BMW Group South Africa says the new X5 M Competition and X6 M Competition have yet to be homologated locally, thanks to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Gennaro Bonafede, head of BMW M South Africa, made the comments during a Q&A session on Facebook, where he also revealed details about the local availability of the new M2 CS.
He said while both the X5 M Competition and X6 M Competition had already arrived in South Africa, the Munich-based firm’s local arm “hadn’t had the chance to homologate [them] just yet”, thanks to the lockdown.
“Hopefully X5 M and X6 M [Competition] will be out on the road soon, once we get [them] homologated,” Bonafede said. “I know clients are already knocking on the door and the units we do have in the country are pretty much almost all [accounted for], so we’re definitely looking forward to starting to retail those,” he added.
At the beginning of May 2020, CARmag.co.za published local pricing for the two high-performance SUVs. As a reminder, each employs a twin-turbo 4,4-litre V8 petrol engine delivering 460 kW and 750 N.m to all four corners via a rear-wheel-biased M xDrive setup (for the record, the standard, non-Competition derivatives have not been earmarked for our market).
The company claims the X5 M Competition will complete the blast from standstill to 100 km/h in just 3,8 seconds, a time matched by the X6 M Competition. Both variants top out at 290 km/h. An active M differential optimises traction and enhances the dynamic capabilities of both performance SUVs.
