[X6ix GTA]

Originally Posted by Rob_G77

Consumers shy away from the X6 because it's priced about 10% higher for what is essentially the same vehicle as an X5. That and there's never any incentives on the X6 either. The X4 is the same.

I guess BMW wants these to remain niche vehicles.

Rob

It could be the other way around. BMW knows the market size for such polarizing vehicles. Perhaps X6/X4 are deliberately priced higher to squeeze more margins out of these low volume sellers. I think more folks buy the X5s over X6s not because of the price differential but more passenger/cargo volume. Plus not many people are fan of X6's behind.

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by X6ix GTA

It could be the other way around. BMW knows the market size for such polarizing vehicles. Perhaps X6/X4 are deliberately priced higher to squeeze more margins out of these low volume sellers. I think more folks buy the X5s over X6s not because of the price differential but more passenger/cargo volume. Plus not many people are fan of X6's behind.

100%. X6 is priced higher to make it a more profitable model. If they were priced equally, they would sell the exact same number of X6s, and just make less profit. People go for X5 because it's practicality is far superior, and to most, it looks a lot better.

[Jen4BMW]

Well I am going to break from the pack on this post. I actually really like the looks of the 2024 X6 especially with the shadow line trim. There was a 2024 X6 40i sitting on the showroom floor at my dealership recently in gorgeous Carbon Black with the black 22 inch wheels with red interior and it was extremely sexy looking. It put the X5 sitting next to it to shame.

There are so many X3 and X5’s on the road these days they’ve become very “ordinary” in the looks department. A 2024 X6 configured properly is very eye catching and not in a bad way versus any X5.

The big draw back with the X6 isn’t cargo space IMO- its price. The X6 value proposition just isn’t there and most people conclude this ie. Sales figures. If the X6 40i pumped out another 100 HP maybe the price would be more palatable but it doesn’t.

Furthermore, I would argue that very few people buy X5/X6 to haul big loads often. Size leans in favor of the X5 obviously but there are many roomier choices out there than an X5 or 6 if size matters a ton. You buy X5/X6 mostly because your want the BMW badge, performance and sportiness which both SUV models offer in equal doses. It’s just the price that kills the X6.

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by weingarm

Does anyone find it interesting that BMW sells nearly 10 X5s for every 1 X6 they sell in the USA?

In 2022 it was 1.66 X6 for every 10 X5
In 2023 it was 1.38 X6 for every 10 X5

Mind you, BMW sells not one, not two, but THREE versions of the X6 (40i, M60i, M)!!!

They had to EPA test EACH version so that wasn’t cheap either.

Given that the TOTAL # of X6 sold in the USA (all variants) is ~10,000, you’d have to think a wagon version of the 3er or 5er would have to make some economic sense, right?

Could they not sell 5-10k of them per year?

I imagine the simple answer is profit.

Its not just units sold, but units sold x profit margin that matters. So my guess is that they do their forecasts for expected sales, and the forecast said:

Expected X6 units sold x profit margin per unit = $A

Expected wagon units sold x profit margin per unit = $B

and A > B.

Presumably A is a number thats worth pursuing, and B is not.

[Rob_G77]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

100%. X6 is priced higher to make it a more profitable model. If they were priced equally, they would sell the exact same number of X6s, and just make less profit. People go for X5 because it's practicality is far superior, and to most, it looks a lot better.

I think saying 'far superior' is an overstatement. I've owned both and the only reason I didn't get another X6 was because of price. X5/X6 prices went stupid the past few years and lease residual rates are abysmal.

Rob

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by Jen4BMW

Well I am going to break from the pack on this post. I actually really like the looks of the 2024 X6 especially with the shadow line trim. There was a 2024 X6 40i sitting on the showroom floor at my dealership recently in gorgeous Carbon Black with the black 22 inch wheels with red interior and it was extremely sexy looking. It put the X5 sitting next to it to shame.

There are so many X3 and X5’s on the road these days they’ve become very “ordinary” in the looks department. A 2024 X6 configured properly is very eye catching and not in a bad way versus any X5.

The big draw back with the X6 isn’t cargo space IMO- its price. The X6 value proposition just isn’t there and most people conclude this ie. Sales figures. If the X6 40i pumped out another 100 HP maybe the price would be more palatable but it doesn’t.

Furthermore, I would argue that very few people buy X5/X6 to haul big loads often. Size leans in favor of the X5 obviously but there are many roomier choices out there than an X5 or 6 if size matters a ton. You buy X5/X6 mostly because your want the BMW badge, performance and sportiness which both SUV models offer in equal doses. It’s just the price that kills the X6.

