BMW Concept XM lights up giant new kidney grille for an M SUV

It’s not tied to the Los Angeles Auto Show in any way, but BMW is still trying to make a splash in the big pool of news coming in today. This rather revealing teaser of what BMW is calling the Concept XM just dropped, and it may be the cause of more than a few jaw drops, too.

If you were expecting the big kidney grille trend to stop, don’t hold your breath, because BMW is just getting started. And not only does this car have a pair of giant kidneys, but the kidney grille itself is lit up to highlight their size and shape even further. Before we get too lost in the bombastic design, though, BMW was kind enough to provide a few details about what exactly it is we’re looking at.

First off, we’re dealing with an M car here, not an M Sport model. BMW also says this “high performance” model is “electrified.” To what extent, BMW does not detail. If the rumors about an XM production model are true, though, it’ll very likely be a hybridized version of the 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 seen in many other BMW M models. Rumors pegged it to be around 700 horsepower for total system output in a car that is near-X7 size with a more swept-back aggressive shape.

BMW also says in its teaser that this model will be “a unique X for the M brand, displaying the new front-end design of the BMW luxury class.” That suggests it’ll be M-only, so don’t expect a regular 40i or lesser versions of this SUV. BMW is remaining committed to the front-end bit here, too, since it’s suggesting that what we’re looking at is what we should expect from the new “BMW luxury class.”

The full BMW XM Concept is going to be revealed at Art Basel in Miami Beach at the start of December, so we’ll be able to see the full design there. It’s looking very pointy from this initial teaser photo, as the hood has dramatic sculpting with a large indented area for the BMW roundel. The lower front bumper has some brutal angles protruding every which way, and the triangle-shaped daytime running lights are new, too. Lastly, we’ll point out that this XM Concept is wearing BMW’s winged side mirrors and has horizontal slats through its kidney grille, not vertical. 

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