Article Summary
- BMW has removed most of the disguise from its Speedtop prototypes to reveal the production-ready design.
- Based on the M8, the two-door wagon still hides the color gradient on the roof.
- The 70 cars BMW will build for customers will closely mirror the concept unveiled a year ago.
When someone says BMW doesn’t know how to build a beautiful car anymore, point them to these images. While looks are subjective, it’s hard to find a bad angle on the Speedtop. Fresh spy photos taken near the Nürburgring show a near-production prototype of a different kind of Touring model. Why? Well, the luxury wagon is technically a shooting brake since it has only two doors.
Body-style terminology aside, BMW has removed most of the camouflage. Only the roof remains covered, presumably to hide the color gradient. On the concept car unveiled last year, the roof transitioned from Floating Sunstone Maroon to Floating Sundown Silver. The same should hold true for the 70 cars the company will build for its wealthiest customers.
At a rumored price tag of €500,000, it costs more than three times as much as an M5 Touring in Germany. However, the Speedtop is actually based on a model you can no longer buy: the M8. Much like its donor vehicle, this one is effectively gone as well, with all units long spoken for. While the G99 combines the “S68” V8 with an electric motor, the Speedtop uses the older “S63” engine and skips the plug-in hybrid setup altogether.
The Production-Spec Speedtop Will Mirror The 2025 Concept
Prototype testing suggests production hasn’t started yet, which makes sense, given that BMW is currently busy building the even rarer M8-based Skytop. The latter is limited to 50 units and features a manually removable targa roof that stores in the trunk when not in use. The Speedtop is cut from the same cloth and largely shares the two-seat interior derived from the M8.
Predictably, the prototype looks nearly identical to the concept. BMW did drill holes into the bumpers to accommodate parking sensors, but the shooting brake remains just as gorgeous. A closer look reveals a reverse light mounted low in the rear bumper skirt, but everything else appears virtually unchanged. Like the concept, the production car will forgo a rear wiper because, for a car like this, beauty comes first.
Mirroring the show car from the 2025 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, the production-ready Speedtop retains the large oval exhaust finishers with two inner tips on each side. It also features the same winglet-style door handles mounted on the beltline, previewing a new setup set to debut on a series-production model: the X5 G65.
We’re surprised to see the test car riding on the Skytop’s wheels with their elegant lamella design. However, the production version should use the same two-tone, 14-spoke wheels as last year’s concept. The car paparazzi couldn’t get a look inside, but expect the M8’s cabin to be reupholstered in Sundown Maroon and Moonstone White, complemented by a two-tone leather headliner bisected by an illuminated roof spline.
The Skytop never received a dedicated reveal for the production version, so don’t expect one for the Speedtop either. However, we’re confident one of the 70 cars will eventually pose for the camera at BMW Welt before delivery.
Photos: thomas.s.photos / Instagram
