself. It's responsive and just plain fast.

It's also ridiculously easy to drive, and to drive aggressively. BMW's 0-60 speed is impressive, obviously, but the X6 M Competition pulls pretty much regardless of current speed. The soundtrack is throaty and glorious, but you're sufficiently isolated from outside noise otherwise that it's painfully easy to glance down and realize you're well, well over the limit.

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It never quite feels small, though, and when BMW's stiff suspension met less-than-perfect asphalt out on some country back roads, I was quick to dial it back to the most comfort-minded settings. Even then, it was a firm experience. As a result, body roll is impressively absent, but that poise may not find so much favor among passengers.

On the one hand, this level of performance alongside a 27.4 cu-ft trunk (rising to nearly 60 cu-ft with the rear seats folded) could be seen as the best of both worlds. Then again, very nearly the same could be said for the X6 M60i, with 523 horsepower. Yes, you get a half-second delay in its acceleration time, but it also starts at under $95k.

Griping about price tags is probably missing the point, of course. Models like the X6 M Competition force us to reexamine the automotive definitions we use. Is it an SUV, or a sports car, or an oddly-proportioned coupe with two too many doors, or just a leather-lined box in which we listen to Stray Kids? Do we need a 5,500 pound vehicle that can do 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds? Was the regular X6 lacking, in some way, that these M attentions address?

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The rationalist says no. The realist says this — like most silly-fast SUVs, BMW's own XM included — is ridiculous. And yet, as an example of "we did it because we could," the X6 M Competition knocks it out of the park. The formula works, even if you're too sensible to understand it.