It’s been decades since BMW introduced a dedicated M car, so imagine our surprise when we learned the next one would be a boxy SUV. Considering the last standalone M was the ground-hugging wedge that was the M1 coupe, we have to assume M Division engineers were either trying to challenge themselves or someone higher up figured they could make more money selling a utility vehicle.
While just a concept at present, the BMW XM boasts a fairly radical design. But the manufacturer has claimed it will retain over 90 percent of the prototype’s good (?) looks when it enters into production. There’s a lot of interesting stuff here that might make it into the finished product, including the extra-thin daytime running lights that sit atop the real headlamps that have been snuck behind tinted glass. It’s a strange beast that doesn’t seem like it’s targeting the traditional M shopper and, according to BMW, that’s because it isn’t.
“The BMW Concept XM represents a complete re-imagining of the high-performance car segment,” explained Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW M GmbH. “It underlines the ability of BMW M GmbH to break with established conventions and push boundaries in order to offer fans of the brand the ultimate driving experience. The series-production car – the first pure BMW M model since the legendary BMW M1 – also shows how we are approaching the step-by-step electrification of our brand.”
He has also suggested that the XM was intentionally designed to entice consumers that hadn’t previously considered BMW before, stating that it’s a vehicle for non-conformist, extroverted types that just have to spend a barrel of money on trendy, status-oriented automobiles. Granted, I might have taken a few liberties in paraphrasing the second half of that sentence. But you get the idea. Like most BMW products, this one is being marketed toward people who believe they’re ahead of the curve.
“The design of the BMW Concept XM is an extravagant statement by BMW M in the heart of the luxury segment,” Domagoj Dukec, Head of BMW Design, said of the car. “It has a unique identity and embodies an expressive lifestyle like no other model in the BMW line-up.”
Oh yeah. This is definitely the kind of car for someone leading an expressive lifestyle. No question about it. But let’s take a moment to consider the hardware that’s going into the XM and what that might offer someone who only cares about driving and when they might expect a production model.
From BMW:
The series-production model – the BMW XM – will be built from the end of 2022 at BMW Group Plant Spartanburg in the USA, the most important sales market for the new high-performance car. BMW M will therefore be introducing its first standalone vehicle since the legendary BMW M1 in the year it celebrates its 50th anniversary. The BMW XM will be available in plug-in hybrid form only and exclusively as an M model.
The bold exterior styling of the Concept XM reflects the car’s exceptional performance attributes: dynamism, agility and precision, plus an all-electric range of up to [30 miles]. The newly developed M Hybrid drive system in the BMW Concept XM brings together a V8 engine and a high-performance electric motor to develop maximum output of 550 kW/750 hp and peak torque of 1,000 Nm (737 lb-ft). The first electrified vehicle from BMW M GmbH in the high-performance segment is therefore pointing the way for the future of the brand.
Unless this thing is carrying around the same weight as an 18-wheeler, it’s bound to be a rocket with the kind of output Bavaria is promising. However, the company has also spent plenty of time discussing how the XM would pioneer more opulent interiors and provide a luxurious driving experience. While that’s fine on the X6 M, the upcoming XM is supposed to be the first dedicated M car to roll down an assembly line since 1981. Since the M formerly stood for “Motorsport,” one would assume that performance would be the manufacturer’s primary concern and wonders exactly how gifted the SUV will be in the corners. Based on BMW’s other sporting SUVs, I’m guessing that this beast will be somewhere north of 5,000 pounds (hybrid systems aren’t exactly svelte) before you’ve thrown in any fuel or people. That’s a lot of weight to manage, especially with a high center of gravity.
The performance angle only gets shallower the more BMW talks about the SUV, too. Despite boasting a driver-oriented cockpit, the company makes repeated reference to the luxury segment spends whole paragraphs praising the XM’s “high-comfort (rear) seats and illuminated, sculptural headliner” that are part of the delivering “M Lounge” experience.
We haven’t seen the finished product yet and BMW is under no formal obligations to keep its promise of matching the XM Concept’s design. But we’re also running out of time if it’s to adhere to its 2022 production launch. It seems like we’ll be getting an exceptionally powerful, six-figure, luxury barge because BMW believes a hybrid SUV will sell better than a direct successor to the M1. While it’s a little disappointing to see the M badge repeatedly treated with such callousness, the automaker is likely correct in that assumption. BMW is also not hiding the fact that the XM is giving us a glimpse of the future of M Division and its new emphasis on luxurious interiors and hybridization.
