EV Review: 2023 BMW iX M60

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Batter up! Look — doing 0-60 in the sub four-second range is an eyeball-flattening thrill regardless of the ride, but in the all-electric 2023 BMW iX M60 and other hot-rod EVs like it, there’s no roll-out, boost-lag, or power-curve to overcome before thrust arrives in full. 

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There’s no build-up here. There is only an explosion of forward momentum which, I figure, probably feels like taking a baseball bat to the chest. 

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Engage SPORT mode and stuff both pedals to the firewall for Launch Control. Listen a moment to the electric ‘two-step’ sound as the motors are torqued to the max, and a new traction control system designed especially for EVs comes to life, ready to optimize your launch with reduced signal pathways between computer and tire, which allows traction-enhancing corrections to be issued some 10 times faster than conventional systems.

Release the brake with the accelerator jammed, and it’s lung-squashing launch, often with satisfying bits of wheelspin.

Acceleration is instant, violent, and nearly horrifying from the very first inches of movement. It’s less slingshot and more railgun, as electricity and magnets conspire to send a heavy projectile hurtling rapidly through the air. The iX M60’s hard-hitting launch made my legs tingle, and I’m pretty sure I tasted my spleen.

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It’s absolutely ridiculous, and that will help sell a lot of units.

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Math time.

In my tester, I was able to drive my weekly 430-kilometre route from Sudbury to Toronto on $11 worth of hydro. At today’s fuel prices, that’s about a third of the the cost-per-kilometre of a Toyota Prius, despite the iX weighing nearly twice as much and delivering five times the horsepower. 

Basically, an iX M60 gives you Grand Cherokee Trackhawk acceleration with the cost-per-kilometre of a small motorcycle. Green plates too, and all the rest.

With no fuel gauge as a reminder of an expensive upcoming fill, you start to enjoy driving just for driving’s sake. The iX M60’s energy cost per grin is a fraction of something combustion-powered with similar credentials. 

Also, the iX M60 is surprisingly friendly.

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Despite its 610 horsepower and lung-flattening torque (peaking at 811 lb-ft!), it’s a creamy cruiser on the highway with noise levels expertly controlled, even at high speeds. On board, you glide along at a good clip with little need to raise your voice for a conversation or phone call.

On the roughest northern Ontario backroads I could find, ride quality is similarly well executed. Though I found the machine highly compelling as a long-distance highway cruiser, noise levels, harshness and drama were kept to a minimum, even as frost-heaved, pothole-covered surfaces had their way with my tester’s springs, shocks, and great big 22’s.

Keep your speed reasonable on surfaces like these, and you’ll find a ride that’s smoother, quieter and more consistently controlled than many luxury SUV’s, let alone high-performing models that often have a smashy, delicate ride on this testing route. For comparison, the highest-performing X3 or X5 variants require more care and caution on this road surface, and the ride is noisier, harsher, and more abrupt. 

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The iX M60 is part car, part luxury business lounge, and part rocket-propelled plaything. Still, what stood out most on my test drive was its ability to deliver remarkably consistent ride comfort and noise levels, even across a wide range of surfaces that usually cause issues for high-performing machines like this. 

The ability to weld every torso within the often-tranquil cabin to its seatback on command never gets old, either. If you like, various sound effects can even be deployed to spice up the process, with options ranging from melodic chimes to sci-fi warp drive at full throttle.

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While parking, my tester’s four-wheel steering subtly shrank the iX’s turning circle, enhancing parking-lot manoeuvrability as an all-angle camera display and radar sensors keep an eye on your proximity to objects nearby. Despite its size, which I’m almost certain you’ll find to be bigger in person than photos lead on, the iX is a bit of a parking lot ninja.

One of my favourite moments on this test drive happened when I left the gym on the very sweatiest of afternoons.

I’d just completed a 2-hour sweat-fest leg day and lengthy post-workout sauna before leaving in a highly overheated state.

