Our spy photographer in the South Carolina area – Palbay – has just spotted a flock of 2018 BMW X3 prototypes preparing for boarding on a Transatlantic flight. While not 100 percent certain where they’re heading, it’s fair to assume that they’re likely heading to Munich before being transferred to the Nurburgring for some hot track testing or they could be scheduled to go north to Sweden for more winter testing.

Regardless where they end up, one thing is certain – the G01 X3 is getting close to its launch date which is scheduled for early summer.

According to Palbay, the BMW plant gets a few Boeing 747 airplanes per week bringing parts from Germany. The local Greenville Airport runway was lengthen to 10,000 feet to accommodate the Boeing 747 freighter. The runway lengthen was part of BMW’s original incentive deal.

Just last week, BMW Plant in Spartanburg announced that it exported 287,700 X models during the year. About 86 percent were exported through the Port of Charleston. BMW said the plant’s exports were valued at $9.53 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, confirming it as the country’s leading car exporter in terms of value for a third consecutive year.

According to our sources, the G01 BMW X3 will have its world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Sales of the G01 X3 are scheduled to begin in March 2018.