This is one of the most powerful SUVs on the road...and it wears a BMW M badge. Paul Maric reviews the 2024 BMW XM to see if the hype behind this mega SUV is worth it. He performance tests the car, brake tests the car and also drives with everything switched off for some fun.
Hardness tester, noise and lane keeping results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More BMW content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/bmw
More BMW XM content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/bmw/xm
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 01:12
Interior 04:13
Infotainment 05:47
Safety Tech 08:06
Practicality 09:04
Charging 13:52
On the Road 14:15
Driver aids 23:45
Performance 24:58
Drifting 28:17
Verdict 32:07
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
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#bmw #xm #review
Hardness tester, noise and lane keeping results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More BMW content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/bmw
More BMW XM content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/bmw/xm
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 01:12
Interior 04:13
Infotainment 05:47
Safety Tech 08:06
Practicality 09:04
Charging 13:52
On the Road 14:15
Driver aids 23:45
Performance 24:58
Drifting 28:17
Verdict 32:07
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#bmw #xm #review
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:00 G'day, I'm Paul. Whether you love or hate BMW's styling, you've got to take your hat off that they aren't just doing the same old boring thing constantly.
00:09 This is the latest and probably the most polarising car from BMW. It's called the BMW XM.
00:15 It's only the second car to just wear a sole M badge in BMW's history, so this is an M division vehicle only.
00:23 So, I'll be keen to see what it's like because M makes some pretty smile-inducing things.
00:29 What you probably won't be so smile-induced by is the price. This starts at just over $300,000.
00:36 It's designed to compete with things like the Range Rover Sport SV, the Bentley Bentayga, the Porsche Cayenne, Turbo GT, that kind of thing.
00:45 It's meant to be a luxury car but a performance car at the same time and it is a plug-in hybrid, so we'll see how that goes.
00:51 Now, today we're going to do a detailed review of this car, so if you do want to skip ahead to other parts of this review, you can use the time codes that are on the screen or if you are on YouTube, you can scroll down and use the chapters below.
01:02 And if you haven't done so already, subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon so you can find out every single time we do a polarising design review.
01:11 Now, let's talk about the external design. Well, firstly, I have to apologise for how dirty it is. I got here a little early this morning and it was wet and...
01:19 Anyway, one thing led to another. So, what do you reckon about the design? It is pretty full-on and I've got to say in person here, it has an incredible amount of presence.
01:28 These gold highlights on the front and on the sides just make this such a head-turning beast, like it is just unlike anything else on the road.
01:37 So, from a presence point of view, I think they've hit a success. Styling is subjective, so you might love it, you might hate it.
01:43 But you get these LED lights around the kidney grill. These look awesome at night time. BMW badge up the top there with the camera down the bottom here.
01:52 Now, down the bottom here as well, you've got some additional cooling. This is a plug-in hybrid with a twin turbo V8, so it is a pretty complex setup.
01:59 Full LED matrix headlights with an LED daytime running light up the top there. A little bit of aero on the side as well.
02:06 Go round to the side with me, I'll show you the wheels. Look at this! 23-inch alloy wheels.
02:12 The only reason I could get away with doing silly things this morning was because it was wet.
02:16 If it was dry and I destroyed these tyres, I can't even imagine how much that would cost to replace, but 23-inch.
02:23 Enormous brakes under there as well with six-piston caliper and then big BMW badge here on that rim.
02:30 This is a machined finish as well, it looks absolutely unreal. Piano black finish across those wheel arches.
02:36 XM badge just here. Piano black on the wing mirror there with a camera built into the side.
02:41 This is that gold trim that I mentioned, goes all the way around to the back and then up to the top there and then down here as well.
02:48 So it finishes that whole side of the car in a stripe of gold.
02:52 You've got M mirrors, which I love. Bit of aerodynamic fastness in there.
02:57 No glass roof. Now, it's interesting when you get inside the cabin, you will be blown away by what it looks like inside the cabin.
03:03 You look up and you're like, "Oh, a glass roof." And then you're like, "No, that's actually not a glass roof."
03:06 And you can't get a glass roof, which I'm a little bit disappointed by, but I'll show you what it's like a little later when we jump inside.
