Key considerations
- Available for £47,000
- Two electric motors, all-wheel drive
- Stair-dominating performance
- Fine refinement and practicality
- Comfortable and surprisingly agile with four-wheel steering
- Hasn’t been problem-free, though
The iX, BMW’s first fully electric car since the i3, has been in production since the end of 2021. It sits at the top of BMW’s electric i range and is mainly distinguished from the smaller iX1, 2 and 3 models by its largeness and its polarisingly large grille. Outside of its powertrain, an iX has plenty of appeal for the family motorist, a feeling of cabin spaciousness promoted by a nice flat floor at the back and a pleasingly empty space between the dash and the two-level extended central armrest/control platform (i.e. no continuous centre console) at the front.
The power of BMW’s performance sub-brand meant that an M version was inevitable. The 2022-on M60 was the third and most powerful iX model variant. Compared to what normally happens with M cars, BMW decided to take a new line with the M60 by making it less visually different from non-M models, setting it apart in other ways instead. So, it sounded different on startup and during driving, and the cabin displays were new.
From the outside, the most obvious differences between the M60 and the M Sport (pictured in red) versions of the iX were the M60-only bronze/black boot and wing badge and some alternative M60-only wheels. Everything else in the M60 bar those badges was specifiable on the M Sport – at extra cost, of course.
Wary about how a performance-oriented electric car might be perceived, BMW made a big deal of the ‘green’ methods that were used to construct the M60 in its Bavarian Dingolfing plant. So the design for the M60’s two electric motors did away with the need for rare earth metals to be used in the drive rotors. BMW says it got its own cobalt and lithium supplies for the batteries from controlled sources in Australia and Morocco for onwards delivery to the battery cell manufacturers. Besides the usual high-strength steels, the car had a carbon fibre reinforced plastic spaceframe – CFRP was used in the roof, side and rear sections as per the 2003 M3 CSL, in case that sounds familiar – along with aluminium produced by solar energy power.
Despite all these lightening efforts, the M60 version was still heavy, like nearly 2.6 tonnes’ worth of heavy – but it had equally heavyweight performance. The lower-powered M50 was no slouch with 523hp/564lb ft but the M60 put it in the shade with 619hp/811lb ft, using the same 105kWh battery. An M70 version with 659hp exists now but it was only launched in the summer of 2025 so we’ll be sticking with the ‘sensible’, more or less identically performing, and available on the used market (sort of, more on that in the Verdict) M60 here.
When the M60 was announced in January 2022 in preparation for the UK launch in the summer of that year, prices started at £111,905. By late 2025, the entry price for a new one had risen to £114,305. Obviously you’ll make considerable savings by buying used, but if you’re looking for Porsche Taycan-style giveaways you might be disappointed as the M60 hasn’t dropped off a cliff at anything like the same rate. A three-year-old M60 with 45-55,000 miles on the clock will cost you at least £47,000, a rate of depreciation for a big-ticket EV that Porsche would have loved to have seen for its Taycan.
SPECIFICATION | BMW iX M60 (2022-)
Engine: dual electric motors
Transmission: all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 619
Torque (lb ft): 811
0-62mph (secs): 3.8
Top speed (mph): 155
Weight (kg): 2,584
Combined power consumption (WLTP): 22.0-22.6kWh/62 miles
Claimed range (WLTP): up to 348 miles
CO2 (g/km): 0
Wheels (in): 22
Tyres: 275/40
On sale: 2022 -
Price new: from £111,900
Price now: from £47,000
Note for reference: car weight and power data is hard to pin down with absolute certainty. For consistency, we use the same source for all our guides. We hope the data we use is right more often than it’s wrong. Our advice is to treat it as relative rather than definitive.
ENGINE & GEARBOX
Many EVs top out at well under 120mph, but something with an M badge couldn’t really be left to mix it with Golfs and Sprinter vans in the boring lanes of the autobahn so, unusually for an EV, it was given the normal ICE limit of 155mph. That, allied to instant neck-snapping throttle response and a less relenting rate of acceleration at higher speeds made it stand out in the electric car market. Needless to say it also turned the M60 into BMW’s quickest SUV, or SAV as BMW referred to it, entirely justifiably substituting Activity for Utility.
The claimed 0-62mph time of 3.8 seconds was easily achieved or, with a suitably compliant road surface, bettered, and the car made a suitably menacing noise in Sport mode while it was achieving it. The wonder of the M60 though was the remarkable level of refinement while it was maraudering down the road. We’ve come to expect that in an EV, but here it was a cut above, and it was a double whammy as well because it was achieving that at the same time as it was delivering face-distorting acceleration.
