Controversial? Just a bit. That said, we’ve already driven the Ferrari Purosangue and found it to be profoundly good – although the presence of an 8250rpm 6.5-litre V12 always helps. That leaves the BMW XM. This is M division’s first bespoke car since the mid-engined M1 of 1978 and one that M CEO Frank van Meel says offers the best of X and the best of M. Hence the name.
But the comparative lack of practicality, the obstinately ugly aesthetic and the punchy asking price are all okay, because the XM redrafts the dynamic rulebook for fast SUVs, with M5 CS genes palpable in its very DNA, right? Wrong. And unfortunately, this is down to not just one key weakness but several.
So driving the beastly XM confirms what its styling suggests: that this car lacks authenticity or at least any real purpose beyond shock and awe. And if M is historically about proper driving satisfaction in a truly usable and practical package, I’m not sure where its latest product, this self-professed bastion of modern M-ness, is meant to fit in. Not on many British roads, that’s for sure. Too heavy to express itself, too severe to rub along with day to day and too expensive for powertrain niggles to be let off lightly, it brings little to either the brand or the super-SUV party. M can do better.
So what you have is an M5 with most of the joy sucked out of it.
When the big mags come out and say they hate your car, especially when it's a BMW, it's NOT a good thing.
Full roasting at the link.
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