Today I’m bringing you all a bit of a Driving Spirit exclusive! As you may already know, next month, the new BMW X4 will be publically unveiled for the first time at the New York Motor Show. However, I’ve managed to obtain this spy shot of the prototype X4 undergoing some testing near a BMW plant in South Carolina via my lovely girlfriend who happened to be in the area.
BMW X4 testing in South Carolina, USA
The BMW X4 is sticking to that formula of part coupé, part SUV that the X6 has done to such huge success over in the USA. It has been far more popular stateside than it has been over here in Europe, in particular the UK.
Based on the same platform as the X3, the X4 is obviously far curvier being inspired by coupe-like styling, and has a more aggressive look at the front end, giving it a wider, slightly more open mouthed look about it. I personally like the way this car looks and I think the styling is spot on. It needs to be too, because this car is going up against two real gorgeous looking machines in the new Porsche Macan and the Range Rover Evoque.
What will we get underneath the bonnet? Well, BMW have said that they are only going to sell this car with diesel engines, but that’s not a problem at all because BMW’s diesel engines are always smooth and refined. Entry level X4’s will be powered by a 2.0-litre engine producing 187bhp, and I think that this is going to be the engine that the majority of customers are going to go for.
For a long time now the 2.0-litre diesel BMW engine has been the engine of choice, it’s a great unit. For the thrill seekers there is a 308bhp straight-six available, but in an X4, is this a bit of a waste of such a fierce and powerful engine? I think if it was me, I’d take the tried and tested 2.0d with a few options.
Hopefully BMW will be giving us at Driving Spirit the chance to put them both to test though, and find out for ourselves just which is truly the better choice.
X4 shares X3’s platform but is much curvier