Thanks to cabin preconditioning, I returned to an iX that was pre-cooled to full cryogenic. Better still, a few clicks activated a level 3 massage from my seat while I chilled out, sipped my post-workout smoothie, and checked my emails while blasting some Arkells on the megawatt Bowers and Wilkins stereo system. Though it’s built to drive, the iX is a comfortable and productive place to lounge if you like. Run the climate control all you like — you’re not wasting any gas.

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It’s the little things, you know?

The interior has a fresh new look with several daring elements, and extended use of quilted surfaces and crystallized controls to help convey the visual identity of the brand’s latest electrics. The dash and central screen are presented as a giant floating blade, complete with very crisp graphics and full customizability at the tips of the driver’s fingers. Headroom is very generous, even with the push-to-tint moonroof overhead. 

The iX’s infotainment system is highly responsive and logical in action. In all menus, it’s easy to back up, return to the home screen, and even find useful tips and information about key functions before you decide what to do. Compared to recent test-drives of other BMW models, the experience here seems to be more in line with a high-end tablet or smartphone.

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Entry and exit to either seating row are accomplished with little more than a lateral bum-slide sideways and into your seat. Rear legroom is stretch-out friendly, and average-sized occupants can even cross their legs. The rears of each front seat even have a pair of USB-C charging ports mounted, making it easy to stay juiced up on the move. Both the front- and rear- floor surfaces are totally flat, enhancing the sense of space. Don’t miss the exposed carbon fibre visible in the door openings as you slide on in.

Rear seatbacks fold nearly flat with a simple click on a release button, and the cargo hold is low, wide, and accommodating. It’s nicely carpeted, too. Note that boarding and exiting canines will have to clear the rear bumper, which protrudes more than most out below the cargo opening. My dog didn’t like the shape of the lower bumper, so we used his Weathertech dog ramp instead. Your results may vary.

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Weirdly, you fill the iX M60’s washer fluid via the flip-up emblem on the front of the hood. With a transformer substation’s worth of electricity beneath, opening the hood is a dealer-only affair.

I’d tell current BMW X5 drivers considering the switch that the iX doesn’t drive exactly like what you’re used to, but that many attributes are similar, especially when it comes to experiencing a polished feel of weight and density on the road. The overall drive of the iX is a new take on a familiar feel.

But I don’t think it’ll win you over if you prefer the steering in a high-performing X5, which my testing notes reveal to be sharper, more eager, and more direct. 

I figure the ever-temping punch of its crushing torque and strong bite from the well-tuned brakes are the stars of the iX’s performance. The brakes, specifically, lack the high-precision feel I expect in most high-performing BMW models at the very top of the pedal, though they build stopping power precisely and strongly when worked hard, and panic stops are fast, confidence-inspiring and consistent. The handling is flatter and stickier than I expected, thanks in no small part to the low centre of gravity enabled by the floor-mounted battery. If its size and shape leave anything to question, a quick test-drive will reveal that the iX M60 can happily move like something smaller and lighter when called upon — and that it enjoys frequent and extensive workouts on ramps, winding backroads, and merge lanes.

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Basically, the M60’s handling and braking capabilities give drivers access to thrilling G-forces delivered with that signature sense of point-and-shoot confidence you get when you’re backed up by big power and big brakes. Still, the steering wheel feels too big and thick in my hands, and I wished for a more natural shape and position to the thumb grips. I enjoyed this performance a little more as a hot-rod than a corner carver.

Still, as M-designated utility models tend to, the iX M60 uses an array of the latest tech to plaster a grin on the driver’s face by way of a driving feel that’s effortless and encouraging despite its weight. On one hand, it’s probably the most comfortable and quiet M-designated models I’ve ever driven. On the other, there’s a wild split personality with that rocket thruster torque always at the ready.

To this writer’s ear, the synthetic sound effects are no match for a combustion-powered M engine, and an occasional full-throttle facelift was required to convince me that I don’t miss power curves and gear shifting quite as much as I thought.

Though I left my tester wishing for a revised steering wheel, slight improvement to braking feel and some more easily accessed front cupholders, the iX M60 is ultimately a a machine that gives drivers a lot of cool stuff to try, and makes sure they have a good time doing it.