- BMW promised a potent follow-up to the XM’s initial launch and it made good on that promise today with the 738-horsepower ‘Label Red’.
- Presently, this is BMW’s most powerful road-going car ever, putting out 94 more horsepower and 148 lb-ft more torque than the “regular” XM, if you can even call it that.
- The extra oomph translates to a 3.7-second 0-60 time, as well as a 175 mph top speed (with the M Driver’s package).
- The 2024 BMW XM Label Red will start production in August at the Spartanburg, South Carolina plant.
- Pricing is not available yet, but don’t be surprised if it skirts the $200,000 mark.
Crazy styling, meet crazier power.
Let’s get one thing out of the way before diving into what we have here. I want to call this the ‘Red Label’ so, so badly. Perhaps a certain adult beverage maker would take issue with that (or Bentley, which has Red Label trademarked in the UK), but whatever the official reason this is the 2024 BMW XM Label Red…Label. Red.
Andre just tested the new XM in Arizona a few weeks ago, and it’s not like you can criticize that car for being slow. In fact, BMW’s flagship plug-in hybrid SUV is stupidly quick. You’d expect no less, given its 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 and electric motor cranking out a total of 644 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque. The Label Red cranks the output up even further though, to a stratospheric 738 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque. Thanks to all that grunt, this even hotter XM packs a lower 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds and a higher top speed of 175 mph with the available M Driver’s Package.
Despite all that power, the XM Label Red still uses the same 19.2-kWh (net capacity) lithium-ion battery pack. That allows the car to drive about 30 miles on electricity alone. Charging it up using a 7.4-kW Level 2 charger takes about 3-1/2 hours.
Styling also sets the Label Red apart from the standard XM.
The matte black paint and Toronto Red accents around the greenhouse, badging, grille and rear bumper set the Label Red apart from its less powerful sibling. Mind you, the automaker offers more than 50 BMW Individual paint colors should this black-and-red scheme not tickle your fancy, all for no added cost. A “small number” will ostensibly leave the Spartanburg plant in this Frozen Carbon Black configuration, though it’s unclear exactly how many we’ll see roaming gentrified streets.
Inside, the 2024 BMW XM Label Red brings even more accented elements, to say nothing of the carbon fiber effect around the infotainment displays and center controls. Unlike the normal XM, the Label Red ships with BMW’s updated iDrive 8.5 software in August, so that should make for a more pleasant usability experience — we’ll report on that when we test this high-performance model ourselves.
Before it officially hits the production milestone, the 2024 BMW XM Label Red will debut at Auto Shanghai in a couple weeks. BMW gave no official word on pricing yet, saying that information will be available closer to the launch. Your “everyday” XM starts over $160,000, though, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see this hotter version trending closer to the $200,000 ballpark. It may split the difference and land somewhere around $180,000, but we’ll have to wait and see. At any rate, you’ll obviously have to bring some serious cash to get one.
Even at that price point, though, it may be a relative bargain against its competitors. With this car, BMW offers an alternative against cars like the Lamborghini Urus, Bentley Bentayga Speed and the Aston Martin DBX 707.
Check out more on the XM below:
