Spy Shots: high-performance BMW X5

Fresh from the paparazzi comes a batch of spy shots showing what appears to be a tuned-up BMW X5 test mule wearing bigger exhaust pipes and a revised front bumper with bigger air intakes that extends farther down to the tarmac.

Could this be an M version of the X5? Anything's possible, but don't count on it. According to M Division chief Gerhard Richter, the X5 is too big and heavy to be turned into a genuine M product. The first-generation X5 had a high-performance version called the 4.7iS, which was, for all intents and purposes, the M-tuned X5, but it wasn't labeled as such. The current top-end engine in the X5 is already larger than that at 4.8 liters, but a BMW sport-ute with the M5's V10 would prove devastatingly fast and pose quite a challenge to the likes of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo and Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG.

Whatever BMW decides to call it, you can bet it'll be fast.

[Source: WorldCarFans]