It's a first responder vehicle, not a transport. The whole point is to get on the scene as quickly as possible to attend to the victim, allowing time for another (slower) vehicle to arrive to take the victims to a care center.

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or less. as a 'look at me' sorta car the x6 works, as a better than the other 'suv's out there performance car, it works. But for holding anything more than a typical European hatchback would carry (it's actually smaller than the GTI inside in a few dimensions) it fails.

I guess this gets the first responders there asap and they'll wait for a wagon etc to cart the person away? The ambulance cayenne’s we see in Moscow make a lot more sense, there's actual usable space in the back. This, as BMW continues to excel at, baffles. It’s like they’re trying for a production Rinnspeed sort of feel.

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As is said in the article, it is a first responder vehicle, not an ambulance. In Germany many (most? all?) ambulance services use this rendevous system, where the doctor and possibly a paramedic get to the scene in a normal car (A6 wagon or the like, though not normally V8-powered ;)) and the ambulance gets to the scene seperately. This increases the chances of somebody getting there quickly in general, plus, not all ambulance stations need to have an emergency doctor on stand-by, greatly increasing efficiency (in Germany, the concept is, not to just send an ambulance with paramedics to a severe emergency, but to get an actual doctor there and start treatment on-scene and during transit). The doctor would start his work on scene, then board the ambulance together with the patient and I think his first responder vehicle is then driven back either by his assistant or by one of the ambulance staff or even by the cops, not sure about that.

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Markus, you're wasting your time, mate. Most of the people posting here won't have a clue, let alone care.

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It's more of a joke than anything guys.

Anyways, I can see a use for this but cannot help but think that a X5 would be better suited for this duty.

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X5 that is what I was thinking too.

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@Markus, I have also seen similar first response vehicle system. I believe it is in Hong Kong where traffic is often very congested. But instead of sending a car, a first response motorcycle would be sent to the scene. The motorcycle is able to squeeze between cars to get to the scene much faster than an ambulance. The paramedic who rides the motorcycle will assist with the injured and will report to the control station about the severity of their injuries.

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you're right , Bloke , logic and common sense are not welcome on these forums :)

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Maybe they're hoping the sheer ridiculousness of this vehicle will distract the victim from his/her pain until real help comes?

Medic: "Are you alright? Where does it hurt?"
Victim: "I think I broke my le... What the hell is that thing you just pulled up in?"
Medic: "It's a big SUV/CUV but without the off-road abillity or extra storage space. But it looks weird, it's fast and really, really heavy. Don't worry about that, let's worry about you..."
Victim: "Wait a minute... It's an SUV/CUV without any of the offerings of a SUV/CUV? But it looks like a supersized Prius for supersized egos."
Medic: "Sir, you're losing a lot of blood. Please, just try to relax. Oh, just in time, here comes the ambulance..."

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Just to make this clear: While I did try to explain (and defend) the concept of the rendevous system and therefore the need for such first responder vehicles , in no way do I approve of or want to be associated in any way with this specific crime against humanity aka the X6!

What I've seen being used for that purpose so far here in sw-Germany were mainly Audi A6 wagons, 5-series wagons and every now and then an X5, iirc. No clue about the engines, most likely not V8s, probably the midsized 2-2.5l diesels, I guess.

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Had to dig to find it, but here's a link to a much smaller First-Responder:

http://www.gremlinx.com/Hurst.htm

Hurst wanted a vehicle to showcase it's newest piece of lifesaving equipment, the "Jaws of Life."

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Also note that in some countries, Luxury Cars used by Municipal Services aren't taxed.

For example, in England, CO19 and the Diplomatic Protection Group of the Metropolitan Police Department regularly drive around in BMW 5 Series Diesels. Not to mention the use of Volvo's for many RPU (Road Policing Units) and ARV (Armed Response Vehicles) around the country. Also, it's not uncommon to see Land Rovers used by the Cops and the Highways Agency.

Note this clip where you can see a Highways Agency Land Rover, a Central Motorway Police Group Volvo V70 Wagon, and later on, a BMW X6 with DOCTOR markings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0BdbbQZRBo

Heck, even one cop outfit has a Suzuki Hayabusa in their fleet to go after speeding Motorbikes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8msQmLzwkrg

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like Markus eyplained it clearly tells it is a "Notarzt" car.... emergency doctor car...

The main reason for the German rendevous system is that after first aid by a real emergency doctor there is no reason that he drives with the patient to the hospital. So the doctor would waste in nearly all situation endless time bording the amublance to transport the patient to hospital. This way he is much sooner free for the next emergency call.

As bizzar this vehicle looks... there is a government law which clearly tells the minimum technical requirments a emergency doctor car in Germany has to fullfill...
including
minimum acceleration
minimum load
etc...

Most vehicles used for such rules are large station wagons like Mercedes E-Class wagon, BMW 5series wagon, Audi A6 wagon and allroad or SUV like BMW X5, Mercedes ML, Audi Q7 etc...

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Leather bandaids with cross-stitching.

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*Insert Top Gear joke here*

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