BMW XM 2023 Review – International

How much does the BMW XM cost?

The 2023 BMW XM will set even frugal buyers back $297,900, before adding options and on-road costs.

And that won’t even be the end of it, because there will be the BMW XM Label Red, with more power, more torque and more performance, in the last half of the year and that will cost nearly $350,000 plus ORCs.

That stock XM is exactly $64,000 upstream of the BMW X6 M (of which more later, because it’s rationally important, and you don’t use the word “rationally” about the X6 M very often).

The XM stands above the Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S (from $259,500) and GLS 63 S AMG (from $289,800), and achieves the impossible by making the Audi RS Q8 seem downright sensible at $220,600 plus ORCs.

It also plays with the Bentley Bentayga and the Lamborghini Urus.

What equipment comes with the BMW XM?

The 2023 BMW XM carries just about everything M could see on the BMW tech shelves, and a few more pieces besides – as it should for this price.

It rides on 22-inch wheels and tyres and, while 23-inch versions are available as a no-cost option, we’d recommend you stick with the smaller versions for the ride compliance they provide. You’re going to need it.

The visual confrontation can be neutralised in darker colours or exaggerated even more with gold trim highlights (a high-gloss shadow line is a no-cost option) and metallic paint is standard as well.

So, too, is the illuminated surround for the XM’s kidney grille, and the 7.4kW charger, as well as the first five years of servicing.

The XM delivers four-zone climate control, along with a 12.3-inch instrument cluster and a 14.9-inch touch-screen for infotainment, both tucked away behind a single piece of curved glass.

Satellite navigation, digital radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto all work through the infotainment system, and there’s a head-up display with moderate augmented reality. Sound comes through a 1500-Watt Bowers and Wilkins system.

The powered front seats include heating, ventilation and a tasty massage function, while there is also heating for the backrests in the rear seats, the centre console and arm rests. There’s heating and cooling for the front cup holders too.

On top of that there’s merino leather trim accompanied by carbon-fibre details, plus standard wireless phone charging and a rainbow of ambient interior lighting colour options.

The BMW Digital Key Plus allows Apple users to lock and unlock their doors via an iPhone, too.

How safe is the BMW XM?

While it hasn’t been tested by NCAP yet, the 2023 BMW XM is based on the BMW X7 (to which it adds 110kg), and when things get real bad the 2710kg XM will win most arguments against any lighter vehicle it hits – and that’s just about all of them, unfortunately.

It has front and side airbags for the driver and front passenger, head airbags for the front and rear seats, a seat belt pre-tensioner with belt force-limiting technology and crash sensors to prepare it all if things go wrong.

There are standard tyre pressure indicators, and the list of active safety features is almost as long as the maximum words allowed for an entire road test.

It includes things like dynamic skid control, cornering brake control, dynamic brake control, dry-braking function, drive-off assistant and M Sport differential, all-wheel drive, active roll stabilisation, active roll comfort, ABS, near-actuator wheel slip limitation and the two M Dynamic Modes operated via the red buttons on the steering wheel.

The XM also comes with the Professional version of BMW’s driving assistant, combining autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane keeping assistance, lane centring assistance, cross traffic monitoring at both ends, blind spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control that works, technically, for eight seconds (but actually hangs on for up to 30 seconds even if the warnings to retake control are ignored).

Its Parking Assistant is the Professional kind too (in BMW-speak) and includes a 360-degree 3D camera and automated parking.

What technology does the BMW XM feature?

The 2023 BMW XM super-SUV might take pains not to be considered a BMW, but it’s very much a BMW.

The 3105mm wheelbase is enormous for a vehicle that isn’t three-row capable (with positive implications for rear-seat passengers), and it ends up at 5110mm long.

The size is omnipresent, on purpose, and it’s 2005mm wide and 1755mm high, which mandated M’s active damping all round, with the 48-volt active roll-bar adjustment attached to it all to keep the body under control under cornering forces.

What powers the BMW XM?

The heart of the 2023 BMW XM is a dedication to performance, rather than efficiency, and a demand to stand apart from the BMW-branded options.

It’s also a dedication to BMW M’s love affair with its own 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8.

To this, it added a synchronous electric motor, mounted inside the ZF eight-speed automatic transmission, and together they belt out 480kW of power and 800Nm of torque.

Odd, then, that the twin-turbo V8 itself generates a lot less power than the same engine in the X6 M. The cheaper X5 M and X6 M SUVs crank 460kW out of the same V8 – a neat 100 more than the XM. And where the XM pulls 650Nm of torque from the V8, the X5/X6 M twins have 750Nm.

