A trademark filed by BMW in October 2020 with the US patent office has been submitted to the UK office on April 5, 2021. It’s called “XM” and Carbuzz thinks “it sounds like it could be a bespoke, M-branded SUV.”

We’re usually advising the proverbial pinch of salt whenever trademarks come to our attention. Most often than not, these things get a lot of attention but ultimately, they don’t see materialization. At the same time, we won’t deny that a new model called BMW XM is something that will always pique our interest.

There are a few aspects at play here. One of them relates to a statement belonging to M CEO Markus Flasch, who previously hinted that BMW is looking to find a niche where a standalone M car would slot in.

Back then, people talked about a wannabe “Porsche Turbo killer”, which implies a sports car/supercar model. The appearance of the X in the trademark filing kind of switches things up, since it suggests we might be instead dealing with an SUV.

So far, test mules caught in the wild were attributed to an upcoming BMW X8 M, but it could very well be this mysterious XM model. BMW Blog reported back in 2019 that this is internally known as Project Rockstar and will ultimately materialize as a hybrid performance SUV developed entirely by BMW M.

Power should come from a 4.4-liter, twin-turbo V-8 good for 600 horsepower, but with the aid of an electric motor and a battery pack, the maximum output might touch on 750 horsepower. In turn, this level of grunt would make it the most powerful BMW ever produced.

Wild rumors also suggested that the XM – if they call it that – will be rear-wheel-driven, which for a 4,600-pound SUV sounds kind of crazy. No, make that terrifying.

That said, it’s best not to get too excited for now. After all, not all trademarks are created equal. While the thought of having an all-M car that doesn’t build on an existing BMW platform and uses unique underpinnings – something that hasn’t happened since the BMW M1 came out – is exciting, there’s a chance it might come to nothing.