2011 BMW X3 leaks

The 2011 BMW X3 - together with required camouflage

To say that details have leaked is a bit disingenuous, as the leak has emanated from BMW. So although technically I suppose we should call it a leak because the details are not exactly concrete – and the photos are of camouflaged cars – it’s more of a tease than a leak.

The photos tell us not a huge amount – it’s a new BMW X3 with some black and white bits on. It’s grown a bit – no doubt to set it apart from its smaller sibling the X1 – but it’s more of an evolution than a revolution. We’re told that even though it’s a bit wider and a bit longer and a bit taller it’s also a bit lighter.

Thankfully it appears – although we don’t have pictures to confirm it – that BMW has upped the ante on the inside and dumped the scratchy plastics and low-rent feel for something a bit more upmarket.

Engine choice in the new X3 won’t come as a shock either, with the likely options being a pair of petrols – 268bhp X3 xDrive28i and 302bhp X3 xDrive35i – and a pair of diesels – 181bhp  X3 xDrive20d and a 241bhp  X3 xDrive30d. But it looks extremely likely that BMW will throw an ActiveHybrid X3 in to the mix by the end of next year and – despite the ultimate denials which will come – probably an X3M as well.

The 2011 BMW X3 will debut officially at the Paris Motor Show in September and go on sale in the UK before the end of 2010.

More details as we get them.

By Cars UK