Is This a BMW X1 M?

Manhattan might not seem like the best place to test a new car in camouflage, but a lot of the work automakers do needs to be done in harsh city conditions. New York, in particular, is a good test of a vehicle's ride quality since the roads are garbage, but it's also an important place to test a vehicles electronics, radar, and comms systems as there is a lot of interference.

Today, our very own Aaron Brown was walking out of an appointment on 39th Street and was greeted by a BMW X1 with manufacturer plates, and it was followed by what appears to be another X1 totally clad in camo. Now, sometimes manufacturers drive mules like this long after they're released for various reasons, but this seems to be a different case. Around back, this X1 has quad tail pipes, one of the defining characteristics of a full M vehicle, not a model with an M Sport package. It also looks to have an aggressive wheel and tire package, blue calipers that M cars get, fender flares, and aggressive additions to the body that are tell-tales of M cars.

It's not a shock that BMW would be working on a faster version of the X1, but it does raise a few questions. First, the X1 is all-wheel-drive, but based on a front-wheel-drive platform. That would make this the first M car on a front-drive platform. The X1 also only comes with four-cylinder engines. All current M cars have six or more cylinders.