The BMW i5 M60 Delivers Amusement-Park Giddiness

The BMW i5 M60 Delivers Amusement-Park Giddiness

2025 bmw i5 m60 xdrive

Tested: BMW i5 M60DW Burnett

It’s a good time to be a car nut. New vehicles can now routinely do 0-to-sixty sprints in under four seconds. Even if you’re an old-school gas-and-clutch devotee, it’s exciting to see new battery-fueled brands come in and literally electrify the marketplace, from Lucid and Rivian to Polestar and Rimac. Heritage brands are doing things that they have never done before.

BMW, a company known for its internal-combustion airplane and motorcar engines going back over 100 years, is now fully engaged in the electric-car business. E-vehicles make up over 10 percent of the brand’s current sales. The i5 M60 is a car with a lot riding on it.

Our expert editors test every vehicle we review. Read more about how we test and review cars here.


The Lowdown

The highest performance iteration of the electric 5-Series starts at $84,100 and, by its transparent existence, begs us ask: What does it mean to be a BMW sport sedan bearing an M badge and carrying no thundering cylinders? My test drives took me on winding roads in two different i5 M60s—one near the west coast, the other on the east.

  • Vehicle Tested: 2024 BMW i5 M60 xDrive Sedan

  • Base price: $84,100

  • Price as tested: $97,095

  • Location: Sierra foothills of Northern California, upstate New York


How Does It Drive?

2025 bmw i5 m60 xdrive2025 bmw i5 m60 xdrive

DW Burnett

The first thing this car has to do in order not to fail right out of the driveway is excite. If it’s going to have an M on its flank, it has to get the electrons whirling in your imagination. And it does. The sedan’s 593 hp and 3.3-second 0-to-60-mph sprint deliver amusement-park giddiness. At one point, while entering a bridge section that offered a sweeping view forward—i.e., an instant acknowledgment that there was no oncoming traffic, particularly traffic bearing official government decals—I floored the accelerator. My speed doubled within the span of three or four heartbeats. Torque is a sporty electric vehicle’s calling card. In this Bimmer, you’ve got it: 586 lb-ft, delivered near-instantly to all four wheels.

The test car featured the optional Dynamic Handling Package with Adaptive M Suspension (a $3600 option) and the M Sport Professional Package ($1050). But the best feature comes standard on the i5 M60: Sport Boost. BMW defines the function as such: It “immediately adjusts all relevant systems of the vehicle to maximum sportiness with just one button.”

2025 bmw i5 m60 xdrive2025 bmw i5 m60 xdrive

DW Burnett

As a matter of fact, it’s not a button at all. The car comes with only one paddle shifter, and it’s on the left of the steering column. You grab the lone paddle for 0.8 second, and—wham! A whooshing noise alerts you to the drama. A Nineties-video-game-style graphic appears in the head-up display, as well as front-and-center on the dash, counting down from 10. In those 10 seconds, the torque boosts to 605 lb-ft. The future comes hurtling forward, and you feel that pit of nervous joy open in your gut. While BMW’s website claims a top speed of 130 mph, I might’ve topped that out and then some.

Deceleration happens just as quickly. The M Sport brakes tucked in my test car’s 21-inch wheels (19s come standard) seize the car with viselike grip. The electronic interface offers up endless choices for personalization. You can adjust everything from the speed-limit-warning feature to the lane-guiding and assisted-driving systems. You can electronically turn the car’s rear-wheel drive off if you need to drive with snow chains up front; adjust the IconicSounds feature, BMW’s engine noise replication system; or tweak the art on the digital display. Drive modes can be customized to your liking, naturally. Nothing has been unconsidered. You may need a computing PhD to figure it all out, but that’s part of the ride.

What’s It Like to Live With?

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DW Burnett

With a pair of electric motors, the i5 M60 boasts 85 MPGe and an advertised 239-to-253-mile range, making it a worthy commuter vehicle or an adequate road tripper, depending on the destination. Like all electric vehicles, the range reading on the dashboard will make you blink twice if you’re hammering in Sport Plus mode. Juicing off a level 2 charger in a parking lot, the thirsty batteries satiated themselves relatively quickly, however. BMW claims a zero-to-100 percent charge time of less than 10 hours on a level 2. My experience leads me to believe that time moves more quickly.

There is ample room—plenty for four people in the cabin and a big cooler in the trunk. The car measures 199.2 inches long, big enough for utility driving and svelte enough to fit in your garage. The touchscreen interface is fairly intuitive once you spend a lot of time with it. And our test ride’s Bowers & Wilkins surround sound cranked up to gorgeous volumes. Piping in a little bluegrass, I felt like I could hear every pick on a banjo string.

2025 bmw i5 m60 xdrive2025 bmw i5 m60 xdrive

DW Burnett

The i5 M60’s major weaknesses are weight and chassis dynamics. The gross vehicle weight rating posted on my i5 M60 read 6404 pounds (that’s the max the car should weigh for safe driving with all fluids, suitcases, human beings, golf clubs, pet lizards, whatever). Curb weight is 5247 pounds. Although BMW advertises a 50/50 weight distribution, the heft is noticeable in cornering. When you push this vehicle’s nose tightly into an apex, let free of the brake, and get on the power, the car wants you to keep going straight while it rockets forward. The center of gravity feels higher than comparable vehicles. In other words, this is speed and torque worthy of a race car but the chassis dynamics of a heavy road car. Other electric vehicles feel lighter on their toes and more tightly tuned in turns.

One other detractor: At one point, while driving on winding roads at night in dumping rain, I found myself staring through the windshield at the car’s head-up display, which was giving me route guidance and speed information through the GPS. I could not for the life of me see the road. Sure, you can turn off that feature but not while you’re alone and driving, trying not to hit oncoming traffic.

Should I Buy One?

2025 bmw i5 m60 xdrive2025 bmw i5 m60 xdrive

DW Burnett

For most drivers hunting for a kick-ass electric commuter in this upper-middle-class price range, the i5 M60 is a dynamite option. At times I have judged the performance of a vehicle by its ability to make my wife complain of nausea because of my driving. This car turned her instantly green, which in my book signifies serious performance and motoring enjoyment for me. Throw some electric panels on your roof, get yourself a garage battery pack, and you can enjoy this car’s boisterousness while driving completely off the sun’s power.


2025 bmw i5 m60 xdrive2025 bmw i5 m60 xdrive

DW Burnett

Highlights and Lowlights

We love:

  • The speed and torque

  • Classic BMW sport-sedan styling

  • Space and usability

  • Fueling miles by the sun’s rays, if you have the panels

We don’t love:

  • It’s a heavyweight, and that knocks dynamic agility

  • Distracting head-up display

Favorite Detail:

The aforementioned Boost mode, which makes driving feel like a video game in the best way. Passing cars on freeway lanes and merging onto interstates is an afterthought with this feature. For a car with a lot riding on it, that lone paddle on the left side of the steering column will definitely electrify you.

2025 bmw i5 m60 xdrive2025 bmw i5 m60 xdrive

DW Burnett

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