BMW X6 interior, tech and comfort
- A comfy interior with knock-out tech
- Bit more cramped than an X5’s cabin
- Festooned with the latest technology
The BMW X6 interior is a great way to while away hours on long journeys. Quality is first-rate and the materials and craftsmanship on offer justify the high price tags that Munich charges.
You might find its cabin a little identikit – much of it is interchangeable with any large BMW, and the brand’s interiors have lost some of the simplicity of earlier models. There are no grab handles in the X6’s interior, which may deter older customers who find these helpful when climbing in or out.
iDrive infotainment explained
If you’ve lived with a recent BMW from the past two decades, you’ll have experienced the iDrive multi-controller before. It’s evolved into one of our favourite infotainment systems – a way of operating many of the car’s media and onboard systems without relying on banks of buttons.
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In its latest generation, iDrive is now a remarkably sophisticated bit of kit. You can still use the rotary controller between the front seats to scroll through menus and click items, but you can now also swipe the touchscreen, talk to the car (its voice recognition is much better than earlier iterations, if not quite as slick as Mercedes-Benz’s) or even make hand gestures in thin air. It sounds like science fiction, but it’s true: you can point a finger at an imaginary volume control button and swivel it around and the X6’s stereo will respond in kind (perhaps a little clunkily, in the case of gesture control).
Multiple ways of doing the same command might seem a little daunting at first, but we applaud BMW for giving customers the choice of how to interact with their car. The chances are you’ll quickly settle upon one of the myriad ways of operating your SUV that suits you and your driving style.
Is it comfortable?
- Adjustable, comfortable seats
- Good space for two in the rear
- Comprehensive interior and exterior lighting
The seats in the BMW X6 are genuinely comfortable and have fine adjustment to let most occupants find the perfect driving position. Standard sports seats are heated, and you can specify massaging function if your pockets are deep enough.
Rear-seat passengers are well catered for too, but remember that the X6’s plunging roofline does inhibit rear headroom a little. Passengers in the outer two rear seats will be just fine (six-footers can easily get comfy back there, even with the optional Sky Lounge panoramic sunroof) but a third, central passenger will be more cramped.
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Sitting in the X6 cabin at nighttime is quite an event, with a lightshow bathing the interior in different coloured hues – right down to illumination inside the optional Harman Kardon stereo speakers on top-spec models. The new Iconic Glow light-up kidney grille is a first for BMW, and drivers can choose to light up or switch off this feature through the iDrive infotainment system onboard.
