http://www.worldcarfans.com/9071018.007/i-spy-a-bmw-x5-m
Spotted on the streets of Munich earlier today, the BMW X5 M is edging even closer to reality. The M-badged Sport Activity Vehicle is expected to get the 438 horsepower 6.0 litre V12 engine currently found on the 7-series sedan.
If this huge engine sounds a little absurd, you would be surprised to find out it is not unheard of. The 2000 BMW X5 Le Mans, an experimental vehicle, got 750 bhp from the same 6.0 litre V12 found on BMW's 1999 Le Mans winner. German race car driver Hans Stuck took this behemoth around the Nurburgring in 7 minutes, 49.92 seconds.
Unfortunately, with the X5's current weight at just under 5,000 lbs., the .088 power-to-weight ratio with this massive engine would still be less than that of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo (.096). To match that, the X5 M would have to shed over 400 lbs.
Still, for SAVs, the X5 M is pretty interesting, with larger air intakes, bigger bumpers, quad-exhaust, and new alloy wheels. Expect the interior of this car to get similar refinements as other M-badged BMWs. First seen as a prototype touring Death Valley this past July, expect the BMW X5 M to hit dealerships in 2008.

What is that pipe going to rear wheel of black X5?

Why V12 when they can use the V10 from M5 with more HP?

An X5 that's been to BMW's hallowed M-sport division? Surely not!

We've long assumed that BMW wouldn't dare send its off-roaders to the M division toyshop, but we're hearing the first rumours that this is exactly what's happening. And this tuned X5 that's been spotted on numerous occasions is said to be an engineering mule for a high-performance 4x4.

So is BMW chasing the ultimate fat-cat's plaything, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo? Sort of. Although there are no plans for an M-badged X5, our man in Munich suggests that this is a prototype for a breathed-on X6, the slinkier half SUV, half coupe revealed at the recent Frankfurt show.

An M X6 in an X5 bodyshell? It's a world of badge confusion...

Let’s look at the evidence. Our professional spies vouch that this car wasn't an independent tuner car - it had official BMW engineers crawling all over it. So it's not just a hot X5 with a racy bodykit.

And check out the grossly enlarged airvents at the front, and quad-pipe exhausts at the rear - typical features of M-division cars. When CAR's assistant editor Ben Barry visited the M division's HQ on the ironically named Daimler Strausser on the fringes of Munich for our feature in CAR Magazine (June 2007), he indeed spied an X5 in a curtained-off area.

What engine would a high-performance X5 or X6 run? One option would be the extraordinary V10 from the M5 and M6. It's a great engine, but relies on high-revving antics to deliver its punch. Peak torque doesn't arrive until 6100rpm, and its 384lb ft is only slightly up on the 4.8-litre X5’s 350lb ft. Not quite enough to punt around a 2180kg SUV with much alacrity then.

Our man suggests that BMW is considering going down the hybrid option. Like Lexus, the Bavarians could make their high-performance off-roaders green and fast. It's more in keeping with the zeitgeist, after all.

A high-performance X6 hybrid? So the M division are playing with Duracell batteries?

Perhaps. At Frankfurt BMW unveiled an X6 concept, which is a thinly veiled example of its new crossover. So this engineering mule could be BMW's new hybrid system on test.

The rear of the X6 ActiveHybrid concept had a motorised bumper that moved to cover the exhausts when the car was running on electric power only (a great bit of marketing department showing off!) and this mule clearly has some exhaust testing going on. If the boot is now full of electrical gubbins for the hybrid system, the exhausts may have to be re-routed.

All very specualtive, but there are shards of evidence to support this theory...

Tell me more about BMW's hybrid system

BMW was tight-lipped at Frankfurt, but it did say its 2009 hybrid features two electric motors, a high-performance battery, a two-range transmission and three planetary gearsets.

The system is being jointly developed with GM and Mercedes, and at Frankfurt Mercedes took the wraps off a whole host of hybrids. In 2009 Mercedes will launch S400 and ML450 hybrids; Merc's off-roader is said to pump out a modest 185g/km. If BMW can match that figure, it stands a fighting chance of making its newcomer more acceptable in a greener world.


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M

Thanks for that article, Marcus! I believe that this is indeed a mule for the X6 M and not an X5 M prototype.

Last night in the Meat Packing District down in NYC, there was a black X5 parked in front of one of the clubs. I had to literally stand in front of the car to make sure I wasn't dreaming-in the right hand corner in the back, it read "X5 M". Of course my friends thought I was crazy the way I kept ranting and circling the vehicle, and none of us had a camera on us to take the pic n post here....but my eyes have seen and now I knows....

what a shame!

I have seen few poser X5s around NYC. Both E53 and E70. They just stick the M logo after X5. Guys who want others to think they are drivinig a M car.

LOL That's exactly what I thought. That's why I kept on ranting. Either I looked mad or drunk, depending on one's view.