03:13 Privacy glass over here. Have a look at these haunches on the side.
03:16 Even just the bottom section there, how it's so chiseled is crazy.
03:21 Absolutely unreal. Okay, come around to the back with me.
03:24 Around the back here, you've got BMW etched into the glass on both sides there.
03:28 You have a shark fin aerial or like a flat shark fin aerial up the top there.
03:33 Brake light built into there. Full LED taillights that wrap around like that.
03:38 Quad exhaust pipes that are double stacked, kind of like the Lexus IS-F.
03:43 I wonder how that's going to work in terms of rain.
03:46 It's like literally like a little funnel for rain.
03:50 So yeah, I'm sure they would have tested that out. It'll be interesting to see.
03:54 Bit of gold down the bottom here as well.
03:56 You've got an LED light down the bottom here for your rear fog light and an XM badge just there.
04:01 So let me know what you think about the design. I know design is subjective.
04:05 I am keen to see what you think. I think it has an incredible amount of presence here in person.
04:10 So let me know what you reckon in the comment section below.
04:12 So we're inside the XM. Let's start off with the key.
04:17 This is what it looks like. So you've got the lock button, a little bit of image over there.
04:21 You've got unlock, boot and then the diamond and then piano black on the back there.
04:27 It's a proximity sensing key so you can leave that in your pocket.
04:30 Once you're inside, you have a push button start just here.
04:33 This is nice. This looks so, so nice.
04:39 Yeah, because look, ultimately, $300,000 plus on roads is a lot of money.
04:44 But to me, when I'm sitting in here, it actually feels like they've spent a lot of time focusing on the way this looks inside.
04:50 And hopefully that translates to the way that it drives.
04:52 But you have this suede like headliner in brown.
04:57 You've got this vintage leather along the door seals and along the dashboard as well.
05:02 Merino leather on the seats. They're like giant armchairs that hug you in.
05:06 You've got carbon fiber here on the steering wheel, that carbon fiber material throughout the rest of the cabin.
05:11 This looks absolutely beautiful. So a big tick on styling and design.
05:16 What about your touch points though? So all of this stuff is quite nice.
05:20 But $300,000, does that get you soft touch surfaces?
05:24 Well, we've got our durometer. I've tested the main surfaces in this cabin.
05:27 If you want to see how this car compares to others that we've tested before, have a look at the link in the description below.
05:32 Now, build quality.
05:37 Feels pretty good. This is what the door sounds like.
05:41 They're soft close doors as well, so they suck in nicely.
05:45 Look at that. Very nice.
05:47 Let's chat infotainment. So obviously, you're spending a bucket load of cash, you want it to be the best.
05:51 This is the latest and greatest, well almost, I'll explain why in just a second, the BMW offers.
05:57 So you have almost a 15 inch display here for the infotainment system and then a smaller 12.3 inch display ahead of the driver.
06:05 So this is a touchscreen and you can configure everything that appears here.
06:09 So if you want to move some of these around, you just push and hold and then you can shift those around and that'll lock those into position.
06:15 But yeah, very schmick system. Really like the way that it works.
06:19 Then it has a voice assistant as well, so you can ask it things and it'll sort out your life for you.
06:24 In addition to that, you can load additional apps into here.
06:27 So this has been added with things like the digital key, the drive recorder.
06:31 So you can purchase certain things from the App Store to plug into here.
06:35 Then when you have your phone connected with CarPlay, it also loads all of those features into here as well.
06:40 So really nice setup there.
06:41 Now, sound system. AM/FM/DAB digital radio, but the thing that blows me away about this thing is the amount of speakers and the power those speakers have.
06:53 And that is the 20 speaker Bowers & Wilkins sound system, 1500 watts.
06:59 It is unbelievably good.
07:01 And yeah, up until recently, I thought Tesla had the best sound systems.
07:05 I think this may have surpassed that.
07:07 I'd really like to do a sound system comparison of some sort, because I think that'd be fun.
07:11 But yeah, an Unreal sound system.
07:13 In addition to that, you also have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
07:17 Both of those are wireless.
07:18 I'll show you what Apple CarPlay looks like.
07:21 There it is there.
07:23 Very nice looking display.
