Meet The Armoured BMW X5 That Calls Itself VR6

In news that will see Volkswagen aficionados worldwide scraping their eyebrows off the ceiling, here’s a BMW that goes by the name of VR6
Meet The Armoured BMW X5 That Calls Itself VR6

BMW has released details of a new, armoured X5 that goes by the name VR6. We’re sure Volkswagen will be thrilled.

The X5 Protection VR6 has acquired the name normally associated with VW’s single-block ‘V6 that isn’t’ thanks to it meeting a specific standard of protection known by the same three characters.

Meet The Armoured BMW X5 That Calls Itself VR6

‘Resistance class VR6’ refers to the toughened SUV’s ability to withstand a certain grade of gunfire and explosions according to the test criteria of the VPAM (Prüfstellen für Angriffshemmende Materialien und Konstruktionen). We can only imagine how much fun it must be to be one of the people who tests that kind of thing.

Moulded components made from high-strength steel fit perfectly around the passenger shell, cocooning the occupants in safety. The glass is 33mm thick, features an internal polycarbonate layer and can withstand ‘impact weapons’ as well as bullets.

Meet The Armoured BMW X5 That Calls Itself VR6

At the door gaps and bodywork joins there are overlapping armour plates to eliminate weak spots. You can happily(ish) ignore gunfire from any angle from the most common automatic rifle in the world, the AK-47. The cabin can also withstand explosions from up to 15kg of TNT from as close as four metres away. After any primary attack is detected, the windows lock in place to prevent them being forced open manually from outside.

There’s an armoured floor that can protect against German Army-spec DM51 hand grenades. Fibre composite reinforcement also guards against the extremely dangerous HG85 grenade used by the Swiss army. The reinforced roof can be upgraded to a very armoured one as an option to protect against drone attacks using up to 200 grams of C4 explosive.

Meet The Armoured BMW X5 That Calls Itself VR6

Reading between the lines of the BMW press release it seems that the Protection VR6 was planned right from the current X5 generation’s first sheet of blank paper. That meant that BMW was constantly able to identify the potential weak points in terms of bullet/explosion-proofing, designing integrated heavy-duty solutions alongside the car’s main development timeline. Neat business, BMW.

Naturally the suspension is unique and much strengthened. Steel coils are ‘specifically reinforced’ while 20-inch light-alloy wheels help make the much heavier VR6 feel like any other X5. Under the bonnet is a 4.4-litre petrol V8 with the turbos turned up to 11. There’s 523bhp and 553lb ft of torque to shove the X5 along, and as such it gets to 62mph in a very respectable 5.9 seconds.

Not quite Bond-spec, but impressive all the same
Not quite Bond-spec, but impressive all the same

Body roll is compensated for by Active Roll Stabilisation that both reduces lean during cornering and counters road vibrations suffered on only one side of the car. There’s four-wheel steering, a host of usual X5 features and the option to have police-spec lights installed behind the grille and at the rear. Tempting.

Finally, if you buy one BMW will also offer to teach you how to drive it in the kinds of defensive scenarios it was built for, which is a nice touch. Just the thing for the school run.

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Comments

Lauge

They really chose to call it VR6? Lmao

08/27/2019 - 10:46 |
16 | 4
Anonymous

In reply to by Lauge

VR6 stands fro Vehicle Restance 6, which stands for the European regulation for armored cars.

08/27/2019 - 14:22 |
20 | 0
🎺🎺thank mr skeltal

In reply to by Lauge

Yes, VR6 after the protection class the vehicle offers (class VR6, who would’ve thought)

08/27/2019 - 22:14 |
2 | 0
That_1_Guy

yeah but do the indicators work.

08/27/2019 - 11:03 |
4 | 14

With that Name the Problem would be more that it’ll sound cool up to 55’000miles and then suddenly stretch its Chain and blow up

08/27/2019 - 14:03 |
0 | 8
DL🏁

Drag race?

08/27/2019 - 11:29 |
58 | 2
  • Drag race while being shot from AK-47 and thrown grenades at from all angles
08/27/2019 - 11:30 |
52 | 0

BMW wins
Rover can’t start due to engine failure

08/27/2019 - 13:57 |
30 | 2

would be nice though, sadly it would be unfair since the Range Rover has a heavier armour, probably a VR9 or something like it.

08/27/2019 - 14:28 |
6 | 0
......

neat when Will this be available on gta

08/27/2019 - 12:28 |
8 | 4
Lord Saucius The Divine

Looks epic!

08/27/2019 - 12:30 |
0 | 0
b0mbsh0ck

DANG STRAIT CAUSE THE VR6 IS BULLLLEETTT PROOOF

08/27/2019 - 23:20 |
0 | 0
Jem_Clark

hi i am nonce

08/29/2019 - 03:33 |
0 | 2