The M60’s claimed range was slightly smaller than the M50’s at just under 350 miles, a noticeable improvement on the 280 or so offered by Audi’s Q8 E-tron S. Users found no evidence of overnight battery drain by as much as a mile on the predicted range. When 195kW DC charging was available you weren’t going to be kept waiting long for a fill-up. The maximum AC charging rate was 11kW, compared to 22kW on some BMW and Mercedes models.
There was a recall in August 2023 on a small number of M60s built in 2023-23 to sort out a potential problem with the high voltage battery Combined Charging Unit (CCU) arising from a compatibility anomaly uncovered during an internal validation check by the CCU supplier. It was discovered that the reworking carried out to put this right could cause CCU issues like power interruptions so BMW voluntarily did a CCU recall as a precautionary measure, replacing it on a free-of-charge basis.
Some iXs experienced problems with scheduled charging after receiving a dodgy software update prior to July 2024. Other systems were hit by this too, sometimes leading to an abrupt stop and a warning that airbag and seatbelt tensioners were operating at a reduced level. Cars had to be taken into dealers for a reset. As far as regular servicing goes, BMW Service Inclusive covers you for all basic service costs (oil, brake fluid, air and micro filters) on an ICE car, plus one fuel filter or spark plug service depending on whether you’re driving a petrol or a diesel BMW, for at least four years from first registration. For a petrol 1 or 2 Series you’re covered for 5 years or 62,000 miles at a typical cost of £970. At the other end of the ICE scale, you’ll pay £2,105 for the same package on M versions of the X3, X4, X5 or X6.
Of course, an electric vehicle doesn’t have most of the stuff that a diesel or petrol car has, so its needs are less. However, it will still cost you £910 for an M60 package, and that’s for four years rather than five, albeit with unlimited mileage. If you prefer a full maintenance plan we found wide price variations on monthly schemes for high-performance iXs like the M60, from £33 to nearly £110 a month.
CHASSIS
The M60’s carbon fibre reinforced chassis came with automatic level control air suspension and adaptive dampers. The setup was tweaked to add an element of fun on bendy roads. Working with the standard rear-axle steering it delivered on that promise to an almost unbelievable extent, taking into account the weight of the vehicle, especially when you added in the fact that a fair chunk of that weight was poorly located from a dynamics point of view high up in the full-length electrochromatic panoramic roof.
Stability control couldn’t be fully disabled, which seemed wrong to some M car enthusiasts, but you could understand why BMW went down that route given the monster torque and the eerie immediacy of the M60’s throttle response in Sport mode. Nobody wants a nanny state, but sometimes we might need to be saved from ourselves. Putting the car into Efficient mode to take the edge off that razor response and slacken the suspension off a bit gave the stability control ECU an easier life.
The M60 had launch control, which, for those who liked to live life on the edge, worked all the way down to 4 per cent battery status. It also had a wheel slip limiting device that made sure that as much of the power as possible was put through to the road under heavy acceleration. Cheesily, launch control wobbled the rear wheels while your foot was on the brake, adding a buzz of anticipatory excitement which was accurately backed up by the rapid progress it unleashed. Expressive mode allowed a weird (or lovely if you’re into Hans Zimmer) noise to enter the cabin. The noise Hans came up with for Relax had a classical music vibe to it and was, well, more relaxing. Assist Plus gave you excellent hands-free assisted driving in traffic at speeds of up to about 40mph.
22-inch wheels can often be shorthand for a hard ride, but the unfashionably plump 40-profile tyres on the M60’s Air Performance wheels helped to ease away any harshness without compromising the sharpness and speed of the steering. In its own way, that was almost as remarkable as the unlikely combination of speed and refinement mentioned earlier. There was no getting away from the fact that the M60 was a huge vehicle but BMW succeeded in giving it a rear-drivey feel and it felt smaller on the road than it was, which is one of the best compliments you can pay to any car. If you went in for a lot of heavy braking from high speeds you might be wishing the brakes were made of carbon rather than steel but as issues go that one was kind of niche.
Bespoke aerodynamic wheels detailed in titanium bronze were available at around £5k a set. We think they were sold as accessories rather than an option. If we’re right there, it presumably means that you ended up with a spare set of wheels which you could hopefully flog.
The tyres for these aren’t cheap as they have a tough job to do and the fitting of them isn’t just a case of showing them a tyre lever and hoping for the best. Even from a price-competitive outfit like Blackcircles you’ll be looking at up to £300 a corner for P Zeros or £330 a go for Pirelli Scorpion Zero all-seasons. Tyre insurance is definitely worth having if you can arrange it. A service bulletin was put out in 2024 to replace steering racks that were groaning on many iXs, not just M60s.
