Last month, BMW’s fabled M high-performance division took the wraps off just the second car it has ever built from scratch. It was fast and divisive. In case that wasn’t enough, M today pulled the sheet off a second version that turns both those dials up even further.
The 2023 XM is destined to be one of the most high-performance SUVs on the road. It’s also likely to alienate many of the faithful, thanks to an oversized hog-nose grille outlined in gold, plus thick gold window trim like an oversized neck chain.
It might, however, not be enough for some. For those, there’s the 2023 BMW XM Label Red.
Background: M and XM
The M division ordinarily takes BMW’s luxury cars and builds high-performance versions of them, sometimes with parts borrowed from its successful racing teams. The BMW 3 Series, for instance, is a long-admired performance-oriented small luxury car. The BMW M3 shares the same chassis and a similar design but is so performance-oriented that drivers who want a comfortable commuter might be put off by its harshness. But the buyers who seek it out want a street-legal race car disguised as a sedan, and they get one.
Only twice in its history has the M division built its own car from scratch rather than enhancing an existing BMW.
In the 1970s, they gave us the M1 — BMW’s first legitimate supercar.
In September, they gave us the XM — a 644-horsepower plug-in hybrid that mates a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 to an electric motor. It’s capable of traveling up to 30 miles on electric power alone, but no one will buy it to burnish their Sierra Club credentials. They’ll buy it because it gets from 0-60 mph in 4.1 seconds.
The XM starts at $159,000 plus a $995 delivery fee.
The XM Label Red
If the BMW XM doesn’t sound extreme enough, BMW plans an even-speedier version.
For now, all Munich has released is an Instagram post. But it should be enough to get the conversation started.
The post tells us the Label Red will appear next autumn, which likely makes it a 2024 model. It will boast 750 horsepower, though an asterisk on the post notes the figure is “based on the vehicle’s current stage of development.”
The post also says it’s good for up to 88 kilometers (about 55 miles) of all-electric range. However, that’s based on Europe’s ambitious WLTP testing cycle. Tests by the American EPA tend to show much lower ranges, and those lower ranges seem to comport more with actual experience. So, we don’t expect the more powerful XM to somehow have a longer all-electric range than its “normal” sibling.
It won’t be hard to tell if you’re looking at an XM or an XM Red Label. The Red takes all the rose gold trim that makes the XM so unique and turns it an angry bright red.
That’s all BMW has revealed for now. We expect more details, including pricing, closer to the end of the year.
