The BMW XM is not a normal looking car. It features strange proportions, unusual headlights, and a cabin whose rear seat is significantly different than its front. It also looks unlike any other BMW, as it wasn’t based on any pre-existing Bimmer. Instead, it was designed from the ground up to be an M car, so it’s the funkiest looking Bavarian product on sale. However, in Carbon Black, it actually looks like a pretty normal BMW SUV.
Dark colors work well on XM
Carbon Black is an interesting color because, despite its name, it actually looks quite blue in any sort of bright light. At night, it’s basically black, with only glimpse of blue sparkle under passing streetlights. It’s a great color for many BMWs, thanks to that duality, but it’s also quite a normal looking color. So using it on the BMW XM actually tones down its madness a bit.
Look at the BMW XM in any other color and it’s an all out visual assault on the eyes. Some love it, some hate it, but either way there’s no denying just how much design there is. It’s like the designers just couldn’t put their pen down, with lines and creases leading to nowhere. That excessiveness of design is exacerbated by brighter colors, which highlight every last detail. But not so in Carbon Black. It smooths some of those creases out, hides some of its lines, and makes it seem… like a normal BMW.
The front end was never the XM’s issue but it looks even better in Carbon Black. Its split headlights, new kidney grilles (though I’ll never get used to the horizontal grille slats), and its hood bulges all look great in the shadowy blue-ish black. As for the rest of the car, carbon black works with addition by subtraction. Removing much of its design excess adds to its sophistication. Same goes for the interior, as it’s a simple black cabin with simple patrons.
What’s interesting is that Carbon Black might be the XM’s best color but it’s a no-cost option. However, if you want to add some spice to the relatively unexciting XM, you can get the NightGold Metallic exterior trim kit, which comes with gold trim under the exterior window line and grilles, to name a few. Gold works well with both black and with blue, so this option works well on Carbon Black, regardless of how the paint looks in the light.
[Photos by instagram.com/krispycaptures / @HendrickBMW]
