If you couldn’t wait a few more hours, here it is: the BMW Concept XM.
Set to be revealed later today, the XM is a concept version of the M Division’s upcoming plug-in hybrid performance SUV.
A single image was leaked by Instagram account Wilco Blok.
We’ve already seen teasers and spy photos, but seeing the full car exposed still yields some surprises.
The greenhouse is quite small for a vehicle close to the BMW X7 in size, while there’s a sharp crease running along the XM’s flanks.
Everything is extremely angular, from the severely sculpted front bumper to the creases at the bottom of the doors.
The fenders are dramatically flared, and there are chunky, squared-off wheel arches.
The XM – at least in concept form – also has intriguing little lights above the windscreen. That’s a quirky, almost retro Citroen-esque touch, which seems appropriate given the BMW wears the name of an old Citroen.
Those girding themselves for even more enormous kidney grilles than recent BMW products can relax – the Concept XM’s are large, but they don’t plunge into the front bumper. Instead, they’re more horizontal in orientation, which makes them appear somewhat proportionate with the car’s front end.
The lighting elements, in contrast, are like tiny slivers.
We expect the concept to be indicative of the production vehicle but for detail changes, considering our spy photographers have spied the vehicle testing.
The XM will feature a plug-in hybrid powertrain, and reports from BMW Blog suggest the XM will be offered in two variants: a 460kW M version and an M Competition with a total system output of 552kW from its plug-in hybrid twin-turbocharged V8 powertrain.
That would make the XM the first plug-in hybrid model to wear the mighty ‘M’ badge.
We don’t expect a non-M version of the model, which would make the XM the first bespoke M product since the mid-engined 1978-81 M1 sports coupe.
That makes the XM an analogue to the BMW iX.
Though derived from the same CLAR architecture as various other BMW products, the iX doesn’t have a corresponding internal combustion-powered variant and is, following the demise of the i8, a flagship product for BMW’s electric i line.
We’ll know more about the Concept XM in just a few hours. Stay tuned.
