BMW

BMW and Acura have found themselves in a duel, of sorts, at the New York International Auto Show. First, Acura slid the sheet off of its "luxury performance coupe," the ZDX, a direct competitor of BMW’s previously released — and similarly hard-to-define — X6. A few hours later, BMW returned fire with the X6 M, a performance version of what the German automaker likes to call a sport-activity vehicle (SAV).

 

The X6 M is a lot like its M-less predecessor — a coupe’s front end and looks that flow into a sedan’s cabin and doors, finally swelling out into an SUV’s hatchback. But for a BMW vehicle, particularly a young, awkward thing with no solid customer base or sense of its own identity, getting that "M" treatment is like being called up into the Big Leagues. In the tradition of nearly a quarter-century of BMW M cars, the X6 M’s power is jaw-dropping: a 4.4 liter twin-turbo V8 with 555 horsepower. It can go from zero to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds.

 

To improve handling, the X6 M also has a suite of suspension and drivetrain-related upgrades, from "Intelligent xDrive" all-wheel drive to a button that activates throttle steering. The car looks slightly different, too, with larger air dams and a row of four tailpipes jutting from the aerodynamic diffuser.

 

Compared with the ZDX, the X6 M’s interior is a bland collection of grays, more functional and vanishing than pointedly luxurious. Which brings us to the X6 M’s biggest potential problem by far — those supercar touches have a price, and while some journalists have guessed at a $10,000 price premium over the X6’s $50,000 to $60,000 sticker price, BMW North America President Jim O’Donnell said the X6 M would fall somewhere between $80,000 and $90,000. The company had always planned to sell a limited number of its turbocharged SAVs, but with X6 sales already struggling, and no guarantee that consumers will warm up to Acura’s ZDX either, the battle of the category-defying luxury cars could just as easily end with no clear victors, and no real spoils.