[Images: BMW]
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That sure is UGLY! BMW styling has proceeded from tasteful, then through Banglehaus, and now to Japanese origami / angry arthropod.
The lighted over-sized front grille might apply to the ghetto bling crowd.
I pine for the days when BMW’s were agile sports sedans and coupes, had greenhouses that offered the driver good visibility, and were styled tastefully. Since Bangle it’s been all downhill.
Agreed. Too ugly to be a car, too ugly to be a truck, too ugly to be “premium” anything. Only people with money and no taste will buy one. Unfortunately, there are enough of them to make building these monstrosities profitable.
“Only people with money and no taste will buy one”
Mafioso, wise guys, those who argued about velour in Lincoln or Cadillac. But Sonny Black chose Mercedes.
Inspiration: Goering’s Butt Cheeks?
How much is Chris Bangle paying the current designers to make us think his designs were OK, relatively speaking.
Or is there a contest at BMW to make the worst looking vehicle that still sells.
Radical? Looks like a CUV with a lower roofline and some body kit. But itbia instantly recognizable as a BMW crossover. Probably the point.
Just
Truly Fugly.
Hard F no.
Extremely ugly. Why??!! I guess the Germans had to out-Korea the Koreans, since so many of their experts got poached.
Only a blind man could love this thing, and only a complete idiot would buy it.
Art + Science had been taken to an extreme, and the result is ghastly. It’s to the 2020’s what the Edsel was to the 50’s, the Marcos Mantis M70 was to the 70’s, and the Fiat Multipla was to the 90’s.
Several BMW suits should get fired and ignominiously kicked to the curb for creating and approving this shameful eyesore.
This is what newly-signed NBA players will be rear-ending minivans at 120 MPH in come 2023.
Sticking with the Überschnoz kidneys, I see. They even added additional nostril lighting. Hopefully BMW will be offering a bright pink paint option to match the design language.
Want to see the classiest Luxury SUV of all? Go to another website and read the review of the new Range Rover which TTAC forgot to report…. That’s a seriously elegant car, beautiful and considered in a way which only old money really understands.
This by the way is hideous
Used ones will be available in 2026 for $60k.
Just when I think BMW couldn’t lose more of the plot…!
And those windows make the greenhouse of a Chrysler 300 look airy!
Chrysler 300 was designed when was owned by Germans. It was a gangster car.
I just can’t understand how this could be exciting to anyone.
The local Hard-Charging Executive™ types absolutely love their X5 Ms and GLE63s. A more exclusive car in the same vein for a lot more money is going to create a mad rush among those buyers and print cash.
I’ve seen the upper echelon of the corporate world, over 35 years its been Broughams to BMWs to Navis to probably Teslas so the cool kids mentality among those with too much money (or free corporate leases) is nothing new. So in that vein, one might argue BMW reads their market -albeit it a niche market- very well. I don’t think the issue many here may feel is this market exists or the products that go in it, its more why is everything have to be so Blade Runner/Demolition Man-esque?
Because that’s the image the target buyer wants to project. It’s the same reason that every full-size pickup currently in the market looks like a Tonka.
I think those folks are foolish. I met a man who I am quite certain is a billionaire in total assets between his investment company and personal holdings. He told me he has an S65 ***he bought used*** and only occasionally uses but his DD? New(ish) white Tacoma.
I don’t think everyone has to be Mr. Money Mustache. There are goals in life other than the accumulation of wealth. People making executive salaries can have nice cars without being irresponsible. (But muscle SUV drivers are pretty silly.)
“Because that’s the image the target buyer wants to project”
What image is that?
In the land of pickups and Buick Enclaves it isn’t large enough to be intimidating (maybe in Europe or China it would be), while I don’t think many would find it elegant or attractive and it isn’t form over function like an old Volvo. It’s just dystopian automotive brutalism on the outside with a razzle-dazzle 90s arcade light show interior. YMMV but I don’t think expensive vehicles have looked this sh*tty since the late 50s.