07:25 Nice and sharp.
07:26 Very quick as well.
07:27 So quite an impressive setup.
07:29 This is what Android Auto looks like.
07:31 This is what it looks like in the previous BMW that we tested.
07:33 Our phone is playing up here at the moment.
07:36 Now, in addition to all of that, you have the screen ahead of the driver, and this offers some layer of customizability, but it is a pretty straightforward setup with a head-up display as well.
07:45 Now, I mentioned as well, is this the latest version of this infotainment system?
07:49 Well, the new 5 Series has just been launched.
07:51 It tweaks it ever so slightly, so it adds a couple of extra shortcut functions down the bottom here.
07:56 That's probably the most frustrating thing for me, having to dive through climate menus to access basic functions because they've removed hard buttons.
08:04 It's the only sort of gripe I have with it.
08:06 As you'd expect, loads of safety tech.
08:09 So you have autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection.
08:13 You've got an auto-dimming rear vision mirror.
08:15 Blind spot monitors are built into the wing mirror.
08:17 You have radar cruise control with a lane-keeping assistant.
08:21 Front cross-traffic alert, rear cross-traffic alert, and then front and rear parking sensors with a 360 camera.
08:27 I'll show you what that looks like.
08:28 So, quality is fantastic on that.
08:31 So we can change the angle there if we want to.
08:33 You can see that's looking down the side, and that's out the front.
08:39 I think it is a very impressive setup.
08:41 There is also a function here as well where you can actually put it into, yeah, here it is, car wash view.
08:48 So if you are lining up for a car wash, you can just get your wheels all sort of straight and have all that sort of setup.
08:54 And I'll pop it into reverse so you can see what it looks like out the back there towards our suitcase.
08:58 Look at that, crystal clear, very impressive.
09:00 And this is what the horn sounds like.
09:02 [HORN]
09:04 Now let's chat practicality, and we'll start off with your connectivity.
09:07 So we'll get rid of this little cubby hole thing there.
09:10 You can put your phone on the wireless phone charger or kind of store it anywhere, really.
09:15 It sort of fits wherever you want to go.
09:17 After charging it, you've got your wireless phone charger, USB-A port in here.
09:21 You have a USB-C port.
09:23 You also have a 12-volt outlet.
09:25 Now, how cool is this?
09:26 So, coffee cup.
09:28 You've got my trendy coffee cup.
09:30 Fits into here fine, which is great, but you can also heat and cool the coffee cup holder.
09:37 Just crazy stuff, which is great.
09:39 In terms of storing your normal bottle, we've got enough room down here with teeth in there as well.
09:45 By the way, this is our new branded bottle.
09:47 How good does that look?
09:48 So, roughly the same size as this, or thereabouts.
09:51 So, that fits in there as well.
09:53 That fits inside the door too without any problems.
09:57 Try to fit our big bottle inside the door.
09:59 We'll see how that works.
10:01 Boom.
10:02 They've built this thing for people that love a drink.
10:05 What about your additional storage?
10:07 Just here next to the driver's knee, you've got another storage hole there as well.
10:10 You've got a center console here that's okay in terms of size, and a glove box down the bottom.
10:17 Now, moving on to comfort.
10:19 What is it all about?
10:20 So, these seats are fantastic.
10:22 I've spent a lot of time driving this car, and yeah, they hug you in beautifully.
10:25 You've got a massage function just to make sure everything is in order.
10:30 I can move the passenger seat from here.
10:33 Don't know why, but just 'cause.
10:35 I've got memory functions as well for the driver's seat.
10:38 I can go forwards.
10:39 Whoops, that's the passenger seat.
10:41 I can go forwards, backwards.
10:43 The backrest can go forwards, backwards.
10:45 I can lift the front of the seat, the back of the seat.
10:48 I can move the front part of the seat.
10:50 I can move even this thing.
10:52 Look at that.
10:53 And then I can also lift the headrest as well, so it kind of does everything there.
10:56 Your climate controls.
10:58 You've got dual-zone automatic climate control with heated and cooled seats up the front here.
11:03 Steering is tilt and reach adjustable, all electric.
