After showing a near production ready concept in 2021, BMW debuted the XM to gasps in 2022. It looked like nothing else on the road. Just over two years on the market and something about the XM seems to keep buyers away, so much so that BMW is throwing some big discounts on the hood to try and move some of these performance plug-in hybrids.
The XM is the second vehicle BMW’s history — after the M1 supercar — to be developed by the brand’s M performance arm. It’s a plug in hybrid, but don’t let that fool you into thinking this thing is about any sort of efficiency. BMW’s 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 gets paired with a 194 horsepower electric motor on the rear driveshaft and a 19.2 kWh battery. The result is 644 total system hp, 590 lb-ft of torque and 29 miles of electric driving range up to 75 mph. Choosing the XM Label Red ups things to 738 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque. It’s a performer for sure.
Styling on the XM is a love it or hate it thing. I actually don’t think it looks that bad, especially in person. It certainly has a presence, but it mostly comes across as sort of a neanderthal-ified version of the X7. Buyer’s aren’t showing up for it though. Just 2,315 were sold in 2023; just 541 were sold in Q1 2024. The XM’s $159,000 starting MSRP isn’t helping things either.
When I first saw the XM a couple of years ago, BMW designers and executives seemed to embrace the controversial design and essentially said they didn’t care if the car was a success or not. This was something that they wanted to do specifically for the M brand.
BMW dealers need to sell cars, though, so they’re throwing on the discounts. Cars Direct reports that as of June 3, BMW was offering $17,500 lease credit on the XM as well as a $15,000 rebate for those that want to finance. My own search shows some dealers offering even bigger discounts. Of the 944 XMs I found on sale in the country as of this writing, more than a few of them had discounts of over $20,000. BMW of South Miami for instance has five XMs in its inventory; four of them have a discount of $21,555, the other has a $24,804 discount. Many others listed for sale carry a $15,000 discount overall. So if you have deep enough pockets and can tolerate the looks of the XM, you may be able to score a pretty killer deal on one.