BMW XM Review & Prices

If you’re after a high-performance SUV, you’re currently spoilt for choice. Porsche, Lamborghini, and even Tesla have produced performance SUVs, but BMW’s M division was yet to have a proper go – until now. This is the BMW XM. 

Soon to be tussling with the Ferrari Purosangue, Lamborghini Urus Performante, Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT and Tesla Model X Plaid, the BMW XM is the first M Division-only car since the 70s (Yes there are other M-labelled SUVs – like the X5 M and X6 M – but the XM is an M-exclusive model) and it’s again jumping on current trends – this time it’s big, brash SUVs.

It’s like deciding which bubble tea flavour to go for – all have different characteristics and suit different people.

Where the XM certainly divides opinion is how it looks. It’s not a pretty car, to be blunt, with BMW doubling down on the huge kidney grilles, which now come with lights on the inside. You also get split headlights at the front, while you get a squarer design down the side.

You can choose between 21-, 22- and 23-inch alloys – with the larger ones likely to fill the arches better – while the blocky design continues at the rear. You get thin taillights, quad tailpipes, a rear diffuser and BMW logos etched into the rear, all adding to the sporty nature. 

The cabin is much less controversial. It’s tidy, modern and features a sweeping screen holding both the driver’s display and infotainment touchscreen. You can get tasteful all-black or less tasteful two-tone upholstery to adorn the cabin alongside many other M features to make it even more obvious that it’s a special model – like the steering wheel-mounted M buttons and M-specific gear lever. 

Watch: Audi SQ8 v BMW XM v Lamborghini Urus v Mercedes-AMG G 63

With its square body shape and measuring 5.1m long, there’s loads of head and legroom, making it good for those wanting to carry passengers for the day-to-day family commute or for a fun countryside blast.

The boot is 527 litres, which compared to its main rivals is about average. The Tesla Model X Plaid has over 1,100 litres with five seats in place, while the BMW also falls behind the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT (549 litres) and Lamborghini Urus Performante (616 litres). It only beats the Ferrari Purosangue, which has a 473-litre boot. 

From launch, the plug-in hybrid XM will come with a 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 paired with an electric motor developing 653hp and 800Nm of torque. The sprint from 0-60mph takes just 4.3 seconds and it can reach a limited top speed of 155mph. That limiter can be raised to 168mph. 

But if you want BMW’s most powerful road car ever in its punchiest form, you’ll want to wait for the Label Red version. It uses the same setup, but power is upped to 748hp and 1,000Nm of torque, promising even more impressive performance. 

The hybrid system for both includes a 25.7kWh battery pack that delivers up to 55 miles of electric-only driving. Charging on AC only, its max charging rate is 7.4kW and it takes a little under four and a half hours to fully charge.

When you drive on electric, you do get less punch than you get with the petrol engine involved, but it makes town driving very easy. The steering is responsive and light enough, while the suspension soaks up most bumps and cracks in the road.

There’s limited tyre noise from the huge wheels and the overall refinement is excellent, making long-distance driving a relaxing affair. Having the hybrid setup helps with fuel consumption, but it’ll be nowhere near BMW’s claimed figure of 188.3mpg because most won’t charge the electric system up often enough.

To make sure it doesn’t feel too firm when you’re driving this 2,710kg SUV, BMW has fitted its adaptive M suspension setup so you can soften the ride for longer drives, and firm it up when you want to attack a road. However, you still feel a lot of lean on twistier roads even with this harder setup.

There is plenty of performance offered by the 653hp power system, but when going for harder acceleration, the automatic transmission is hesitant to respond quickly enough, which takes away from the experience a little. You can fix this by using manual mode, but this issue makes it feel less like a flagship M car.

While there are some admirable features that make the XM a cool car, it lacks some of the excitement of its rivals and doesn’t quite live up to the flagship M car billing as many would have hoped.

If you’re after a great deal on a new XM or other new BMWs, you should use carwow – and if you want to change your car altogether, you can sell your car with us to help put money towards your next one.

We also provide plenty of used deals on BMW models, where you can get a great price for the car you want.

Compared to its alternatives, the XM starts off at a lower price. The Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT is on par, but the rest, like the Ferrari Purosangue, Lamborghini Urus Performante and Aston Martin DBX 707 are all much more expensive.

If you want to go all-electric and not use the plug-in hybrid bridge that the XM offers, the Tesla Model X Plaid is much cheaper to buy and offers more than 330 miles of zero-emission range.

This first version of the XM will be the entry option, while the Label Red will become the top-end choice when it arrives later in 2023.

There’s plenty of punch from the electric motor and V8 engine, but it’s not as exciting as an M car should be

In town

Having the 197hpnelectric motor means you can cruise around town in your huge performance SUV silently and with decent enough performance. It’s punchy enough for getting away from the lights and out of junctions, and you can do up to 50 miles on a full charge.

It’s also pretty comfortable over harsher bumps at slower speeds, with the standard adaptive dampers helping soak up any road imperfections.

One issue though is the XM’s size. It’s quite a chunky car, measuring 5.1m long and just over 2m wide – longer but only slightly narrower than a Range Rover. Even with rear-wheel steering as standard, the turning circle is 12.5m, with large SUVs like the Range Rover doing much better.

On the motorway

Out on the open road, the BMW XM starts to show some cracks. While in full hybrid mode, the automatic transmission can feel quite sluggish to change gear under hard acceleration. When you want to get up to speed, there’s a pause while the transmission, engine and electric system work out what to do.