11:08 And then on our reach test, this is easy to reach, but you do have to lean in a bit to get to that edge of the screen.
11:12 But you can drive it here with the iDrive stuff.
11:15 Have a look at this.
11:17 This is absolutely unreal.
11:18 All right, let's start off with room.
11:20 So, knee room, fantastic.
11:23 Toe room, excellent.
11:25 Headroom, great as well.
11:27 This is the most beautiful second row I think I've ever seen.
11:31 It is so nice, and it is so relaxing.
11:34 It is ridiculous.
11:35 I've actually got this padded section on the side that I can sort of rest up on.
11:39 It even comes with pillows with XM branding on there, so you can whack those in the corner and just have a kip.
11:46 So, yeah, this is really cool.
11:48 Even the doors, the bins are enormous, so you can fit a bottle in there.
11:52 Look at that.
11:53 That just sort of disappears in there.
11:54 You've got two holes for that.
11:56 You can just store odds and ends in there.
11:58 You've got that vintage leather across the top there.
12:00 Now, this is what I was talking about earlier.
12:02 This doesn't have a glass roof, but it's got this.
12:05 It kind of looks like a glass roof, but it's this 3D finish.
12:09 You can just run your fingers across that, and then it's LED illuminated around the sides there.
12:13 So, it kind of lightens up the cabin, but it's not a glass roof, which would have been nice, but, you know, it's here anyway.
12:19 It's a bit of a design statement.
12:21 You've got matte pockets.
12:22 You've got USB ports up here to plug into.
12:25 Another two USB-C ports down the bottom, a 12-volt outlet, little storage nook there.
12:29 Another two climate control zones, and then heated seats for the outboard seats.
12:34 You have a center armrest here with two cup holders.
12:38 ISOFIX points for your outboard seats, and top tether points as well.
12:42 Now, the window doesn't go down all the way on a $300,000 car, so it's auto up and down.
12:48 Aha, boom.
12:51 Very nicely done, BMW.
12:53 Ah, this is nice.
12:55 Shaun, you can go finish the rest of the video.
12:57 I'm just going to sleep.
12:59 It's been a long week.
13:00 Now, let's talk cargo capacity.
13:02 You've got a powered tailgate.
13:05 Pop that up.
13:07 This is exactly the most cavernous boot in the world.
13:09 So, super high floor because of your hybrid drivetrain.
13:13 You have just over 500 litres of capacity in the back here.
13:18 Fuse box over here, and then a little hole over there.
13:21 12-volt outlet off to the side, plus some hooks as well.
13:25 This is where you tie the bag onto that it comes with.
13:28 The bag is enormous, and it has the charger in it.
13:30 I'll show you what it looks like with our bags in there.
13:32 So, there's laptop bag.
13:36 There's the suitcase.
13:37 So, you know, okay in terms of space, but not amazing.
13:40 You can drop the second row, and that expands your space a little bit.
13:46 So, put that down.
13:48 That expands your space to a little under 2,000 litres.
13:52 Now, before we go for a spin, let me run you through the plug-in hybrid component here.
13:56 So, you have a battery that's around 25 kilowatt hours in usable size.
14:01 You have a driving range of around 88 kilometres on the WLTP cycle.
14:06 You only have AC charging available, and it'll charge at up to 7.4 kilowatts.
14:16 Okay, so we've just hit the road in the XM.
14:19 Now, this is a bit of a complex beast, so I'm going to try and explain it as well as I can.
14:24 This is a plug-in hybrid, which means it has an internal combustion engine,
14:28 which in this case is a mighty big twin-turbo V8,
14:31 and then it also has an electric motor that is in line with the transmission,
14:35 and the transmission is an eight-speed automatic transmission.
14:39 Currently, the car only has a little bit of charge left.
14:42 It's like five kilometres of charge, so I thought we'd drive it on electric just for a bit
14:46 so you can get a bit of a vibe for it, and then I'll sort of run you through the rest of the settings that it has.
14:50 So, in electric mode, I've been driving this around for the week,
14:53 you can actually literally drive from wherever you are to the office or home or whatever,
14:59 as long as it's under sort of around that 80 kilometre mark on electric only.
