U Spy BMW Testing A Fleet Of Models Including XM And 7-Series In South Africa

A fleet of BMW prototypes has been spotted by a CarScoops reader while doing the rounds in South Africa.

While BMW conducts much of its testing in the Northern Hemisphere, it does often take its cars to South Africa for testing. While some of its prototypes were covered from view, a handful of images of them were snapped under heavy camouflage.

Read More: BMW’s 750-HP Concept XM Revealed And It’s Even Scarier Than We Imagined

The most eye-catching prototype that was snapped is the production version of last year’s XM Concept. This will be the BMW M division’s first standalone SUV and just the second standalone vehicle it has produced since the iconic M1 supercar of the late 1970s. Despite being covered head-to-toe in camouflage, we can see that it will retain many of the same striking design elements as the concept, including the same oddly-shaped taillights and quad stacked exhausts.

The production model is expected to have the same hybrid powertrain as the concept, consisting of a twin-turbocharged V8 coupled to an electric motor and muscling out an almighty 750 hp and 737 lb-ft (999 Nm) of torque. It should hit 60 mph (96 km/h) in around 3.0 seconds and have 50 miles of all-electric range in Europe.

In addition to snapping the XM up close, our reader also spotted a prototype of the new 7-Series that will be sold in both ICE and EV guises (and which made an early appearance on BMW’s site earlier today ahead of next week’s debut). The new car was originally scheduled to be unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show this month but as that event was cancelled after the Covid-19 outbreak in China.

A heavily-disguised prototype of the facelifted X7 was also spied being put through its paces (BMW has already revealed the SUV) as was a tester of the next X1.

Thanks to our reader for the spy shots!