BMW XM - TESTED 9.3.23, SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, US ON SALE APRIL PRICE £148,060
Autocar UK|March 22, 2023
Does our first proper taste of only the second-ever bespoke M car leave us excited about the brand's future or longing for its past?
RICHARD LANE
BMW XM - TESTED 9.3.23, SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, US ON SALE APRIL PRICE £148,060

0ne down, one to go. This is the year in which two blue-blooded brands dispense with tradition and launch their own SUVs. Controversial? Just a touch. That said, we've now driven Ferrari's Purosangue and found it to be profoundly good - although the presence of an 8250rpm 6.5-litre V12 always helps. That leaves the BMW XM. This is M division's first bespoke car since the mid-engined M1 of 1978 and one that M CEO Frank van Meel says offers the best of X and the best of M. Hence the name.

This is also M's very first hybrid, and its plug-in powertrain will resurface in the next M5, possibly with even more power and torque. Even for this initial application, it gives a heady 644bhp and 590lb ft.

A low-slung 29.5kWh battery grants an electric-only range of 55 miles. It feeds a 148bhp electric motor integrated into the ZF-built eight-speed automatic gearbox. The rest of the output comes from M's phenomenally strong 'S68' twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8 an engine that will realise more of its potential when the 738bhp XM Label Red arrives. That will ensure M's new baby outshines even the Aston Martin DBX 707 - an SUV so monstrously over-endowed that they put the figure in its name.

But yeah, all right. We can't stall forever. The fact is that none of the above, fascinating as it is, will get tongues wagging (or, I suspect, orders flowing) anything like as effectively as how the £148k XM looks. Even in images, this beady-eyed SUV is pretty challenging to behold. But in the metal it's brutal, almost shockingly unapologetic, which is exactly as M intended. I'm struggling to remember the last time a car maker went quite so far down this road. Tesla Cybertruck?

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 22, 2023 من Autocar UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 22, 2023 من Autocar UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من AUTOCAR UK مشاهدة الكل
The venomous nature of the Cobra
Autocar UK

The venomous nature of the Cobra

Last week, Matt Prior drove a totally new kind of AC Cobra. This is a car with one of the strongest allures of all - but also an incredibly complex and controversial history.

time-read
3 mins  |
October 23, 2024
SKODA KAMIQ
Autocar UK

SKODA KAMIQ

A long getting-to-know-you trip to Spain reveals all

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
THE SEVEN-YEAR TITCH
Autocar UK

THE SEVEN-YEAR TITCH

Outgoing baby Jag is plush, practical and now eminently affordable

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
'Our time has come'
Autocar UK

'Our time has come'

Honda may be late to the EV party, but a barrage of bold new battery-powered cars is on the way. JAMES ATTWOOD speaks to boss Toshihiro Mibe at its R&D base to find out what's in store

time-read
8 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Lion kings
Autocar UK

Lion kings

Plush, powerful four-door cars are an endangered species - and now Peugeot has called time on its latest, the 508 PSE. STEPHEN DOBIE compares it with its most significant ancestor, the 505 GTI

time-read
6 mins  |
October 23, 2024
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF
Autocar UK

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF

Wolfsburg gives the lesser-known Golf PHEV a big-impact refresh

time-read
7 mins  |
October 23, 2024
PORSCHE PANAMERA GTS
Autocar UK

PORSCHE PANAMERA GTS

Stuttgart's latest 'bahnstormer targets driver appeal over outright punch

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
MERCEDES-AMG GT 63 PRO
Autocar UK

MERCEDES-AMG GT 63 PRO

Hardcore variant of V8 sports car engineered with track days in mind

time-read
3 mins  |
October 23, 2024
TESLA REVEALS ROBOTAXI
Autocar UK

TESLA REVEALS ROBOTAXI

Firm unveils Cybercab coupé and 20-seat Robovan in autonomy push

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
DACIA PLOTS AMBITIOUS EXPANDED EURO LINE-UP
Autocar UK

DACIA PLOTS AMBITIOUS EXPANDED EURO LINE-UP

Firm teases something different’ ahead of impending C-segment reveal

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024