
Year: 2018 or thereabouts. Location: BMW's M division bunker. A cavalcade of 7-Series conveys the board of directors to the front door. "Good news, gentleman," they tell the assembled faithful. "Off the back of M turning 50 years last year, we think it's high time you did a bespoke M car."
A shockwave of excitement zaps around the room. M hasn't done an M-only model since the 1978 M1 supercar. While Audi RS and AMG have been making merry with their own supercar platforms, M's been tuning repmobiles. "We believe this is the right time for a plug-in hybrid M car..." continues the boss. Faces fall at the expected weight penalty, but Günther from powertrains is grinning at Hans from chassis dynamics. Instant response. Anti-lag boost. Torque vectoring. Low centre of gravity. The possibilities for M's new supercar are boundless.
"Oh, just one more thing," adds the suit before he turns on his heel and departs. "The new M car will be an SUV with class-leading rear legroom for the Chinese market. Tschüss!"
So here we are in 2023 and the new BMW XM is attempting, as the name would suggest, to splice the very best of BMW's money-printing X cars with everything the M division knows about high performance. And failing.
In fairness, BMW has pulled off the 'have your tall, compromised SUV cake and eat it' trick before, with the original X5 and then the X6. Those cars uprooted the goalposts for what was expected of how a heavy, high-riding car handled, and didn't do BMW's bottom line any harm either. Which is why there's now a bijou X1, an enormous X7 and every number in-between is covered.
So why isn't the XM called, say, the X8? BMW's engineers say simply giving it the next number up underplays how much oomph and extravagance the XM offers. The biggest market will be the USA, followed by China.
Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av Top Gear.
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Denne historien er fra May 2023-utgaven av Top Gear.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på

RECORD SCRATCH
Renault wants to break EV efficiency world records, to do so it's taking lessons from the past...

HAPPY HARDCORE
The stripped 'n' ripped trackday special is now a staple in our supercar diet. But is the refreshed 911 GT3 still the boss, or does Maser's new GT2 Stradale deliver a knockout punch? Jethro drives them both...

LEVEL UP
IT'S THE SAME RITUAL. FLY TO SPAIN, DIVIDE YOUR DAY BETWEEN ROAD AND TRACK AND TRY TO GET TO KNOW A TRACK FOCUSED CAR THAT PROMISES SO MUCH. ONLY THIS TIME IT FEELS VERY, VERY DIFFERENT.

The world's fastest wheelbarrow
It's about time the humble garden barrow had a page in the motorsport history books, thought Dylan Phillips...

MARTIAN INVASION
Following the Lamborghini Sterrato and Porsche 911 Dakar, the trend for go anywhere supercars continues... but this takes things to a whole new level

SLIPPERY SLOPE
The British ski team needed a ride to Kitzbühel... we had just the car for the job

EPIC FAIL
\"Bigger than the internet.\" Such was the (reported) prediction of venture capitalist John Doerr when the Segway - the original self balancing, electric, two wheeled scooter - first whirred silently onto the scene at the turn of the millennium.

MYTH BUSTER
\"WE'RE BEING FORCED TO BUY A CERTAIN KIND OF CAR\"

PADDY POWER!
Is carbon neutral e-fuel the silver bullet petrolheads are praying for? We speak to ex F1 engineer Paddy Lowe, who's leading the charge

A 1,000hp turbocharged burnout machine
Thomas Hatcher's Chevrolet Trailblazer SS is a family SUV with a difference