Why? Transmission longevity, for one. After all, the XM has another 145kW and 280Nm to add directly inside the eight-speed automatic transmission. The total 480kW/800Nm just pips the twins for outright numbers, but loses out to them, badly, on power-to-weight ratio.

The second reason is to let BMW easily crank out the even more profitable Label Red, with the additional power and torque drawn from the V8, rather than the e-motor.

It’s enough to punch the XM to 100km/h in 4.3 seconds, which is surprisingly unimpressive given the twins do it in 3.9 seconds for 64,000 fewer dollaroonees.

How fuel efficient is the BMW XM?

The fuel efficiency of the 2023 BMW XM very much depends on the way it’s driven.

Sure, the official WLTP figure is an alluring 1.5L/100km (at 33g/km of CO2), but anybody believing that’s a real-world figure isn’t the sort of person who drives a twin-turbo V8 M car.

It has the capacity to drive for up to 82km (again, WLTP tested) in its EV mode, but the maths on a 25.7kWh lithium-ion battery and 145kW worth of electric motor indicates you could flatten it in less than six minutes.

It also isn’t fast to charge, with a maximum input rate of 7.4kW.

Still, we saw some more realistic numbers that were better than expected (around the 7L/100km mark), especially because we weren’t driving frugally, which is probably why BMW has given it only a 69-litre fuel tank.

What is the BMW XM like to drive?

So here’s the thing with the 2023 BMW XM: the numbers lie. It’s a shrinker, feeling more taut the harder it’s pressed and the powertrain feels stronger once it’s rolling than it does sprinting away from a standing start.

It’s odd. There are times when it feels as big as it actually is, and other times when it feels like a slightly larger sports sedan.

There is enough electric range here to be quiet with extreme refinement, though the mass doesn’t do the e-motor’s efficiency any favours. It responds well to the throttle, though, and the strength of the e-motor helps it regenerate the gigantic forces required to stop such a contraption.

It works at its best as a pure hybrid, even though there are several drive modes to choose from.

It is capable of some stupendous feats of rolling acceleration, with the electric motor not only adding thrust at ramming speed, but filling in during gear changes and eradicating what little turbo lag the XM’s V8 has, too.

The powertrain has little regard for criticisms of the XM’s mass, and fires off from any throttle opening, any time, with extreme urgency.

Besides the EV, Hybrid and Sport modes, the transmission itself has three different shift settings for Comfort, Normal and Sport. The first two are slick and clean, but the snap of the shift in the Sport mode is brutal, especially on full-throttle shifts, and M has done it on purpose, in case you should forget what you paid for.

The handling is astonishing, without ever tripping over into any kind of unadulterated joy. It’s accurate, reassuring, balanced and even tied down properly, with well-judged steering and astounding body control.

The ride quality deteriorates in Sport mode – and it’s never great even in Comfort – with the disturbing level of tyre roar from the 275/40ZR22 front and 315/35ZR22 rear Pirelli P Zeros on coarse surfaces coming as a shock at this price point.

What is the BMW XM like inside?

Unlike most new BMWs, it’s the rear seat that stars in the 2023 BMW XM, thanks to a leather seat trim that wraps around into the door and looks pretty schmick.

The interior equipment levels are convincing, even at the price point, and it all works intuitively – except the infotainment software which is better than six months ago, but still clunky enough that you use the ever-improving voice recognition system most of the time.

The front seats have wide ranges of adjustment to every grain and stitch, and the driving position is lower than in the X5 M and X6 M, helping the driver develop a more intuitive connection with the handling.

But the rear seats are absolutely superb, with tremendous support for cruising and cornering, and it doesn’t suffer the loss of headroom that plagues so many SUV coupes.

Should I buy a BMW XM?

My best guess is that if you’re of a mind to buy the 2023 BMW XM, you’ll buy it whether we suggest it’s a good thing or not.

Its status as the most expensive BMW-badged car of them all is virtue enough.

And it’s not bad, for what it is, but it’s not all that. And it’s incredibly profligate, PHEV drivetrain or not.

And, of course, the X5 M and X6 M are quicker to 100km/h and almost as powerful and a whole lot cheaper and (I can’t believe I’m writing this) less obnoxious.

But the XM is bigger inside and out, more technically sophisticated, capable of EV running and attracts attention.

I wouldn’t buy it, but I suspect enough people will.

2023 BMW XM at a glance:
Price: $297,900 (plus on-road costs)
Available: First half of 2023
Powertrain: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol-electric
Output: 360kW/650Nm (electric motor: 145kW/280Nm)
Combined output: 480kW/800Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Battery: 25.7kWh lithium-ion
Range: 82km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 28.9-30.1kWh/100km (WLTP)
Fuel: 1.5-1.6L/100km (WLTP)
CO2: 33-36g/km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested

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