The ninth edition of the Salon Exceptional Watches (SEW) watch fair took place last weekend in the Czech Republic at the Žofín Palace located in Prague. For the first time, CarTec Group – an authorized BMW dealer – served as the partner and decided to bring the i5, X5, and XM along with a Rolls-Royce Cullinan. The latter served as the local debut of the limited-run Inspired by Fashion version in Forge Yellow.
It’s a rare opportunity to see the XM and Cullinan side by side, showing two large SUVs that cater to significantly different customers. The plug-in hybrid SUV portraying BMW’s first dedicated M model since the M1 is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination since it starts at $159,000 in the United States. However, it suddenly doesn’t seem all that expensive when you consider a Cullinan costs more than double. Even the $185,000 XM Label Red – BMW’s most powerful production vehicle ever – doesn’t get anywhere close to the eye-watering price tag of RR’s first SUV.
A while back, we maxed out the XM Label Red configuration in the United States but we “only” got up to $191,895. Lest we forget BMW has another larger SUV with a steep asking price available, namely the ALPINA XB7 that kicks off at just under $150,000. The high-end SUV lineup has never been this diverse, especially since it also includes the purely electric iX M60 available from $111,500.
It is worth noting that BMW has made the XM a bit more attainable in certain markets by introducing an entry-level 50e version with an inline-six engine instead of the big V8. However, it’s not offered in the US while the Czech Republic doesn’t get it either.
The Cullinan’s lineup is far simpler since both the standard and the Black Badge versions rock a mighty V12 6.75-liter, twin-turbo engine, with a bit more power in the case of the latter variant, at 591 hp and 664 lb-ft (900 Nm).
Source: BMW