Again, I'll always caveat that I could be weird.

I didn't give a crap about the BMW badge. If anything, it was a turn off for me. I wanted a chassis that was sporty and robust, towing capacity, high performance, preferably a V8, and roughly that size. I wanted a newer version of my trailblazer ss really. Jeep Track hawk and Durango Hellcat were at the top of my list, but the X5 M50i was a lot nicer than them for less money, so it kind of made sense to go that route. Plus, the X5 doesn't make me want to modify or upgrade it, whereas the hellcats I would have wanted to do longtubes, a pulley, injectors, lowering springs, etc because you can hit 850hp easily and reliably on premium pump gas with them.

In the end, X5 won because it was a luxury vehicle that was cheaper than the non luxury competitors I wanted and nearly as quick. I drove the X5M and M50i and was like "this is fast enough".

X6 was never on my radar. The form isn't pretty to me, and that cargo area space is valuable to me if h gotta throw the dog in the back.

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by Rob_G77

I think saying 'far superior' is an overstatement. I've owned both and the only reason I didn't get another X6 was because of price. X5/X6 prices went stupid the past few years and lease residual rates are abysmal.

Rob

Its true. Also had both, and the boot size difference has not been noticeable.

No one in an X6 is struggling with load space by such a small margin that an X5 would do the job. If you need more, you'd need a bigger vehicle altogether like an X7.

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by Rob_G77

I think saying 'far superior' is an overstatement. I've owned both and the only reason I didn't get another X6 was because of price. X5/X6 prices went stupid the past few years and lease residual rates are abysmal.

Rob

X5 has a lot more rear cargo space. My lab couldn't stand in the back of the x6 comfortably. If you're packing on a trip, x5 has several cubfr more space in the back. At one point, not sure if it's still true, X5 had more rear headroom than x6 too.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by mobilejo

Its true. Also had both, and the boot size difference has not been noticeable.

No one in an X6 is struggling with load space by such a small margin that an X5 would do the job. If you need more, you'd need a bigger vehicle altogether like an X7.

While the X5 shows a 7cft difference to row 2 in usage there really is no difference in most cases. I, and I know many others, never pack for a trip higher than the cargo cover so any space above that is not used anyway.

[tooloud10]

Originally Posted by mobilejo

Its true. Also had both, and the boot size difference has not been noticeable.

The X5 has over 21% more cargo capacity than the X6--that's quite noticeable to me.

No one in an X6 is struggling with load space by such a small margin that an X5 would do the job. If you need more, you'd need a bigger vehicle altogether like an X7.

You guys are acting like math doesn't exist. One huge use case for me is that I can barely get my bicycle inside my X5 when I need to put it in there--I doubt I could get it into an X6.

[Rob_G77]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

X5 has a lot more rear cargo space. My lab couldn't stand in the back of the x6 comfortably. If you're packing on a trip, x5 has several cubfr more space in the back. At one point, not sure if it's still true, X5 had more rear headroom than x6 too.

Of course it has more cargo space, there's no denying that. For my purposes though, space was never an issue.

Rob

[wyatth]

For groceries and suitcases, little difference. For a dog, it's a world of difference.

[dwwStL]

Originally Posted by tooloud10

You guys are acting like math doesn't exist.

I was told if I joined the forum there would be no math.

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by tooloud10

The X5 has over 21% more cargo capacity than the X6--that's quite noticeable to me.



You guys are acting like math doesn't exist. One huge use case for me is that I can barely get my bicycle inside my X5 when I need to put it in there--I doubt I could get it into an X6.

Thats fair - I guess there are cases where whats in the margins matter.

Although the 50e actually has less boot space than the X6 - 500l vs 580l believe it or not. I found that quite surprising.

[evanseric21]

I prefer the look of the X6M over the X5M, and I know I'm in the minority. I'm coming from a 2019 Audi RS 5 Sportback, so the X6M is a bigger, more practical version of that car for me. The X5M was never in my considerations. It was always the AMG GLE 63 S Coupe, RSQ8, the X6M, and the Cayenne GTS. I would have gone with the GTS if it wasn't over $200k with the spec I liked.

[tooloud10]

Originally Posted by mobilejo

Thats fair - I guess there are cases where whats in the margins matter.

Although the 50e actually has less boot space than the X6 - 500l vs 580l believe it or not. I found that quite surprising.

Per Edmunds:

2024 50e:
Cargo capacity, all seats in place: 31.1 cu.ft.
Maximum cargo capacity: 71.2 cu.ft.

