RE: 2023 BMW XM | PH Review

RE: 2023 BMW XM | PH Review

Author
Discussion

_ppan

433 posts

68 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
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Jesus.

GeeTeeBee

102 posts

12 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
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mrclav said:
o bad news for who? Certainly not BMW then; they exist as a business to make money so if the car is profitable then it's fulfilled its remit as a product. I personally couldn't care about it one way or the other in terms of its looks but as others have pointed out, BMW clearly know what they're doing, certainly more than any of the critics on this forum do.
Tend to agree that BMW probably knows what it is doing. However, there's still a nagging doubt that while this particular car may succeed, the direction it implies for BMW is hard to fathom. What does BMW stand for now?

Water Fairy

5,478 posts

154 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
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This makes me so sad. I cannot even be bothered to comment as I would only be repeating what everyone else is thinking.

I daily this. It is almost on 200k. I will be keeping it because despite being a diesel at least I can enjoy it's aesthetics. Inside and out.

F9551FB0-325D-49DF-8AD4-E733A33E8A2C by James Fawcett, on Flickr

mrclav

1,281 posts

222 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
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GeeTeeBee said:
mrclav said:
So bad news for who? Certainly not BMW then; they exist as a business to make money so if the car is profitable then it's fulfilled its remit as a product. I personally couldn't care about it one way or the other in terms of its looks but as others have pointed out, BMW clearly know what they're doing, certainly more than any of the critics on this forum do.
Tend to agree that BMW probably knows what it is doing. However, there's still a nagging doubt that while this particular car may succeed, the direction it implies for BMW is hard to fathom. What does BMW stand for now?
They stand for what any good for-profit business has always stood for - making money. If you look, you'll see that they continue to succeed and that, ultimately, is what what matters; they've sold more cars, made more profit and are in more markets effectively today than ever before.

This is why I laugh at every single poster on here harking back to old cars they feel represent the company; it was the same mission back then - make money. Winning races only served as a promotion to make money. Having the Motorsport division ultimately serves that purpose so when people say "M now stands for marketing", they miss the point as ultimately it always did. Winning races and championships was ALL for marketing purposes with the intention to sell more cars and therefore make more money.

I've shown this car to several non-car friends and literally every. single. one. of them love it - the fact the order books are healthy for the XM does not surprise me one iota.

Jules Henry

50 posts

125 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
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BMW is really doing its best to dilute what M really stands for. They have not understood what M 'halo' products should be, absolutely fine to have luxury segmentation but this shouldn't be confused with M & even mentioning this monstrosity is the same breath as the M1 just shows how lost they are. I can't even begin to comment on their design direction, remember when M cars were restrained & elegant? The worry for me about this type of vulgar design is that people see it, it becomes normal & then people think thatbis how things should look, rather like trout lips & big eyebrows, what was once ridiculed now becomes aspirational.Rant over I'm back to the classifieds to find an E38 750iL V12

Ninja59

3,691 posts

111 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
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mrclav said:
I've shown this car to several non-car friends and literally every. single. one. of them love it - the fact the order books are healthy for the XM does not surprise me one iota.
Are they blind, insecure or wanting to make a statement adn think this is the way to do it?


Iamnotkloot

1,396 posts

146 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
quotequote all
mrclav said:
I've shown this car to several non-car friends and literally every. single. one. of them love it - the fact the order books are healthy for the XM does not surprise me one iota.
Really??? OMG that’s bad news for humanity but it does demonstrate that it doesn’t matter what the enthusiast wants.

BarcelonaLewis

150 posts

135 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
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I don’t understand the relationship between the design director and the board, it seems amazing that changes haven’t been made.

E90_M3Ross

34,948 posts

211 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
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Ninja59 said:
mrclav said:
I've shown this car to several non-car friends and literally every. single. one. of them love it - the fact the order books are healthy for the XM does not surprise me one iota.
Are they blind, insecure or wanting to make a statement adn think this is the way to do it?
Are they as judgemental as you? wink

mrclav

1,281 posts

222 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
quotequote all
E90_M3Ross said:
Ninja59 said:
mrclav said:
I've shown this car to several non-car friends and literally every. single. one. of them love it - the fact the order books are healthy for the XM does not surprise me one iota.
Are they blind, insecure or wanting to make a statement adn think this is the way to do it?
Are they as judgemental as you? wink
The lack of self-awareness is more than a little ironic, huh? laugh

Also stupid - if someone is blind how could they see it!? laugh

mrclav

1,281 posts

222 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
quotequote all
Iamnotkloot said:
mrclav said:
I've shown this car to several non-car friends and literally every. single. one. of them love it - the fact the order books are healthy for the XM does not surprise me one iota.
Really??? OMG that’s bad news for humanity but it does demonstrate that it doesn’t matter what the enthusiast wants.
There are still plenty of enthusiast cars out there for sale. They're just not what the majority of people want and makers are, as I said before, in the business of making money.

CoolHands

18,498 posts

194 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
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I think they emphasise the nostrils with the launch models using the silver, that way when most models are sold with body coloured or black trim the whole thing looks better and everyone likes it.

The only thing I don’t understand is why they call it ‘M’ anything. Why not just make the model, give it a name or number. It’s nothing to do with motorsport so I just don’t see the purpose.

Water Fairy

5,478 posts

154 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
quotequote all
mrclav said:
hey stand for what any good for-profit business has always stood for - making money. If you look, you'll see that they continue to succeed and that, ultimately, is what what matters; they've sold more cars, made more profit and are in more markets effectively today than ever before.

This is why I laugh at every single poster on here harking back to old cars they feel represent the company; it was the same mission back then - make money. Winning races only served as a promotion to make money. Having the Motorsport division ultimately serves that purpose so when people say "M now stands for marketing", they miss the point as ultimately it always did. Winning races and championships was ALL for marketing purposes with the intention to sell more cars and therefore make more money.

I've shown this car to several non-car friends and literally every. single. one. of them love it - the fact the order books are healthy for the XM does not surprise me one iota.
You laugh away Stevie

herebebeasties

666 posts

218 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
quotequote all
Messy - the interior
Misshapen - the outside
Misconceived - the concept
Muddled - the handling
Myopic - the management
Mangled - the design language
Mishandled - the heritage
Marred - the brand
Mulish - the design department
Mismatched - the drivetrain
Mortified - the BMW fanbase
Mismanaged - the company
Monstrous - the grille
Malformed - the grille
Misguided - the grille
Mistake

The Vambo

6,643 posts

140 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
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And nobody at Citroen asked for a picture before releasing the name?

nismo48

3,610 posts

206 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
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It's big bold and brash..it will be a runaway sales success wink

Earthdweller

13,437 posts

125 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
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Ok I have to admit I just checked the calendar and made sure i hadn’t time warped from March to the first day of next month!

vomit

stuckmojo

2,955 posts

187 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
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It's horrendous.

The worst car I've ever seen. And I have been softened by recent BMWs which are already ghastly

adamfawsitt

523 posts

212 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
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redrabbit said:
Is the BMW design team recruited from a crack den? fk me, that looks so utterly, utterly st, they're not even trying anymore.

It'll still sell to the usual crew, though
"Crack den" comment is hilarious!!!!!!

Andy OH

1,903 posts

249 months

Saturday 18th March 2023
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"So, this is it. The BMW XM. The first dedicated M car since the first M car. That was the M1, of course, and the M1 and the XM have many things in common. For example, they are both low, sleek and achingly gorgeous supercars"

Are we looking at the same cars here as that XM is far from being low, definitely not sleek and certainly not an achingly gorgeous supercar scratchchin