The BMX X6 is a tricky vehicle to classify. In photos, it can look like a hot-hatch on steroids. Up close, you see the SUV in the vehicle. It’s dimensions are even larger than the X5 and the only thing that cramps its cargo room to make it less than the X5 is the sloping hatch - a styling cue that makes the X6 unique and hard to pin down.

Of course, the term-du-jour is Crossover, which is what Hamann-Motorsports uses to describe the X6. But their treatment is a little more adventurous than that. Hamann boosts the X6’s 3.5i gasoline/petrol version from 306 to 360 hp and the 3.5d (diesel) from 286 hp to 320 hp. Cranking power is also considerably elevated by 140 Nm to 540 Nm in the 3.5i and taken to a massive 660 Nm in the 3.5d from a previous 580 Nm.

On the outside, Hamann offers the option of 23-inch rims, in need of 315/25R23 tires. Oh, and the price tag for just the four wheels is 9,385 euros. Yes, this is an audacious tuner that also messes with the BMW sound with a four-pipe exhaust system that gives the X6 a more grounded sound.

The tuning kit also comes with a collection of spoilers and skirts and the interior gets a once-over with special carbon-fiber materials too. But Hamann is a performance tuner and this X6 definitely puts on a show.

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AC Schnitzer present X6 Falcon - a project largely following the styling features seen on the recently-launched new X5 of the same name. The newest predator in its namesake’s valley territory, AC Schnitzer are keen to point out the X6 Falcon’s parallels to its bird of prey counterpart. Broad wings are however where the name originates, but such characteristics go more than skin deep.

Tthe X6 Falcon has been painstakingly ‘adapted to its habitat’, undergoing numerous laps of Nurburgring testing by engineers, namely to fine tune the set up of the AC Schnitzer springs. The result: traction even at speeds only achievable by a falcon in ‘nosedive’. The styling package was designed for ‘downforce instead of lift’ and includes front and rear skirt, moved fog lamps and a contoured spoiler edge.

Instead of protection to the underbody and ’submarining’, a rear diffuser and spoiler has been added, while skirts are now body-coloured so as the body appears more drawn down. We’ll avoid calling the alloy wheels the ‘legs’ of the falcon like AC Schnitzer, but nonetheless it is AC Schnitzer 22-inch alloy wheels Type Vll, available in black or silver, that complement this new look.

AC Schnitzer Racing Design have given the Falcon an exhaust system to shout about, providing excellent resonance for its equally well-performing range of engines, enhanced by Control Unit. Two diesel units, the 30d and 35d, are enhanced from 235 hp and 286 hp to 272 hp and 310 hp respectively.

“Decorated and equipped in this way, the AC Schnitzer Falcon really has no natural enemies out there.”

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Tuning companies are catching on to the all powerful teaser image, and German tuner, Lumma Design, have issued theirs - with the controversial BMW X6 model. Love it or hate it, the BMW X6 Coupe Crossover is an interesting car and Lumma’s CLR X650 is no different – yet in a different character.

With a beefy front bumper fascia, which contains no less than 6 air vent openings, the entire kit gets a dash of aggression with side skirts and quarter panel leg vents plus revised mirrors, however, the added attitude comes from the 40mm suspension drop with the 23-inch arch filling black dished wheels.

As one of the first tuning companies to put together a dramatic styling kit for the X6, the CLR X650 takes the whole X6 hatchback coupe vibe and molds it

Following the teaser illustration of the neon green CLR X650 from Lumma and off-the-shelf bolt-on mods from Hamann and Hartge, AC Schnitzer gets top marks in our our book for being the first tuner to present a real life styling package, although limited, for the new BMW X6.

Although some critics have stooped so low as to compare the X6 to the atrocious Pontiac Aztec, the controversial X6 is a sales success and surely, the owners of these eccentric vehicles will certainly want to tune them.

Enter AC Schnitzer’s aero kit, which consists of a front bumper fascia with diagonal air intakes plus repositioned fog lights, and a massive rear bumper fascia with diffuser center skirt plus integrated exhaust pipe openings. In contrast to the original, all components are painted body-colour throughout, to give a ‘closer to the ground’ appearance. The striking wheels are AC Schnitzer’s new 22-inch Type VII multi-piece alloy wheels painted black. Missing from the overall kit are side skirts and miscellaneous fender flaring components and typical roof wings. However, we’re not complaining. Overall, we think this package is just right.

Under the hood AC Schnitzer has prepared a new Motor Control Unit for the 3.0dX and 3.5dX diesel versions. Unfortunately, no performance data is available yet. However, AC Schnitzer admits that it has developed a unique suspension spring kit for the X6 on the North Loop of the Nürburgring and promises: Despite its high body, the X6 by AC Schnitzer in this configuration will show a clean pair of heels to many sports saloons.

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