Even with a storied history of fast cars, it’s still hard to imagine a BMW with 748hp. It’s a wild number, almost 150hp more than an M3 Competition, more than twice that of an original M2 (!) and way ahead of even the 635hp M5 CS, which as recently as 2021 was the most powerful M car ever. But then the XM has been turning tradition on its head ever since its debut; now we know more details about the flagship Label Red model.
Everything about it is pretty staggering, that peak output chief among them. It’s allied to 737lb ft of torque (a nice, round 1,000Nm) for a 0-62mph sprint time of 3.8 seconds and 180mph possibility. Interestingly, the 95hp uplift from a standard XM has been achieved solely through cranking up the twin-turbo V8 to 585hp; the electric motor still contributes 197hp. And no, that doesn’t make 748hp together, but that’s your quoted system output. Torque has climbed by 147 points, with half of that coming from the engine (now churning out 553lb ft) and the ‘effective maximum’ of the electric motor being 332lb ft. Again, the maths doesn’t work, but who’s to complain with 737lb ft? A sports exhaust bespoke to the model ‘provides an emotionally rich accompaniment to the engine’s power delivery with a vibrancy and energy not normally associated with an eight-cylinder unit’.
There’s more to the Label Red than just outrageous power, too, with the promise of a particularly rear-biased focus to the M xDrive, a 4WD Sand drive mode and ‘model-specific chassis tuning’ when it comes to features like the M suspension Professional, Active Roll Control and Integral Active Steering. The 22-inch wheels are said to be lightweight - every little helps, eh?
Not that anyone will care about those elements when the XM Red Label looks as it does. Marking it out further from the, um, contentious standard model are Toronto Red metallic accents throughout, from badges to headrests, contrast stitching to wheel inserts. That dramatic window frame tint can be had in black, although everything you see here in Toronto Red is going to be Toronto Red, regardless of which of the 50 available BMW Individual colours is chosen.
Those who need things even redder will likely be intrigued by the BMW XM Label Red Edition, which only comes in Frozen Carbon black but does extend the coloured accents to the kidney grille and diffuser for a ‘particularly enthralling effect’. Yikes. There will only be 500 Editions sold globally; don’t be surprised if they’re all spoken for pretty quickly. This is the new school M car, after all, and they’re going down rather well it seems.
The BMW XM Label Red is going to be debuted at the Shanghai show later this month (not a coincidence) ahead of production kicking off in August. Though UK availability hasn't officially been confirmed yet for the Edition trim, we do have a spec for the Label Reds coming here: alongside anything up to 52 miles of electric range, just 35g/km and 176mpg is an asking price of - wait for it - £170,860. Which is probably the ideal point to hand things over to you for first impressions…
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