15:02 It doesn't actually fire the internal combustion engine at all
15:05 unless you need full throttle or you manually go and change some settings here.
15:10 So, from that point of view, it's great.
15:12 It means that if you do only have short commutes, this will serve the purpose of being, you know,
15:16 an electric vehicle that still has the punch of a much faster vehicle when you need it.
15:20 So, great on that front.
15:21 Now, in terms of the numbers, this engine, the twin-turbo V8,
15:26 360 kilowatts of power and a little under 700 newton metres of torque,
15:32 it is a monster of a thing.
15:34 It is then mated to an electric motor that produces 145 kilowatts of power
15:38 and just under 300 newton metres of torque,
15:41 and it all combines to give you a combined output of 480 kilowatts of power and 800 newton metres of torque.
15:48 It is just an incredible set of numbers, and it actually needs to be pretty big
15:52 because the battery is heavy, and as a result of that,
15:55 you are pushing just over 2,700 kilos in terms of kerb weight, which is a big old heft.
16:01 So, I'll be interested to see how it actually handles and performs.
16:04 So, behind the wheel here in electric mode, I'm going to go full throttle without the kickdown.
16:09 It's actually not too bad.
16:11 Like, it gives you enough of a punch there without being outrageous.
16:14 It's not like a full electric car where you can nail the throttle, it pins you back in the seat.
16:19 This kind of takes it back one notch there, but still gives you enough acceleration
16:24 to keep up with traffic and dart in and out if you need to
16:26 without having to switch on the internal combustion engine.
16:28 But, one thing that I'm not loving is the ride.
16:34 It is very not good, especially here on the 23-inch alloy wheels.
16:40 This has adaptive damping, but it is still so firm to the point where it's just really not comfortable.
16:46 And they want to compete with things like a Bentayga and a Cayenne Turbo GT.
16:53 They are all very comfortable cars in comfort mode.
16:55 Like, you wouldn't even know that you're driving a fast car.
16:57 This, on the other hand, just feels really rough all of the time,
17:01 and I haven't driven one of these without the optional 23-inch alloy wheels,
17:05 and I'm hoping it is significantly better.
17:07 But, if you do value your ride, I wouldn't be going down the path of optioning these 23s.
17:11 Now, let's do our sine waves.
17:15 So, I'm going to crank the speed up to 130 k's an hour.
17:20 Let's see what it feels like. We're still in electric mode.
17:24 Okay, here we go.
17:27 So, I've left all the suspension settings in comfort here, so we can see what that feels like.
17:32 Yeah, no dramas at all, that is.
17:38 Piece of cake, which is good news.
17:40 Just on the regen front as well, when this is driving along,
17:44 you can actually change the level of regen in the maximum regen setting.
17:48 It actually is quite aggressive in terms of the way it goes through that regen band.
17:52 There is no single pedal driving mode, but it does give you enough regen
17:56 there to keep you happy.
17:58 Okay, bumpy road time. Let's see what this is like.
18:04 So, we do this at 90 k's an hour.
18:07 It shakes the living daylights out of the car,
18:10 but it gives us a good gauge of what this is like if you find yourself on a corrugated road.
18:14 Yeah, look, I'm not going to lie, it's pretty bumpy.
18:18 Here's our condensed sine wave.
18:20 Really gives that suspension a workout.
18:25 Yeah, it is super bumpy and unfortunately that is one of the compromises you're going to need to make
18:30 if you want the style of a 23-inch alloy wheel and all the stuff that comes with it.
18:35 Now, let's talk about drive modes.
18:39 So, being an M car, you've got a stack of different modes here.
18:41 We're going to test some of these with stability control off a little bit later,
18:44 but you go into your M mode screen, you have road and sport.
18:49 It adjusts the displays there, depending on which one of those you pick,
18:52 but independent of that, if you go into your setup menu, you can change everything here
18:56 from drivetrain to energy recovery to the chassis firmness, steering, brake pedal feel,
19:01 the M drive mode for the X drive.
19:04 There is a lot there.
19:05 So, I've set up M1 using these toggles here on the steering wheel to be aggressive for engine
19:10 and stability control in MDM mode, but soft in terms of ride.
19:15 So, let's go around the track and see what this feels like.
