Biggest beamer yet
The “super SUV” scene has well and truly exploded within the last few years. What you see here is the latest BMW to come charging into this elite segment. It’s the XM, and it is the biggest and most powerful BMW SUV ever.
Straight off the bat, it’s obvious the XM looks like nothing else BMW has ever built. Its size is staggering and while, in my view, it’s not a pretty car, few cars can match it for sheer presence.
This XM is unique as it’s the Red Label Edition. Limited to 500 units, the XM Red Label combines lashings of Toronto Red accents inside and out to complement the Frozen Carbon Black paint scheme, especially around that massive BMW kidney grill. I love the 22-inch alloys, blacked out LED taillights and the funky twin-pipe set up at the rear. Love it or loathe it, drive an XM and you will be turning heads. 
We have touched on its size, now let’s move onto the grunt, for there is plenty. The XM Red Label’s 4.4L twin-turbo V8 is joined by a 25.7kWh battery pack, resulting in a gargantuan 550kW and 1000Nm of torque. The battery part means the XM is also a fully fledged plug-in-hybrid and good for 82km of electric only driving.
Inside you get all the toys you could imagine for a car with a price tag of $340,900, plus oodles of BMW M carbon bits and high grade materials. The black and red merino leather trimmed seats up front are delightful, but those in the rear accompanied by XM branded leather cushions feel even plusher. The rear legroom is also substantial to say the least. Passengers can also marvel at roof lining with ambient lighting which looks epic, especially at night.
Starting off around urban Christchurch, the XM’s girth becomes all too real. Sure, you have all manner of sensors and cameras fore and aft to help, but navigating the XM in places like The Crossing multi-story car as I found can still be a white-knuckle ride.
That said, the more momentum you carry, the XM Red Label begins to shrink around you. When you switch over from electric silent running and wake up the hard-charging twin-turbo V8, the two power units come together in epic fashion. Give it what for off the mark and this 2795kg leviathan rockets you forward with the kind of accelerating sensation usually the preserve of low-slung supercars.
The XM can also devour corners like them too. Barrel into every bend and the XM hangs on in there like a cat on shag-pile carpet, incredible stuff despite its girth and tipping the scales at close to three tonnes.
While I am still not sold on those mad looks, the XM Red Label is a staggering bit of kit in every other way. Those wanting the absolute pinnacle of BMW big-power, technology and immense performance should look no further.
FACT FILE
Price: $340,900
Engine: 4.4L Twin-Turbo V8 Petrol
Battery Pack: 25.7kWh
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Combined Power: 550kW
Combined torque: 1000Nm
Combined Fuel Consumption: 1.7L/100Km
Zero to 100kph: 3.8 seconds
Weight: 2795kg
Boot space: 527L
