- BMW’s electric X5 M prototype has appeared on test in Germany.
- Four electric motors could deliver up to 900 hp with individual control.
- EV builds reportedly begin in 2028, but V8 fans will get their fix too.
BMW’s new X5 family, including the first ever electric iX5, is barely out of the delivery room, but the M division is already plotting something considerably more unhinged. A heavily camouflaged prototype spotted pounding around Germany looks like an X5 M, except there’s one rather important ingredient missing. Exhaust pipes. Yep, this bruiser appears to run entirely on electrons.
Related: BMW’s Latest X5 Out-Rooms The X7 And Has An 8K Cinema, But It’s Not For You
BMW hasn’t confirmed exactly what we’re looking at, but the clues are piling up. The prototype wears a much chunkier kidney grille treatment than the regular X5 and iX5, giving its nose the sort of visual aggression you’d expect from a full-fat M model. Instead of the regular X5/iX5’s tall, skinny 1970s-style kidneys, this one has fat, six-sided ones.
Cooling Over Combustion
Since there’s no V8 hiding behind that closed grille, the extra openings lower down have other jobs. An electric M SUV driven hard still produces plenty of heat, and keeping its massive 144 kWh battery, motors and brakes happy requires serious cooling.
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Those brakes certainly look ready for punishment. Large drilled discs sit behind the wheels, paired with six-piston calipers at the front, while the rear gets a racier bumper and an additional spoiler perched above the existing roof spoiler. But no quad tailpipes, of course.
Although the iX5 rides on an updated version of the old X5’s CLAR platform, and not the dedicated Neue Klasse architecture used on its iX3 little brother, the electric X5 M is still expected to cram in four motors, effectively giving each wheel its own source of shove. BMW’s software can then juggle torque independently, potentially delivering outrageous traction and handling tricks without relying on a conventional mechanical differential.
Porsche Cayenne Lays Down the Gauntlet
Power should be somewhere around 900 hp (912 PS / 671kW) sources say, and really, it needs to be in that ballpark, to be competitive with Porsche’s new Cayenne Electric. The X5 i60 already puts out 570 hp (578 PS / 425 kW) and the top-spec Turbo Electric makes 845 hp (857 PS / 630 kW) in normal running, but can pump out as much as 1,139 hp (1,156 PS / 850 kW) on overboost. Whatever the final figure, this should be the quickest X5 M yet.
BMW reportedly won’t badge this monster iX5 M. The electric model is expected to simply wear the X5 M name, reflecting M’s plan to treat battery power as another drivetrain choice rather than create a separate performance identity. Same goes for the first ever electric M3 hitting dealers next year.
The electric X5 M won’t debut for a year or two with production scheduled to begin sometime in the first half of 2028. But it isn’t the only performance X5 heading our way. An electric X5 M70 is also in the works, and, to the relief of ICE-loving M fans, so are a V8-powered X5 M70 and X5 M.
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