550kW BMW XM Label Red leaked

The world’s most powerful SUV and BMW’s new flagship – the 2023 BMW XM Label Red (not Red Label) – has been leaked online almost 12 months ahead of its global launch.

A single studio image of the 550kW/1000Nm hyper-SUV was posted to BMW Austria’s Instagram page this week, revealing the Label Red’s more aggressive styling cues and prominent red decals that echo its name.

Predictably the image has since been taken down, but not fast enough to prevent the internet going into a frenzy and nabbing plenty of copies.

The decals in question surround the entire glasshouse of the high-performance SUV, as well its twin kidney grille and even its 22-inch alloy wheels, contrasting against by a navy blue matte paint finish which will no doubt delight Melbourne Demons fans.

Through the windows we can see the red theme is continued within the cabin and onto the seat upholstery at the very least, but beside the bespoke alloy wheel design there’s very little else to distinguish the flagship from the standard BMW XM officially revealed yesterday.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, the BMW XM is the first dedicated BMW M car in more than four decades (since the original 1978 M1) and blends a 4.4-litre twin-turbo petrol V8 with a single electric motor in a high-performance plug-in hybrid powertrain packing a combined system output of 480kW/850Nm.

The Label Red will be the flagship version – think of it like an M5 CS versus the standard M5 – and as such its performance outputs will be dialled up to the aforementioned 550kW/1000Nm, comfortably making it the most powerful of all the super and hyper SUVs.

No acceleration claims have yet been made by BMW, but – despite its 2710kg kerb weight – the standard BMW XM delivers 480kW/850Nm and is said to hit 100km/h in 4.3 seconds, which nevertheless is a full second slower than the quickest SUVs and half a second slower than BMW M's own X3, X4, X5 and X6 models.

For reference, excluding the unavailable Tesla Model X Plaid, the title of world’s quickest SUV is currently shared by the 520kW/900Nm Aston Martin DBX707, the 471kW/850Nm Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT and the 490kW/850Nm Lamborghini Urus Performante (all of which are claimed to hit 100km/h in 3.3sec).

BMW has hinted that the XM Label Red could match the pace of the standard Urus, which was previously the quickest (3.6sec) and fastest (305km/h) SUV on the market.

The BMW XM will be launched globally in April 2023, followed by the Label Red in the third quarter, so expect both versions of BMW’s new range-topper to arrive Down Under by the end of next year.

It’s needless to say the Label Red will cost a fair bit more than the standard XM’s $297,900 plus on-roads starting price.

Indeed it could overtake the M8 Competition Coupe ($362,900) and M760Li xDrive limousine ($383,900) to become the most expensive model in the local BMW line-up… time will tell.

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