BODYWORK
A low scuttle and generous glass areas gave the M60 great visibility. Soft-close doors that were part of the optional Luxury Package in some markets were free in the UK. Inset door handles gave the car a smooth look but the charging flap on the offside rear flank was almost comically massive.
The washer system also cleaned the front and rear cameras. The BMW badge was the only bit of the bonnet designed to be opened by anyone other than a dealer techie. Pressing it popped it up to let you fill the washer bottle from outside. You’d better hope that the local yobboes don’t get wind of that lest they decide to add some ‘amusing’ non-approved liquids.
INTERIOR
The M60’s cabin had a concept-y, futuristic feel about it. It was easy to get in and out of and the highly customisable curved display for the main driving gauges and OS8 infotainment system was predictably satisfying to behold and operate, either by screen touch or (arguably more easily) by the rotary control on the centre console. There was an excellent head-up display too, one of motoring’s great underappreciated heroes.
Some found the hex steering wheel nice to hold and twirl, others didn’t. Oddments storage was good in both the split-top centre console and the door pockets, and there was wireless charging for your phone which could be handily chucked into a space at the front of the centre console. Doors were released from the inside by buttons, although there was a manual release handle in case of battery failure, which seemed a bit like built-in redundancy.
Different ambient colours could be piped into different parts of the cabin which was brilliantly insulated from outside noise. The wood used was FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified and the upholstery – quilted Suite Natural leather tanned with olive leaf extract and other natural materials – felt lovely, even if the shape of the seats was more comfort than sports. BMW’s press release said that massage seats were standard for both driver and passenger, but early press cars at least didn’t seem to have that function on the passenger side, and press bods were being told at the time that it wasn’t available even as an option.
Perceived quality was top notch though. All told, it was easy to generate a very pleasant environment in your iX M60. A Luxury Package added crystal glass trim pieces for the gear selector, iDrive knob, volume control and door card seat controls. These pieces looked amazing in normal UK weather but some owners found they were a bit too flash (literally) on nicer days when they would reflect the sun. In such conditions, the wood surround that also came with the Lux pack could make it hard to see the function legends which were printed in white.
On the plus side, M60s came with a superb bespoke Bowers & Wilkins Diamond 4D surround sound system with 30 speakers dotted about all over the place including the headrests. There were big-boy pounders in all the seat backs as well, locking you into the bass, plus dual USB-C ports and a tablet connector in the back of each front seat and individual climate zones in the rear. Along with the soft-close doors, standard equipment on UK models included laserlights, heat and ventilation for all the seats, Parking Assistant Pro and a new Interior camera. That had a security function which sent a live feed to your phone so you could eyeball the thieving git who was illegally making off with your M60 and hopefully have an easier job of picking them out in the identity parade later.
The middle rear seat could be folded down independently for through-storage. Boot space with the rear seats in place was 500 litres, which was enough for most, although the Merc EQS’s was considerably bigger at nearly 900 litres. There have been software updates to improve the stability of Apple CarPlay and some owners have had issues with WiFi, HVAC functionality and the electronic key. One owner reported failure of the air con pump that allegedly fragmented and caused $5,000 worth of damage.
PH VERDICT
If you’re an ICE fan and a dyed-in-the-wool EV sceptic (and you’re not short of a bob or two) this is the car that might turn your head. It combined dragster performance, limousine refinement, rock-solid engineering and a real-world range of 300 miles in one very practical package. You could enjoy the experience just as much going slowly as going fast.
The M60 hasn’t been faultless but the biggest argument against it was that you could have most if not all its attributes in a suitably specced lower-range version of the iX. We haven’t done the calculations to establish what the from-new money difference would be if you did it that way, but would you do that? When all’s said and done, there’s something about an M car, even one that sails as close to the standard wind as this one appears to. Even so, you’ll get a buzz from an M60 when you see one. That new BMW front-end look was shocking at first, but it’s been a grower for some, and the M60 interior is special.
Seeing one on UK roads won’t be a common occurrence. Maybe PH is seen as an ICE stronghold for performance cars and a hostile environment for electric ones, or maybe there’s nothing in that theory and we just picked the wrong moment to look for them, but as of early October 2025 there were no iX M60s for sale in PH’s Classifieds section. It’s a rare car on the secondhand market full stop with only 20 or so examples on sale in the UK at the time of writing. They ranged from around £47k at the low end for ’22 cars with under 50,000 miles on them or for ’23 cars with nearer to 60,000 miles.
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