19:19 Oh, yes! Wow!
19:22 That is insane.
19:30 All right, let's tip this into here.
19:32 Oh, this has so much grip.
19:35 It is ridiculous.
19:36 You really have to push hard on the throttle there to get this thing to step out.
19:40 Wow!
19:46 This is actually ridiculous.
19:49 The brakes are insane as well.
19:51 This weighs 2,700 kilos.
19:54 Oh, just...
19:58 I'm actually lost for words.
20:02 It is...
20:03 ...hauling, absolutely hauling.
20:10 Far out.
20:12 Um, yeah.
20:15 This is the thing.
20:16 I knew the M division wouldn't put their badge on a car unless they were certain that...
20:21 ...it was unreal and...
20:25 That is ridiculous.
20:29 Far out.
20:31 Lost for words.
20:36 That is insane.
20:37 The way this goes through corners is ridiculous.
20:40 It is a 2,700 kilo car.
20:43 I cannot emphasize enough how hard it is to make a car that big go around corners like this does.
20:50 It is just ridiculous.
20:52 Yeah, I'm truly astonished at how quick that is.
20:56 So you might actually be wondering what happens when you do run the battery low,
21:00 because obviously you have electric assistance for a lot of the faster driving,
21:04 but the way the plug-in hybrids work, they're always retaining around 20% of battery capacity,
21:09 regardless of what the readout is on the display there.
21:12 And the reason for that is so that they have the ability to give you that electric boost when you need it.
21:17 If it did run all the way to empty, you'd be relying on just the twin-turbo,
21:20 and I say just the twin-turbo V8,
21:22 but you can imagine in more compact cars where you can't really get away with relying on just the internal combustion engine,
21:29 that's where you get your extra sort of longevity.
21:31 So even though it says we're empty now, it still has plenty of punch for us when we get on the throttle.
21:36 Just speaking of that, like in-gear acceleration here when you do sort of just get on it is just out of this world.
21:44 So I'm going to come around that corner here again.
21:47 Put that in third, and then second.
21:51 The time marks we've just left on the road there.
21:54 Just going to punch this.
21:55 Like it really just goes, and they're about to release a version of this called the Label Red,
22:02 which is 1,000 newton-metres of torque.
22:04 (ENGINE REVVING)
22:07 Just in case you need it anymore, I mean, it is just ballistic, absolutely ballistic,
22:12 and the noise is just so good.
22:15 Like inside the cabin here, I can't really hear a great deal, but...
22:18 (ENGINE REVVING)
22:19 You can hear the exhaust barking on the outside, and I went through a tunnel the other night,
22:23 and it just sounds bloody stupid.
22:25 (ENGINE REVVING)
22:28 Yeah, look, while this isn't an amazing city car, it is an amazing performance SUV,
22:35 to the point where, I mean, this definitely outperforms something like a Bentayga.
22:40 I want to test this up against something like a Cayenne Turbo GT,
22:44 because when we had that, the previous gen of that car here,
22:48 I was just blown away with how quick that was.
22:51 But this feels like it's on another level entirely,
22:54 and I just don't know how they've been able to achieve it with this level of curb mass.
22:58 (ENGINE REVVING)
22:59 So let's talk about visibility.
23:00 This is a big SUV, but visibility isn't too bad.
23:03 So down the front, it's fine.
23:05 The wing mirrors are on the smaller side, but you can clearly see down the side of the vehicle
23:08 with blind spot monitors built into there.
23:10 Visibility out the back is not too bad as well, despite it having a fairly narrow envelope.
23:16 Just on the road noise front, there is a fair bit of road noise that comes into the cabin.
23:20 Not really that sort of luxury vibe with that amount of road noise.
23:24 And I think it's just coming in through those tyres.
23:26 They're very sporty 23-inch wheels, kind of all lends to that.
23:29 If you did decide to do some towing as well, you've got a 2.7-tonne brake towing capacity
23:36 and a pretty reasonable turning circle of around 12 metres,
23:41 in addition to four-axis steering.
23:45 Now, let's test the autonomous systems here, or the semi-autonomous systems.
23:50 We get this up to 70 k's an hour, and then I'm going to switch cruise control on.
