Playing spot the differences between the BMW iX xDrive50 and the BMW iX M60 is pretty easy—there really aren’t any. On paper, the iX M60 has more power, slightly more equipment, and better performance. But putting the two cars back-to-back, and actually driving them, reveals that their differences are subtle at best. Which is why, after my week with the iX M60, I was left wondering why you’d buy the iX M60 over its less expensive sibling.
The BMW iX M60 starts at $109,895, which is also almost $25,000 more expensive than the BMW iX xDrive50’s $85,095 starting price. For that extra money, you get more power, better performance, and some bronze accents. But those extras are barely noticeable.
When I pulled up to pick up the BMW iX M60, I honestly couldn’t tell if it was an M60 or an xDrive50 until I got closer and saw the bronze accents. I thought it was a mistake and the fleet team brought the wrong car up. Typically, M Performance cars come with more aggressive front air intakes and rear diffusers, sportier looking wheels, and maybe even some M-style mirrors.
Not this one, though. To play devil’s advocate, I get that it’s an electric car and many of the design elements that make an M Performance car look sporty have to do with its piston engine, such as larger front air intakes and exhausts. You also don’t want ultra sporty wheels on the iX, as you want aerodynamic wheels for better range. So it isn’t entirely fair to judge the iX M60 against, say, a BMW X5 M50.
However, just because BMW couldn’t use traditionally sporty design elements on the iX M60 doesn’t mean it couldn’t try something. The iX M60 is probably the laziest visual M Performance design I’ve see yet. And while the car isn’t bad looking, it is disappointing.
It’s no different inside, either. The BMW iX M60 looks almost identical to a similarly equipped iX xDrive50. My test car had some bronze accents inside too and it was better…
