BMW X5 trio spied testing near Spartanburg

Autoweek reader J. Monroe spotted a camouflaged BMW X5 convoy somewhere on Interstate 26, which just so happens to run near the German automaker's Spartanburg, S.C., plant (one of the X5's production sites).

Despite a strategic application of BMW's dazzling, swirly vinyl wrap, the lines of these X5s were identical to those on the models available now. This suggests that any coming changes will be confined to the front and rear fascias, with the sheetmetal in between remaining unaltered.

Two of the X5s sported the standard round exhaust tips; another had the rectangular outlets that come with an M performance-package upgrade. But if there's a new X5 M undergoing testing, it wasn't part of this group -- the high-performance crossover has a distinctive quad-exhaust configuration not seen on any of these vehicles.

By Graham Kozak