23:56 So there it is, just there.
23:59 So that is now running.
24:01 What we're going to do is test in the three outer lanes to see how much torque it's willing to apply
24:06 to the steering wheel to keep it within its lane.
24:08 Typically, it's a good representation of what it's like out on a normal road.
24:12 So this first lane here is great, no dramas.
24:15 Jump over to the next one, see what it's like here.
24:20 That's locked in.
24:22 Nice, that is holding us basically dead centre there without any problems.
24:26 Awesome.
24:27 Jump over to the next lane, see what it's like up here.
24:32 Wait for that to go green.
24:37 Still waiting.
24:40 Still waiting.
24:44 There we go, it's gone green.
24:47 Nice, that's holding that lane as well without any problems.
24:51 Very nice.
24:53 That's really good, very, very impressed with that.
24:55 So pass in all three lanes there.
24:58 Okay, time to do some performance testing.
25:00 I'm very much looking forward to giving this a crack.
25:03 And then after this, we're going to switch everything off just for a bit more fun.
25:06 Before we do this, I just wanted to tell you about Help Me Car Expert.
25:09 If you are in the market for a new car, we have a stack of new car dealers that we vet
25:12 and put on our platform to make sure that you're going to get the best experience buying a new car,
25:16 because I know it can be pretty daunting.
25:18 So just go to Google, type in Help Me Car Expert,
25:20 and that page will explain exactly how everything works, free of charge to you, of course.
25:26 Okay, so this has an official 0 to 100 time of just over four seconds.
25:31 So I'm going to put this back into the M mode.
25:34 So I've basically said that as long as it's in Sport or Sport Plus, you can engage Launch Control.
25:39 What it'll do, it'll show up with a little flag down there to say Launch Control's ready.
25:44 It's going to give us a bit of spoolage, and then it's going to take off.
25:48 So here we go. We're going to go all the way through to 120.
25:52 So do this.
25:54 Do this.
25:56 Go.
25:58 [Engine revving]
26:05 Oh, that is so cool.
26:08 That noise is unreal.
26:13 Oh, it's racing. That is so cool.
26:16 All right, turn those hazard lights off.
26:19 So 0 to 100, where are we?
26:21 4.6 seconds, so a little off that claim.
26:25 And then 80 to 120 in 2.53 seconds, which is clinically insane.
26:29 2.53 seconds is ridiculous.
26:32 So we're going to give that one more shot. I'll just see if I can get better that time.
26:36 Okay, so take two. Let's just see what it's like.
26:40 If I just have a little look here, I'll just see if it tells me anything interesting, but we'll give it one more shot.
26:46 Okay, so Launch Control active. It's spooled. Here we go.
26:50 [Engine revving]
26:52 Oh, so quick. It is ridiculous.
26:56 All right, there's 120.
26:59 Oh, man.
27:01 It is just crazy how quickly that accelerates.
27:04 It is for a 2.7 ton car.
27:06 I mean, okay, so 0 to 100, 4.19 seconds that time around.
27:11 So, yeah, much quicker there if you just hold it a little bit longer.
27:15 80 to 120, 2.44 seconds, which is slightly quicker as well.
27:19 So, just mental, mental pace, mental pace.
27:24 Okie dokie, time to stop from 100.
27:27 Got a big old set of brakes, so let's see how it pulls up.
27:32 Okay.
27:36 Oh, that seatbelt.
27:38 So it yanks the seatbelt in just because it thinks you're going to go through the windscreen.
27:46 Okay, so our 100 to 0 time, how did that go?
27:50 3.47 seconds, 38.02 metres.
27:54 So, not a bad time. I'm actually curious to know how that compares to the Cayenne Turbo GT.
28:00 So we'll overlay those results on the screen as well.
28:02 Very nice.
28:04 Now, how quickly does it go in reverse?
28:06 Let us find out. Here we go.
28:09 [Engine revving]
28:14 34 kilometres an hour.
28:16 Okay, so, as seems to be tradition whenever we get M cars, it is raining in the morning.
28:22 So, that to me is a signal that it's okay to be stupid without destroying tyres,
28:26 which ultimately gets me into trouble.
