It has been rumoured for some time and now it has finally happened. What you are looking at here is BMW’s first-ever standalone M Division SUV, called the BMW XM Concept. In fact, this is only the second ever standalone M product after the M1 sportscar. Incidentally, the ‘concept’ part of its title will be dropped soon enough as BMW has already confirmed that the large SUV will go into production late in 2022.

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“The BMW Concept XM represents a complete re-imagining of the high-performance car segment,” says Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW M GmbH. “It underlines the ability of BMW M GmbH to break with established conventions and push boundaries in order to offer fans of the brand the ultimate driving experience. The series-production car – the first pure BMW M model since the legendary BMW M1 – also shows how we are approaching the step-by-step electrification of our brand.”

Check out our BMW M4 Competition video review at this link.

The nose knows

It seems that BMW has completely ignored the sentiments echoed on forums and social media since the oversized kidney grilles first made their debut. Instead the design team has doubled down and what we see are even larger intakes on the BMW XM Concept and now they are even highlighted with LED strip lighting. It seems these are here to stay as BMW’s press material reads: new front-end design for BMW’s forthcoming luxury-class models.

The concept car has angular styling and many cues that will, perhaps fall away in production form. Among these, we suspect, will be those niftily styled alloys, the LEDs on the leading edge of the roof, laser etched dual badges on the rear window (a not the to the twin badges on the M1) and the funky tailpipe finishers.

Large and on charge

The BMW XM Concept will be the most powerful BMW M car ever to go into series production. There’s little in the way of powertrain details but outputs were revealed. A newly developed M Hybrid drive system mates a V8 engine and an electric motor to develop maximum power output of 550 kW and 1 000 N.m of peak torque. On a full charge the BMW XM Concept is said to travel up to 80 km purely on battery power.

Click here to read about another special M product that BMW is readying for its 50th anniversary.

Lounging

Another clear indication that the BMW XM Concept is near to series production is the interior treatment. In the cabin we see a functional facia with large digital screens, not dissimilar to current BMWs. The centre console between the seats looks like a carryover from an X5. 

BMW has adopted a rather interesting approach to the rest of the cabin. Luxury is placed above sportiness as the concept features high-comfort seats covered in brown, vintage-look leather that is contrasted with copper and carbon fibre. A large rear seat bench has its deep seat recesses to form what BMW refers to as the M Lounge. Deep-pile carpeting with a diamond pattern and a three-dimensional prism structure for the headliner make the cabin feel like a 1970s nightclub.