The 2015 BMW X6 is the German brand's equivalent of a yes/no question. There's no middle ground with this hulking 'sports activity coupe' - either you like it, or you don't, as the full-size monster's polarizing styling and limited utility (about as much cargo room as a compact crossover) have made it the very definition of a niche luxury product. Although BMW chooses to focus on the fact that just over a quarter million X6's have been sold globally since the vehicle was first introduced in 2008, that number glosses over the reality that only 37,000 of those vehicles found new homes in United States. It also ignores that the much more practical BMW X5 SUV has moved eight times as many American units during that same period.
That being said, the margins on the pricier BMW X6 are appealing to BMW, given that it sits on the X5's bones and borrows its drivetrain options to boot. The higher-ups deemed that the X6 had gathered enough momentum to spawn a second generation, and that was why I was summoned to the rural roads surrounding BMW's Spartanburg, South Carolina plant where the SUV is built to sample the revised version of the automaker's premium brute.