28:28 So, I thought we'd just have a look at what this is like on the skid pan,
28:31 and also what it's like around our infamous cone down there.
28:34 So, this is a little bit interesting.
28:36 So, you don't really have the ability to send this into like a rear-wheel drive mode
28:41 like you do with most other sort of bona fide BMW M products, even the all-wheel drive ones.
28:47 So, I'm going to set up M1 here to be Sport Plus for drivetrain,
28:52 Hybrid for M Hybrid, that's the least electrified setting I can find.
28:57 I'm going to put the transmission into S2, energy recovery to max,
29:01 everything else in Comforts outside of the brake, and then stability control switched off.
29:05 With the X-Drive, you have four-wheel drive normal, four-wheel drive sport, and four-wheel drive sand.
29:11 So, I assume four-wheel drive sport is the least, you know, annoying setting.
29:16 So, hit M1, M1 again, and I'll just come into our cone here.
29:22 And, we'll do second gear, we'll see what this is like.
29:27 So, let's hit M.
29:29 (engine revving)
29:31 Love that.
29:36 It's sort of, it does exactly what the M340 did, which is gives you a bit of torque to the rear,
29:44 and then kind of stops your fun abruptly.
29:48 So, I'll try third gear to see if that makes any difference here in terms of how this feels.
29:54 (engine revving)
29:57 Oh, that's... (laughs)
30:00 That's better, but it did switch down to second there on its own, it didn't hold third.
30:05 (engine revving)
30:07 It's a little bit annoying, I'll try that one more time.
30:12 Alright, here we go.
30:19 I'll go a bit quicker, see if it'll hold third.
30:22 (engine revving)
30:26 (laughs)
30:27 Yeah, look, it's fine.
30:29 It's just sort of not as entertaining as, you know, proper BMW M stuff that lets you go into rear-wheel drive.
30:40 I'll try donut, see what that feels like.
30:45 Try second gear for that, see how that works.
30:48 (engine revving)
30:51 (tires screeching)
30:53 It's not bad, but it's... yeah, it's now just killed everything for me, so...
31:03 Yeah, I like but don't love how all that feels.
31:08 Let's head to the skid pan, and we'll try and do a couple of wider donuts and see how that goes.
31:13 Okay, so, skid pan time.
31:15 So there is no drift analyzer, we've had a lot of fun here with drift analyzer,
31:20 so we'll see how this goes just in four-wheel drive sport.
31:23 I guess I'll try third gear, see how that goes.
31:29 (engine revving)
31:31 It's just a bit...
31:36 There we go.
31:39 As it settles in, it's okay, but I can constantly feel it trying to kill my flow here.
31:46 That's alright.
31:48 Yeah, alright.
31:49 I don't know, it feels a bit more like a, I guess a Mercedes-Benz in the sense where it's a bit safe when all of this stuff is switched off.
32:00 (engine revving)
32:08 So, the BMW XM.
32:10 What do we think?
32:12 It's actually interesting. I think this car is very misunderstood.
32:16 I think a lot of people have driven this and gone, "Oh my God, it's not luxury," and all that sort of stuff,
32:21 but it actually, it's just the ride that isn't luxury.
32:24 The ride is just overly firm, and I think that is due to those 23-inch alloy wheels.
32:29 I'm not a huge fan of the plug-in hybrid system either.
32:32 It works, but it's just a little bit fussy at times.
32:35 But, when you open the taps up on this thing, or just when you sit inside it and just absorb the luxuriousness of it,
32:42 especially in that second row, it is in a class of its own.
32:45 And, I don't know, it is just a very special vehicle, and especially here where you get to really get stuck into it and have a proper drive,
32:52 it is remarkable what they've been able to do with a vehicle that weighs 2.7 tonnes.
32:56 So, it feels like a BMW M vehicle through and through.
32:59 It is just let down by that ride and just a few other sort of little quirks like that.
33:03 So, let me know what you reckon in the comments section below.
33:06 What do you think about this? If you put the looks to one side, do you think the package actually makes sense?
33:10 I'm keen for your feedback. Let me know what you think in the comments section below.
33:15 If you did enjoy this video, please make sure you like it and you share it with your mates.
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33:22 But, until next time, take it easy.