When it does deliver the power, it feels punchy and it gets up to speed quickly. The 4.4-litre V8 sounds excellent when accelerating but when you’re taking it easy, it settles down to be very refined.

There’s loads of sound-deadening to help make the cabin a serene place to be, and on longer distances, the XM feels less like a performance SUV and more of a comfortable cruiser – something you might not expect from a sports flagship.

On a twisty road

One major drawback of the XM is that it’s rather bulky. Weighing upwards of 2,700kg, you feel that quite a lot when you’re cornering at higher speeds. Realistically, M cars should feel agile and fun to drive, and although there’s plenty of punch from the engine, it’s not the most invigorating SUV to drive.

That being said, it corners flat and the brakes feel responsive. Other fast BMW SUVs do corner better and feel more interesting to drive though, like the X6 M.

One thing to make sure you have fun while driving is putting the gearbox in manual mode and filling the power gaps yourself by changing down.

There’s plenty of storage throughout and lots of passenger space, but the boot is a bit underwhelming

Where the XM does very well is in the cabin. There’s lots of storage, with a large bin under the central armrest, a place for your phone under the dashboard with heated and cooled cup holders in front of it, and massive door bins that can hold a couple of bottles.

For driving position, the XM also feels excellent. BMW always seems to do a good job and here you get an excellent view out of the front over the giant bonnet. There’s lots of adjustment on offer so you can make the most of the wonderful seats.

Space in the back seats

Being such a long car, you get some excellent leg room, even behind the bulky sports seats. Headroom is also brilliant, even though the roofline does slope a little towards the rear. Also with the car being so wide, sitting three across the rear won’t be too tricky.

As with the front, door pockets are of a good size and you get aeroplane-style openings on the seat backs for laptops or other devices. There are two USB-C charging ports in the middle and even one in the seat backs to give them juice as well. You also get uncovered cupholders in the fold down armrest.

Boot space

The space in the XM’s rear is about average for a performance SUV with 527 litres on offer. It’s more than the Ferrari Purosangue (473 litres), around the same as Porsche’s Cayenne Turbo GT (549 litres), but falls behind the Aston Martin DBX 707 (632 litres) and the Lamborghini Urus Performante (616 litres).

Annoyingly for such a premium car, you don’t have switches in the boot to fold the seats down. You either have to lean in to reach the seat backs, or go round to the passenger doors to put the seats down. They don’t fold quite flat either, so loading things can be a little tricky.

You get all the lovely M bits any M car should, like carbon fibre and sports seats, alongside stylish trim choices, but it doesn’t feel as special as the price might suggest

The XM’s cabin tries to blend sportiness and luxury in one package and it’s mostly a success. You get the M steering wheel with carbon fibre paddle shifters alongside aluminium pedals, an M gear selector, carbon fibre trim on the dashboard and BMW M’s iconic tricolour dotted all the way around the cabin. You also get excellent sports seats trimmed in leather with XM in the headrest.

You get swathes of leather on other surfaces as well, including on the armrests and door cards, while there’s further carbon fibre trim in the centre console. We mustn’t forget the huge curved display unit holding both the driver’s display and infotainment touchscreen, with the driver’s display getting M-specific graphics in case you forget you’re in an M car.

But does this all add up to £150,000-worth of car? Not for us. It doesn’t quite feel special enough even if you have got a lot of premium features throughout as standard, like a high-end sound system and a roof headliner with ambient lighting.

Back to the infotainment, and BMW’s iDrive 8 system is one of the smoothest around. It can be a little complex to use at times, and with some functions normally found on the steering wheel buried in menus on the touchscreen, it can be a little frustrating.

Although the infotainment system is more refined than most, using your smartphone to mirror onto the extensive display is still the best option for most, with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connecting wirelessly.

You can add kit from the extensive options list, including the M Driver’s Pack that ups the top speed to 168mph, improved speakers and additional driver assists.

With a stonking V8 engine under the bonnet, you might expect poor fuel economy from a car weighing 2,700kg. But with the electric motor assisting, BMW says the XM can return up to 188.3mpg. If you have a place to charge up the battery pack regularly you may see that figure, but for the most part, you’ll be seeing much lower numbers – especially if you take full advantage of the V8.

Having the electrical assistance also helps with emissions. BMW says the XM produces 33-36g/km CO2, which puts it in one of the lowest tax brackets in the UK. But with the car costing more than £40,000 – a lot more in this instance – you’ll be adding an additional cost on top of that in the first five years of ownership.

The XM is yet to have gone through the rigorous Euro NCAP test cycle, so there’s no star rating yet.

As standard, the XM gets front collision warning, lane departure warning with lane return assistance, evasion assist, alertness assistance and speed limit assist.

You can add an additional driving assistance pack, which adds adaptive cruise control, steering and lane control assistance, emergency lane change and stop warning, and route monitoring to name a few things – although you would expect a car costing upwards of £148,000 to have adaptive cruise as standard.

As an all-new model, there’s no news on reliability for the XM specifically. BMW has a decent reputation in this sense, so you can expect that to carry over to the XM.

With each new BMW, you get three years of unlimited mileage warranty that also includes BMW roadside assistance. For PHEVs from the brand, like the XM, the battery pack installed is covered for six years or 60,000 miles – whichever comes first.