With its reimagined design language, BMW has done what it does best—divided opinion with the kind of fervour usually reserved for debates about pineapple on pizza. The i5 M60 xDrive is the fifth arrow in BMW’s electric quiver for India, joining the iX1, i4, iX, and the stately electrified 7 Series. Bold doesn’t quite capture it. This is BMW’s 5 Series, an icon for over 50 years and a benchmark in the driver’s sedan pantheon. Ten million units have been sold since 1972, and they are cherished equally in their M-powered guises and as the dependable four-cylinder option. Recasting such a legacy car as an all-electric M? That’s either genius or sacrilege, depending on your perspective.
You see, the 5 Series has long been cherished—whether in its M guise or with a four-cylinder under the hood. It's the quintessential driver's sedan, with 10 million units sold since its debut in 1972! So, an M-badged 5 Series driven solely by electrons? Now that's playing with fire.
Verdict:
At Rs 1.2 crore, it's not cheap—1.5 times the price of its petrol sibling. But it is worth the money with three times the performance, refinement, tech, and overall high-quality German sedan. It’s daring, sophisticated, and achingly good to drive. And perhaps, most importantly, it’s a 5 Series through and through, even without the roar of an internal combustion engine. In fact, if I were on BMW's marketing team, I'd have christened it the Mi5. Silent, posh, lethal, packed with tech, and capable of giving you goosebumps on command—it's nothing short of mission accomplished.
593 brake horsepower and 795 Newton-metres of torque is what you get with the BMW i5 M60 xDrive. Two electric motors - one on each axle, powered by an 83.9 kWh battery pack, results in a zero to 100 kmph acceleration time of just 3.8 seconds. Yet, it's not just the raw speed that's jaw-dropping but also the sheer drama of how it all unfolds. The secret sauce is the instantaneous EV torque. Stamp on both pedals, flick the paddle shifter for boost, and the launch control activates, and suddenly, the cabin becomes a Hans Zimmer symphony, complete with spine-tingling crescendos. Torque surges to a colossal 820 Nm, and then you release. There is no smoke, fishtailing, or screeching theatrics, just an unrelenting, seamless surge forward. It feels less like driving and more like being catapulted out of a railgun, the kind of performance that glues you to your seat with a grin plastered across your face. The response is razor-sharp. Mid-launch, lift-off, and stab the throttle again, the car reacts so instantly it could be telepathic. But switch to Efficiency or Silent mode, and it transforms. Despite that M badge, the ride isn't harsh; it's remarkably supple. The adaptive suspension devours bumps like a luxury sedan, while active anti-roll bars and a trick traction control system ensure handling that feels leagues beyond what a 2.4-tonne car has any right to achieve. Throw it into some twisty roads, and it's all grip, poise, and classic BMW dynamism. It's nimble, engaging, and utterly confidence-inspiring—almost enough to make you forget it's electric.
And then there's the tech. Modes like Expressive and Relax may feel like they belong in a concept car, focusing on lighting and ambience more than driving, but BMW nails the essentials. Sport and Efficiency are where it's at, and in real-world use, the i5 offers a solid 450 km of range—even with a bit of spirited "sending it." That's not far off the claimed 516 km, which is impressive given the sheer electric power under your right foot.
Inside, it's unmistakably a modern BMW. Dominating the cabin is a curved expanse of digital brilliance: a 12.3-inch driver's display and a 14.9-inch infotainment screen with sharp resolution, brightness, and gesture control that eventually becomes second nature. It even houses a new Automatic Habits app, letting you program actions based on location, passenger presence, and more. There's also a camera that can take photos—even at night!
The real showstopper is the Interaction Bar, which is borrowed from the larger i7 but presented here in a more restrained, everyday-usable form. It's a glowing, crystalline strip that spans the dashboard, beautifully backlit to add sophistication without veering into ostentation. It cleverly hides touch-sensitive controls for the air vents and climate system, solving a design challenge that's baffled carmakers for years. Even the haptics feel well-judged.
This particular M60 spec ups the ante with a four-zone climate control system, with a solar sensor to keep rear passengers comfortable. Coming back to the Interaction Bar, it's smart, lighting up to signal incoming calls or warn you about exiting the car safely, detecting oncoming vehicles. In the My Modes menu, you can even tweak its settings to your liking. It's not as gimmicky as it sounds.
The centre console, meanwhile, is refreshingly familiar yet subtly reworked for its 5 Series duties. You'll find the iDrive controller, now adorned in crystal—though you'll likely default to the touchscreen. There's also a redesigned drive selector, doubling as the control for maximum regenerative braking, a start/stop button, and the My Modes toggle (with options for Personal, Sport, and Efficient). Sensibly, BMW has kept a physical volume knob. Thank goodness for that.
The steering wheel is a nice, chunky one with a M badge and a red centre marker. Even the seat belts sport the M colours. The seats come with a ventilation function and are available in eight different upholstery options, including leather and its vegan equivalent, and they extend across the dashboard and door panels. The seats themselves are comfortable with good support and bolstering, which hug you when you put it in Sport mode. In the back, there's room for three adults, and I had enough knee space to feel at ease. Honestly, you don't really need the long-wheelbase version. But I must question the presence of a transmission tunnel in an EV. What's it doing there? It's just robbing legroom. The front seats come equipped with mounts to attach screens or iPads for rear passengers. Then, there's the enormous glass roof, which bathes the cabin in light. Both rear-view mirrors, interior and exterior, have automatic dimming, which is rather posh. They've gone overboard with Type-C chargers because there are more than you'll ever need, and there's a wireless charging pad, too. Sound is courtesy of a Bowers and Wilkins system, which is frankly marvellous. All told it's better than the competition, and that's even before we get to the Hans Zimmer soundscape, which I'll get to in the next paragraph.
Let's start with the design and save the armchair critics some typing. What don't I like? The missing exhaust pipes. That's it. Sure, I get the point, but that's really the only gripe because, honestly, it looks smashing. It's not even funny how many heads it's turned. Is it the illuminated grille, the power-bulged hood haunches, or the 20-inch M alloys paired with red M brake callipers? Take your pick. It's got a massive road presence. And here's a twist: the wheelbase is 105mm shorter than its petrol-drinking cousin, making it look all the more balanced.
At the rear, it's all sculpted aggression—a sharp bumper, diffuser, angular tail lamps, and a boot lip spoiler. Up front, assertive bumper angles and cavernous air gaps signal that it means business. Pair it all with a black roof and those iconic M mirrors, and the i5 doesn't just walk—it struts the line between modern, classy, and sporty.
BMW i5 M60 xDrive
Acceleration 0-100 kmph in sec 3.8
Max Power Output: 593 BHP
Max Torque: 795 Nm
Battery Capacity: 83.9 kWh
Charger Type CCS2 (DC)/Type 2 (AC)
Max. Range WLTP: 516km
