ugghhh
Before you call it ugly, you should see it in person. I have, and I can tell you that it is actually hideous.
It may be hideous but I had the 550 - turbo V8 - as a loaner for a week and equipped with that engine you won't care about how it looks. The thing is a rocketship and handles way better than anything that big has a right to. That said, the hatch is dumb - when set up to go all the way up it banged into the roof of my parking garage at work; when adjusted to not open that far I hit my head on the protruding latch. The design compromises cargo room terribly. I don't like the beer tap shifter but it does work well in manual mode. At the end of the day though this is really being cross-sold as an alternative to the X6 for those who don't want that much SUV styling and the 7 series for those who don't want that large of a lux sedan. Give me either other option please over this abomination.
No, it's not named after the video game: BMW's tall sedan with sloped rear glass is just one in a growing crowd of high-end four-doors that purport added utility thanks to a big opening at the back. It's not a wagon profile, but don't dare call it a hatchback either—it's certain both the makers and owners of these would be offended at such a term.
This one differs from the other big-buck hatchbacks we've tested in that it's, well, bigger in the bucks department. Its base price approaches $60,000, but our tester checked plenty of extra boxes: optional paint; rear- and side-view cameras; a power tailgate and soft-close doors; heating on all seats and the steering wheel; dynamic handling; premium sound, and a Sport package that, for $2200, adds strictly cosmetic sportiness. This rockets the sticker price to an eye-popping $73,225.
It's also equipped with BMW's hybrid system, EfficientDynamics, known mostly for its unfortunate abbreviation. As equipped, it sucks down a gallon every 27 miles on the highway, every 19 in the city.
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