Image: BMW
Image: BMW
Image: BMW
Image: BMW
Image: BMW
New ModelsBy: Ryan De Villiers
It’s a new age for BMW. The XM is a standout among the Bavarian automaker’s fleet and it just so happens to be the most expensive and most powerful BMW on offer at the moment.
Image: BMW
R3 400 000… That’s the asking price for the first original M car since the M1 and it’s also a pioneer of the firm’s Sport Activity Vehicle (SAV) concept. The question is, does it deserve a price tag costlier than the ones attached to prodigies like the Porsche 992 generation GT3? Let’s unpack all of the XM’s offerings to find out.
The XM is another addition to the Bavarian’s plug-in-hybrid lineup. While one of the many key selling points for the XM may be its cabin or the cyberpunk design, all those refined frills are juxtaposed by a thunderous 4,4-litre turbocharged V8 producing mind-boggling 360 kW and 650 N.m. In tandem with the powerful eight-cylinder is an electric motor capable of producing 145 kW, when combined with that beastly V8, affords this futuristic four-wheel-drive behemoth a max power output of 480 kW and 800 N.m.
Image: BMW
For perspective, the XM’s power trumps that of its fellow stable leaders like the M5 Competition and M8 Competition Gran Coupe. The entire power plant is mated to BMW’s eight-speed Steptronic transmission capable of propelling the XM from 0-100km/h in 4,3 seconds!
Image: BMW
It’s not all grunt though. The XM underpins a heavily tuned and tailored chassis offering a familiar level of M performance while affording the creature comforts standard in many seven-figure price-tag-totting SUVs. Aside from its brutish capabilities, the XM ushers in a new design language and level of quality for the brand. The exterior of the car is contoured, bold and elegant. The same can be said for the cabin. The interior knock on the doors of many long-established marquees like Rolls Royce or Bentley but with the signature BMW flair.
Image: BMW
Aside from its litany of accessories and frills, the XM is rowdy, refined and, with everything chocked into, almost justifies its wallet-punching price. What do you think?
Keyword: BMW’s XM costs more than a Porsche 911 GT3