Don’t Hate on the XM Until You Drive It

I live about five and half hours from Weathertech Raceway at Laguna Seca. When IMSA lands on the Laguna Seca calendar in May, I start thinking road trip. Over the years, I’ve put plenty of fun miles on my own cars, and yes, most of those are manuals. Have to be honest, though, the two and half hours through those first forty miles escaping Los Angeles are not that much fun in a manual car, regardless of how much online cred it gets me if I comment about it and boast that my car has three pedals.

So instead, I took the most powerful M car BMW has ever produced, a 2026 BMW XM Label. I didn’t know what to expect when I heard I’d get a car from the press fleet, but when I saw the Isle of Man Green XM Label, I was almost fearful of what I might do with it the next five days. With 738 horsepower and a matching pound-feet of torque, and that extremely un-subtle metallic paint, the XM Label captured attention stopped or moving, so I had to be a little cautious. A little.

I’ve heard M purists gripe, “that’s not an M car.” That surprised me because there are probably 10 M badges around the car. If you’re thinking that’s because BMW has to reinforce it, well, the 738hp from the S68 twin turbo 4.4 liter V-8 hybrid did that just fine for me. It drives like an M car in many ways—it’s incredibly fast, instills excitement, and is reassuringly balanced in turns and curves. The M makes sense, and not just “even with” the electric supplement, but especially with the near-200 horsepower electric drivetrain.

I’ve always been a fan of the X5 M Competition, even before they switched to this S68 powerplant. I did ask myself more than once why the two cars exist. They are different, but this XM Label seems to want to play more in the luxury segment, but remain sporty. Maybe like a sculpted Cullinan? This XM didn’t feel too heavy, that popular but irrelevant complaint about the S68-sharing G90 and G99 M cars. The XM’s weight actually starts with a six. I was genuinely surprised when I learned that halfway through the weekend. It never felt close to heavy or lethargic.

It looks a little more coupe-ish, even though it is technically longer and wider than an X5. Inside, if you’re looking for capacity, pick the X5. The sloping roofline of the XM and the battery placement decrease overall capacity, especially behind rear seats.

I’m yet to drive the latest X5 M Competition, but this XM sure seems to take everything to another level. I realized that when I opened the doors with handles that matched the theme of the geometric ceiling illuminated with fiber-optic ambient lighting. Looking down, I saw XM-emblazoned pillows nestled in each of the back seats. Opening the hatch revealed what I thought was a special carry-on luggage piece but in fact is the XM-branded storage bag for the charging cable.

This XM Label had the brown vintage leather—one of the few options on the car—and carbon fiber treatment throughout the interior. It made the 720-plus mile round trip to Monterey pass quicker than any other drives… except for when it didn’t. I stopped at my usual gas stations along the route. I’ve had people in the past stop me there and ask about the M5, the M3, the 2002, and the Dinan E61. This time, though, people swarmed the XM Label. Maybe it was the color capturing attention, but people were so taken with it that they started peppering me with questions.

The gas station—well, that was an interesting experience. I had two people there ask me what I was doing with an electric car getting gas. And then I poured $122 into it… so I was asking what the heck I was doing getting gas. But I was getting 19mpg during a—let’s call it a spirited—drive. Later at home, I plugged it in using the same cable we use for the iX and overnight it got to its max of approximately 35 miles of electric range. I could have driven to work on electric power alone, charged at work, and driven home. Rinse and repeat.

One thing the gas station patrons didn’t ask about was the “fake exhaust sound.” We’re going to go with enhanced or augmented, not fake. The exhaust sounds are there—it’s a V-8. Most of the enhancement is done inside the cabin and can function when in electric mode. So I’m conflicted here. If it sounds good, that’s good, right? That’s why we listen to music—because it sounds good. We don’t ask if it was auto-tuned or if they spent months in the studio to make it sound like that as opposed to a live concert. But we like it. So in that regard, I loved it. With my windows up, I received a little private “representation” of what it might sound like outside. But if it’s in electric mode, I’m okay with admitting I’m driving the car in electric mode. The exhaust notes were well done, but almost confusing.

If you’re a discount shopper, the 2026 XM Label might be for you since the price dropped more than $25,000 from 2025. In fact, the name itself has also been discounted. It used to be the XM Label Red at the top of the line-up. Now the only model available is called the XM Label. If you’re looking for a lightweight, bargain-basement sport-ute, this is not your vehicle. But people are sleeping on this car. Yes, it might cost enough you’ll need to sleep in it, but if you’re in the target audience, this might hit the bullseye.