BMW has built many legendary performance cars. From the M1 supercar of the late 1970s to today’s physics-defying M5 CS with its pulse-pounding 2.9-second 0-60 mph time, the German automaker has long been known for fast cars.
Its most powerful car ever will be an SUV — an absurd-looking one, many say, but an SUV all the same.
This week, the automaker unveiled the 2024 BMW XM Label Red — a plug-in hybrid SUV from its M performance division with an eye-popping 738 horsepower. It’s a retuned version of the 2023 BMW XM. The company plans to build just 500 examples worldwide.
BMW calls it “simply the most powerful BMW M road vehicle ever made.”
BMW hasn’t revealed pricing. The standard XM starts at $159,000.
That power comes from a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 combined with an electric motor to lay down 94 more horsepower than the standard XM. All the added power comes from the gasoline part of the equation.
BMW says the Label Red “needs just an estimated 3.7 seconds to sprint from 0 to 60 mph. Top speed is electronically limited to 155 mph, or 175 mph when the optional M Driver’s Package is specified.”
Oh, and why “Label Red,” not “Red Label”? The latter is an old Bentley trademark.
The model’s hybrid system does the rest. The Label Red can travel up to 87 mph on electric power alone. BMW says it has an all-electric range of up to 52 miles in European testing. Tests by the American EPA tend to show shorter ranges. When driving on electric power, the car makes its own soundtrack of noises created by famed composer Hans Zimmer.
BMW says the suspension has been tuned specifically for the Label Red, “adapted to the unique performance characteristics of the powertrain.”
OK, We’ve Avoided It This Long… That Lipstick
You’re sold? Hang on. Look at it. Be sure.
Because the lipstick-on-a-pig jokes are going to get to you.
The Label Red wears the same in-your-face huge schnoz as the standard XM. In that car, it’s been a source of controversy. Thick rose gold or black trim on the standard XM makes it impossible to look away from the huge two-kidney grille.
BMW vehicles have worn variations on the split grille since the 1933 model 303. But it’s never looked so decidedly like nostrils.
For the Label Red, BMW took that wide strip of metallic trim and painted it… well… red. It outlines the grille, surrounds the windows, and appears on the wheels. BMW calls it “a bold, self-confident exterior design.”
Miss Piggy always did have self-confidence.
You can choose from “more than 50 BMW Individual special paint finishes,” but they all get the lipstick.
It’s OK, though. No one will get to look at it for long, the way this thing moves.
And you’ll see your Label Red mostly from the inside. There, you get a black-and-red motif with a fractal 3-dimensional headliner and carbon fiber trim. Red accents are everywhere, from the vents to the headrests to the contrast-color stitching.
“Ambient lighting, four-zone automatic climate control, and a Harman Kardon Surround Sound System are all standard features, while the options list includes a Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System with a 1,475-watt amplifier and four additional speakers in the roof area,” BMW says.
