Cars always look better in official styling graphics, and the 2024 X5 M and 2024 X6 M are certainly no exception. BMW Design Head Domagoj Dukec took it into his own right Instagram An account to share some of his work and give some insight into how a pair of high-performance SUVs came to be:
“X5 at its most extreme, X6 at its most expressive: For the first time, we have designed the new BMW X5 M Competition with a bold, extroverted front end for the new BMW X6 M Competition, following the same approach as the BMW M3 and BMW M4.”
With or without Life Cycle Impulse applied, the dynamic duo doesn’t look quite as striking as the model that kept them off the top of the X ratings. We’re talking about the new XM, a funky-designed hybrid SUV that splits the headlights and wears a larger grille. The X5 M and X6 M, now sold exclusively as competition models, look tame by comparison. One might argue that the all-electric iX and facelifted X7 are more polarizing than these two.
Although BMW has not radically changed the exterior of the two powerful SUVs, the horizontal slats of the kidney grille give them a new identity. Matrix LED headlights are now visibly slimmer than before while the model badge on the grille is larger. The updated front end design gives an “X” shape where the grille meets the central lower air intake. It’s a repeat look since the updated taillights have “X” graphics.
While the XM is the first ever BMW M model to feature a plug-in hybrid setup, the X5 M and X6 M will go down in history as the first two of the “world’s most powerful craft” models to feature a 48-volt mild hybrid setup. There’s more electrification to come as every full-fat M car in the future will have a hybrid setup, with an EV to follow later this decade.
source: Domagoj Ducek / Instagram
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