2024 X6 40i:
Cargo capacity, all seats in place: 27.4 cu.ft.
Maximum cargo capacity: 59.6 cu.ft.

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by tooloud10

Per Edmunds:

2024 50e:
Cargo capacity, all seats in place: 31.1 cu.ft.
Maximum cargo capacity: 71.2 cu.ft.

2024 X6 40i:
Cargo capacity, all seats in place: 27.4 cu.ft.
Maximum cargo capacity: 59.6 cu.ft.

Autocar disagrees:

X5 50e - 500L https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/bmw/x5/practicality
X6 - 580L https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/bmw/x6/practicality


Maybe the 2 journalists should fight to settle it

[gsquare]

Originally Posted by WagonFan

It was in my final shopping selection last year. It was approx. $10k below 50e including night vision and anti dazzle matrix lights. But in the state not a single dealer had one at their yard. And for an Allroad the ground clearance was fairly low.
The 3 dealers I visited didn’t order for stock, only with custumer order (10 to 12) months. When I asked to the why, they indicated the Allroad is very small amount compared to the rest of the 6 series.
It almost seemed that they sold more RS 6 Avant. Seems to be some demand in this price segment. I am sure BMW and Mercedes are aware of this as well.

When I was shopping for my X5 last year, I couldn’t find a A6 Allroad, or a Mercedes E Class wagon to compare. There was a used Volvo V90 locally, and that was it. Would love to check out a 5 Series Touring, but obviously it’s not viable in the US market.

[TurtleBoy]

I think he may have gotten some bad info for that article. The 50e has more cargo space but a bit less than the 40i/M60i.

From cars.com:

[tooloud10]

Despite my SO greatly preferring the look of the X6 over the X5, I’m comfortable with my 45e purchase simply because almost all of the extra storage in the non-hybrid models is under the floor, which doesn’t help for my main use case scenario of being able to fit my bicycle inside when I travel.

I do realize that this matters more to me than it might to a lot of others.

[BklynNYBMW]

Figured I would chime in on the X6 talk topic here. When the X6 came out I had the opportunity to drive the first generation at Watkins Glenn at a BMW intro session. I hated it. I even told the BMW NA rep that I don't understand the purpose. Few Years down the line we had to replace the 550i. The other half has been talking about the X6 about how ugly it was but loved it. Long story short we bought one. That X6 was just replaced this Christmas with a new X6. To be honest it is not the best looking BMW and it doesn't have alot of cargo room. If you want a handsome BMW SUV with more cargo space then the X5 fits the bill. What the X6 has is presence and can look menacing in certain colors and trim. One gets an X6 because they want one. That is what we did. It had nothing to do with practicality. Like alot of members mentioned here it is a niche vehicle. Interms of price the X6 was always price higher than the X5, same as the X4 was to the X3. It is the price you pay for a niche vehicle. We love our new X6.M60i. It can be smooth , quiet and comfortable until you hit the gas then it becomes an obnoxious bruiser. Lol. Here it is
__________________________________________________ ____________________
2024 X6 M60i. Tanzanite Blue with Black extended Leather with Red Calipers. Every option box checked. No nickname yet
2021 M340i xdrive. Tanzanite Blue with W/Oyster with Red Calipers. All options except Adaptive M suspension, Driver Assistance Professional Package, Cooling and High Performance Tire package. AKA Blue Angel
*Retired 04/30/21: 2018 340i MSport Xdrive sedan. Glacier Silver w/Oyster. All options except active cruise control and window shades. AKA Airstream * Retired 12/16/23: 2017 X6 5.0 MSport, Carbon Black Metallic w/ black leather. All options except vented seats and B/O sound system. AKA the Tumbler

[redhot47fla]

Originally Posted by BklynNYBMW

The other half has been talking about the X6 about how ugly it was but loved it. Long story short we bought one. That X6 was just replaced this Christmas with a new X6. To be honest it is not the best looking BMW…

This board is rightly dominated by X5 owners, so I am donning my digital armor as I type the rest of this comment, which is:

We see similar online comments pretty frequently. Beauty obviously is in the eye of the beholder, but we find the X1, X3 and, yes, X5 to be unattractively…stubby. Squared off and…stubby. Hence, we prefer the sleeker, sportier look of the X4, which we had for years, and the X6 we are picking up next week at the Performance Center.

Somewhat less capacity? Yep, but more than enough for us. Somewhat higher cost? Yep, but worth it (to us) due to its more pleasing form factor (to us). And, to our biased eyes, @BklynNYBMW's X6 is quite attractive.

OK…I am braced.