BMW working on M-versions of the X5 and X6 with over 460bhp

Car Magazine reports about BMW M-division's boss Ludwig Willisch admitting that they're working on M-versions of the BMW X5 and X6:

“Had you heard that the BMW M3 CSL is being canned – in favour of faster 4x4s? BMW’s M Division is lending a hand to develop high-performance X5 and X6 models and our spies have snapped the go-faster X6 hot weather testing in the US and the hot X5 pounding the Nurburgring in Germany. Both SUVs are expected to use a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8, tweaked to over 460bhp, and cost at least £60,000. It's not clear at this stage how the cars will be badged, not least because of the MX-5 and MX-6 trademarks owned by Mazda.
...
Apart from the gaping air intakes at the front, and the four shotgun exhausts at the back, the obvious changes are the wider front and rear tracks.

How can we be so certain these high-performance SUVs exist? New M Division boss Ludwig Willisch recently admitted in an interview that both cars were in development, that they could be on sale as early as early as late 2009, and that the company had a very good 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 that could be used.

Herr Willisch even let slip that the engine could be tweaked to over 460bhp and claimed that demand for hot X5s and X6s could match that of the landmark BMW M5.

So we get these behemoths instead of the M3 CSL?

Afraid so. The tuned 4x4s will appeal to emerging markets like China and Russia, and make more money for BMW than a M3 CSL ever could.”

Read the entire article at the link below...

(Source Text/Images: Car Magazine)