I would honestly like to hear from the designer of this vehicle what they were going for. Other things I’ve read from BMW makes it sound like it looks bad on purpose. So I guess the philosophy of the buyers is that any attention is good attention?
autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/why-bmw-
design-will-stay-polarising-purpose
“What image is that?”
Futuristic, but in a dystopian way. Blade Runner. Mad Max.
This is a group that sees themselves as action-movie antiheroes, even though most of their exploits happen in a conference room.
@Dal
Interesting insight, thank you. I’m not in one of those boardrooms yet but I would out do them all in custom creations for 1/4-1/3rd the price per unit.
My XJ8 will need an LSx, new springs/suspension, custom quad exhaust, maybe something stupid like a button to rout the exhaust through a straight pipe when I feel like it?
My Miata will be the Fiat 124 since that’s basically a Miata with issues, but we’ll rip out the drivetrain for an LSx or maybe a straight six if a small one would fit.
My S-Klasse will have to be diesel of course, and I will pay for threat protection to be partially installed into the chassis. I will pay for a custom grille to be designed modeled after the Rolls/E&G/Lincoln Mark IV grilles. Normal size custom wheels. Black on black. All of the above in an E38 740 LWB too but we can keep that gas.
My pickup will have run flat tires, interior armor, and an additional fuel tank in the bed for another several hundred miles. Otherwise look stock, but be the sleeper Mad Max/Walking Dead/28 Days Later ride.
My Rivera will be a super Riv of course, pay some shop to drop in a Series III with the Eaton supercharger using a 4T80 instead of the 4T65 that breaks. Then have them drop in a new ECU, exhaust, suspension, tune it to 300bhp+ from 260 for that extra oompf. Proles will be floored by the unique 90s style in a sea of grey blah. While we’re at it, do all that but to an Allante too… because I can.
The rear seat picture looks like a couch/blanket fort my seven year-old made. For free.
I think that this car is the worst styling exercise to come down the line since the Aztec.
My current daily driver had a sculptural headliner – until I glued it back in place.
Dear BMW, please show me vehicles like this *before* the market dives, when it would be slightly more attainable (only slightly).
No, just effing no! Ettore Bugatti was an artist. Never, ever in a buh-zillion years would he (or any of his heirs) would have approved of this bulgy, swoopy, unbalanced exterior design and interior that only a pimp would approve of. Italdesing should stick to its outstanding industrial design and not design kitschy attempts at a luxury car.
If you buy one of these do you get that giant swab that Chris Cuomo has to clean the grill?
I don’t know who is designing the front end of BMWs lately but I bet they love pig snouts.
I’d have to be drunk, stoned, and stupid to like the looks of this turd. I’ll take Bangle’s flame surfacing and silly trunk any day.
First rule of Clown World is: you do not talk about Clown World.
Second rule of Clown World is: you DO NOT talk about Clown World!
Third rule of Clown World is: you make your product as ugly, unintuitive and overall as stupid as possible in order for it to be successful.
Oh and does that interior/color scheme remind anyone else of the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas? I may have been there a few times…
Did anyone mention how ugly that grille is?
Maybe it’s to keep you from noticing the rest of the car
I never thought a 700HP production car would be tiresome, but it is. All the HP in the world that you can’t use with all the driver aids that suck the life out of the experience. It’s super-fast and it’s super-ugly, next.
they named it xm…. siriously?
*slow clap*
I think the plans for this were copied from the German bunkers hulking over Omaha Beach on D-day.
This is just another sad and pathetic attempt to generate “excitement” for electric vehicles. Yes, we all know that electric vehicles can be very fast. But they still have limited driving range and take too long to recharge to be considered as practical replacements for many, if not most, ICE-powered vehicles. Great for commuting and day to day driving around time, but still not ready for prime time.
Can you imagine being in the BMW design studio talking with the team about this new car and someone says, “I know, lets make it look like a Rav4 on steroids!” and no-one objects. So the boss says, “OK, Rav4 on ‘roids it is!”
I’m beginning to think that maybe there is a chemical in the water supply everywhere that seems to affect some people. It makes them immune/blind to “ugly” and they approve nightmares like this for production. WTF???
That would explain a lot.