Last week we reported on the potential of BMW phasing out the base XM. We’ve now received confirmation from an internal BMW source who spoke on the condition of anonymity that the 650-horsepower variant of the BMW XM will indeed be axed next summer. Instead, the brand will choose to focus on the XM Label for the US and plug-in XM 50e for Europe.
Amid styling criticism and a sky-high price tag that doesn’t quite align with the vehicle’s performance capabilities, a reconfiguration of the lineup isn’t terribly surprising. While global sales were up over the first half of 2024, only around 3,800 units actually moved into customer hands. That’s less even than the Z4 Roadster, BMW’s entry into one of the most stagnant market segments. The electrified SUV – chassis code G09 – is the most expensive car BMW currently offers. In the US – where BMW expected 26 percent of all XM production to go – the Label Red starts at $185,000, dwarfing the price tag of the luxury king ALPINA XB7 by over $30,000.
While the plug-in hybrid SUV is competent as a vehicle in its own right and is no doubt massively profitable for the Bavarian automaker, finding praise for the vehicle is difficult. BMW marketed it as the ultimate M product – the only standalone M vehicle since the M1. But most driving impressions of the standard XM concluded that what we got was a less visually appealing and slower version of the X6 M that’s also more expensive and less dynamic thanks to a sky-high curb weight. On the other hand, it’s less comfortable and usable than an X7 M60i while being marginally quicker and over 60 percent more expensive. 
We can’t say we’re sad to see the standard XM leave the lineup. The XM Label offers commensurately more power – 738 each of horsepower and torque – and a sprint from zero to 60 mph that’s half a second quicker than the base car. The standard XM simply never made much sense – and it looks like BMW might now agree with us. Now if they could lower the base price a bit more, the XM might have a shot.
