New cars “leaking” on social media before their official debuts is an all too common occurrence in this digital day and age — and an absolute nightmare for manufacturers.
The latest victim is BMW, who has just had photographs of its soon-to-be-revealed XM splashed all over Instagram by user Wilcoblok. Developed by the Munich carmaker's M Division, this flagship SUV is (as TimesLIVE Motoring reported earlier this week) a plug-in hybrid model that marries a newly developed 4.4l twin-turbocharged V8 petrol engine to an electric drive system for a claimed total output of 480kW and 800Nm of torque.
This is distributed to all paws via a hybrid-specific M xDrive four-wheel drive system. BMW hasn't released performance figures, but expect it to be ludicrously fast. Raw pace aside, it also offers a claimed maximum pure-electric driving range of about 80km.
Photos of new BMW XM leaked before official unveiling
Motoring writer
Image: Instagram / @Wilcoblol
New cars “leaking” on social media before their official debuts is an all too common occurrence in this digital day and age — and an absolute nightmare for manufacturers.
The latest victim is BMW, who has just had photographs of its soon-to-be-revealed XM splashed all over Instagram by user Wilcoblok. Developed by the Munich carmaker's M Division, this flagship SUV is (as TimesLIVE Motoring reported earlier this week) a plug-in hybrid model that marries a newly developed 4.4l twin-turbocharged V8 petrol engine to an electric drive system for a claimed total output of 480kW and 800Nm of torque.
This is distributed to all paws via a hybrid-specific M xDrive four-wheel drive system. BMW hasn't released performance figures, but expect it to be ludicrously fast. Raw pace aside, it also offers a claimed maximum pure-electric driving range of about 80km.
In terms of exterior styling, the XM is unashamedly aggressive with a huge kidney grille finished in gold, enormous front air intakes and a new split headlamp design similar to the one BMW used on the 7 Series. There's more contrasting gold trim running along the vehicle's belt line — and glasshouse for that matter — and at the rear a pair of double-stacked exhaust tailpipes set either side of the large gloss-black rear air diffuser.
The single photograph of the interior reveals a suede headliner and a leather-wrapped sports steering wheel fitted with two M driving mode buttons (M1 and M2).
BMW was set to unveil the XM later this year with series production starting in December.
TimesLIVE
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