The Mid-Range BMW XM Has Just Been Killed
It’s fair to say that the BMW XM hasn’t been the roaring success its manufacturer necessarily expected. Perhaps it’s because, despite the world’s voracious appetite for ginormous, challengingly-styled performance SUVs, the sheer in-yer-faceness of the XM might have proved too much for all but the most Balenciaga-wearing individuals.
Whatever the reason, sales have fallen well short of expectations, and rumours of the car’s premature death have swirled for a while now. Those rumours have now partly come to fruition, as BMW has killed off the original version of the XM, leaving only the range-topper and the entry-level trim on sale.
That was the lesser of the two V8 variants, simply badged as the XM. It paired BMW’s familiar 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8, in 483bhp guise, with the XM’s electric motor for a peak of 644bhp.
That leaves just two versions on sale. At the top of the range is the weirdly-named XM Label, formerly known as the Label Red. It uses the same powertrain as the now-dead XM, but uses a more powerful 577bhp version of the V8 for a peak output of 738bhp. It’ll hit 62mph in 3.8 seconds, and with the optional M Driver’s Package, top out at 180mph.
The Label’s also been given a few cosmetic tweaks. It now comes on 22-inch wheels as standard rather than 21s, with some vast 23-inchers available as an option. Various new interior trim options are available, headlined by Night Blue Merino leather, and the battery’s charging rate has been upped to a peak of 11kW. Pricing for the Label kicks off at £154,470.
At the other end of the scale, the entry-level XM remains the 50e. It uses Beemer’s B58 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six, once again as part of a plug-in hybrid system, for a peak of 469bhp. That drops the 0-62mph run to 5.1 seconds, with top speed limited to 155mph. It starts at £112,580.
Whether the slimming down of the XM range helps turn around the car’s fortunes remains to be seen. In the meantime, we’ll be trying to forget it exists and thinking about BMW’s gorgeous new Speedtop shooting brake instead. Mmm, that’s better.
The first full sentence spoken by an infant Mike was a review of the ride quality of a Volvo 850. It was “Daddy’s car goes bumpy-bump on a bumpy road,” so would probably need proofreading a bit, but it was a start.
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