We heard from a source last week that an early prototype of the X3 M had made it ‘s maiden voyage on public roads around Munich. Now Car Magazine brings us proof. According to car the X3 M won ‘t have the N54 based 1M engine in it as rumored but an early iteration of the next M3 ‘s inline six.

The rumor is that the N55 based engine will get a bump in displacement to 3.2L and will feature at least two turbos if not three (with one being electric). Expect around 450 bhp from both the X3 M and the next generation M3.

We expect the X3 M to debut in concept for in the latter half of next year and be on-sale sometime in early 2013.