SPY PICS: BMW testing new X6

SUVs – sorry, SAVs (Sports Activity Vehicles) or even SACs (Sports Activity Coupes) – come in all shapes and sizes and BMW is in the thick of it with its slope-roofed “coupe” version of the X5, the X6.

With the arrival of the latest, third-generation X5, the Bavarian company is now well into development of the next X6. It looks set to follow exactly the same themes as the current model: Very X5 from the lower window line down, but with a tapering roofline above that is intended to give it a more Autobahn look.

We showed you pictures of the base next-generation X6 in October last year and now the snappers at Automedia have captured this disguised M version on test – in company with an also M-spec X5 – winter testing somewhere in snow-clad Germany.

The photographer managed to get close enough to grab a shot of the interior that shows lovely, deeply-sculpted leather seats, while also snapping close-ups of the 10-spoke 20-inch alloy wheels wearing 285/40R20 tyres, the subtle lip spoiler on the tailgate, the more complex grille bars and the air-gulping outboard intakes in the front bumper.

Both the X6 and X5 M, which will again be built at BMW’s Spartanburg factory in South Carolina, are expected to utilise the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 as a carry-over, squeezing out a bit more power than the previous engine’s 408kW/680Nm.

While the new X6 itself will be first seen at the Moscow motor show in August, it is not expected to make its European debut, alongside the M version and the new X5 M, until the end of this year.  

The X5 M should reach Australia towards the end of this year, or maybe early in 2015. Australian launch dates for the X6, or the X6 M, are not yet known.

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