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The BMW Concept XM Appears To Have Been Hit by the Ugly Stick Until It Broke

Two decades ago, BMW had a single utility vehicle in the lineup in the guise of the first-generation X5, penned by Frank Stephenson. In 2021 for the 2022 model year, the Bavarian automaker’s lineup includes nine utility vehicles that range from the X1 to the X7, plus the iX and iX3.
BMW Concept XM (2023 BMW XM teaser) 30 photos
Photo: BMW
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You can already tell how much the automotive industry has changed in these past decades, but so did BMW. From the standpoint of exterior design, the period when Chris Bangle was calling the shots is widely believed to be the beginning of the end. I don’t necessarily agree with that claim, but I am completely aware the E65 7 Series isn’t as beautiful as the E38 7 Series.

Under group head of design Adrian van Hooydonk and BMW division head of design Domagoj Dukec, the Munich-based automaker took a turn for the absolute worst. The buck-toothed G22 4 Series opens the list of transgressors, followed by the M3, M4, iX, and the all-new Concept XM. The latter's production version will be the 10th utility vehicle in the lineup next year when it's expected to premiere in production-ready form.

What’s a Concept XM, you wonder? It’s a preview for the first M-specific utility vehicle produced by the peeps at BMW M, also known as the X8 until today. I originally thought I was looking at an Angry Birds pig or something like that when I first saw the honking front grille of the show car, a front grille that would make even the new LX or Tundra blush.

“A unique X for the M brand, displaying the new front-end design of the BMW luxury class,” the Concept XM is “the most expressive statement in almost 50 years of BMW M.” The statement proves how disconnected the designers are from BMW customers, but then again, Domagoj Dukec made it clear thatit’s not our goal to please everyone.”

Expected to premiere on the 29th of November, the XM is believed to feature three powertrain options. Codenamed G09 and internally known as Project Rockstar, the nasty-looking utility vehicle is expected with three powertrain options. The S58 inline-six engine in combination with a plug-in hybrid system is rumored to produce in the ballpark of 650 horsepower. A bit later on, the XM with the S63 eight-cylinder engine and a plug-in hybrid system is believed to crank out anything between 740 and 750 horsepower.

Impressive though it may be from the standpoint of performance, I can't wait to see Frank Stephenson rip the newcomer to shreds on his YT channel.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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