The second-generation iX3 has proven that BMW can build an EV to rival the best coming out of Asia. Now, the German brand has launched the high-performance iX3 M60 xDrive, eager to show it can build not only an efficient EV, but one that packs a serious punch.

Like other iX3 models, the M60 xDrive has a sizeable 112.2 kWh battery pack that powers motors at the front and rear axles. It’s the rear motor that’s received most of BMW’s attention, featuring a new stator and a more powerful inverter, contributing to a combined 603 horsepower and 645 pound-feet (874 Nm) of torque. BMW says the iX3 M60 xDrive needs just 3.9 seconds to hit 62 mph (100 km/h), making this electric SUV quicker than a rear-wheel drive BMW M3. Not too shabby.

Read: BMW’s New iX3 Can Physically Refuse To Let You Open Your Own Door

Not only does the M60 xDrive accelerate harder than any normal iX3, but the top speed has also been raised to 149 mph (240 km/h) thanks to a longer gear ratio. Just like other iX3 models, this version supports DC fast charging speeds of up to 400 kW, and AC charging at 15.4 kW. Curiously, BMW hasn’t released a driving range figure for the M60 xDrive, nor has it said how long it takes to charge the battery.

BMW’s ‘Heart of Joy’

It’s not just more power and torque that makes the iX3 M60 xDrive a little special. It includes BMW’s ‘Heart of Joy’ computer working alongside the new BMW M Dynamic Performance Control Driving Stack, ensuring this SUV delivers the type of handling you’d expect from a true M car. BMW also says it’s refined the EV’s regenerative braking system, ensuring it stops more smoothly than any of its other models.

While this isn’t a fully-fledged M model, the iX3 M60 xDrive comes fitted as standard with Adaptive M Suspension and electronically controlled dampers, which will also play a key part in the overall dynamics and handling. There’s also an updated and improved variable steering rack ratio that adjusts the effort depending on the drive mode.

Perhaps the single biggest handling upgrade is the fitment of an electronically controlled M Sport differential at the rear axle. Tweaks have also been made to the anti-roll bar links, and the underbody also includes more front-end bracing.

What About The Design?

While there’s plenty to differentiate the M60 xDrive from other iX3 versions under the skin, it doesn’t look dramatically different from the outside. The most obvious change is the distinctive light elements on either side of the kidney grilles, in addition to the availability of yellow driving lights. All iX3 M60 xDrive models also come standard with the M Sport package and the BMW Iconic Glow exterior package, the latter of which includes selectable lighting elements at the front and at the rear. Other changes include new standard 21-inch M wheels and several optional 21- and 22-inch wheels.

The cabin is also all very familiar. All the same core components as other iX3s remain, including the Panoramic iDrive system, the angled central infotainment display, and an optional 3D head-up display. Fitted as standard is an M Sport steering wheel with special Boost Mode and M Mode buttons. BMW has also equipped the M60 xDrive with M Sport seats with 10-way power adjustment and massage functions. Distinctive M graphics and colors are also used throughout.

Several apps specific to the M60 xDrive are also available. These include the M Cockpit app, which tracks and displays key vehicle signals and driving dynamics data, as well as the M Drag Meter app. A 13-speaker audio system with Dolby Atmos is also fitted as standard equipment.

BMW has yet to announce US pricing for the iX3 M60 xDrive, but it has confirmed US orders will open at the end of January.

BMW M GmbH was founded in 1972, and it’s just reached an important milestone. The one-millionth vehicle recently rolled off the assembly line in Munich, Germany.

The model was an M3 with a BMW Individual Fire Orange III paint job. It was presented to Peter Weber, head of BMW Group Plant Munich, by BMW M CEO Franciscus van Meel.

More: BMW M3 EV Lays Down 11s Trying To Shake Xiaomi At The Ring

The executive said, “BMW M combines road and racetrack capabilities with everyday practicality. The one-millionth BMW M vehicle shows that these values are still very much appreciated by our customers, 40 years after the market launch of the first BMW M3.”

The automaker said surprisingly little about the car, but it appears to be an M3 Competition. The model has a twin-turbo 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine that has outputs of 503 hp (375 kW / 510 PS) and 523 hp (390 kW / 530 PS). When equipped with all-wheel drive, the sedan can rocket from 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) in 3.4 seconds before hitting a limited top speed of 155 mph (250 km/h).

Of course, the current model is living on borrowed time as BMW recently introduced the eighth-generation 3-Series. In fact, the company noted the Munich plant will build only fully electric vehicles starting in 2027.

The automaker is investing around €650 ($732) million into the facility, and i3 production started in August. The plant will eventually build the M3 EV as well.

BMW M3 EV Teased

BMW is staying tight-lipped about the M3 Electric, but it released new images of a camouflaged prototype. It closely echoes the concept that was introduced in June, but features a toned-down design.

As you can see, it has a less aggressive front bumper and a smaller splitter. The car also adopts conventional mirrors and flush-mounted door handles. Designers went on to give the road-going model a more traditional rear end, which eschews the boy racer aesthetic.

Despite a number of changes, the production model keeps the yellow headlight graphics and squared-off lower lighting units from the concept. We can also see a ventilated hood and a small rear spoiler.

BMW is keeping specifications a closely guarded secret, but the M3 EV is expected to have a quad-motor powertrain. The rumored output has been all over the map, with numbers ranging from 691 hp (515 kW / 700 PS) to 986 hp (735 kW / 1,000 PS). However, the Mercedes-AMG C-Class Electric is expected to have a tri-motor powertrain with around 789 hp (588 kW / 800 PS), so BMW could also land somewhere around there.

No matter how good the 2028 M3 EV is, it’s going to be missing some of the current (and next) gas car’s calling cards, including the signature quad tailpipe setup. But one thing that won’t change is the M3’s ability to lay down a couple of big curling lines of rubber on a corner exit.

We know this because our spy photo guys were positioned at just the right spot to see an electric M3 prototype push a little harder than normal while hot-lapping at the Nurburgring. Why was the driver pushing harder? The yellow sedan closing in from behind might have something to do with it.

Related: The BMW M3 Is Going Electric, But Not Every M3

It’s a Chinese Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, which you might recall was for a while the fastest production EV at the Ring. The 1,526 hp (1,547 PS / 1,138 kW) sedan recorded 7:04.96 in 2025, but has since been relegated down the league table by the Yangwang U9 Extreme (6:59.157) and Manthey-kitted Porsche Taycan Turbo GT (6:55.53).

We don’t yet know how much power the electric M3 will make, though the base version probably isn’t going to match the SU7’s output, or the 1,341 hp (1,360 PS / 1,000 kW) of the 2025 Vision Driving Experience concept. BMW M boss Frank van Meel has even been quoted by Evo as saying it “makes no sense to drive with 1000 horsepower…because it’s not controllable.”

Trades Brute Force For Agility

Instead, the regular M3 EV is expected to generate far less power. The Hyundai Ioniq N makes 641 hp (650 PS), and no one who has driven one ever got out suggesting it could do with a bit more oomph. BMW will probably feel the need to move the needle, perhaps closer to 790 hp (800 PS). But still keep way below the four-figure outputs of EVs like the SU7 Ultra.

In a way, and I know this sounds perverse when we’re talking about a heavy EV, it’s like BMW is remembering what made the original M3 so much fun, and acknowledging that most EVs have got it wrong. The E30 wasn’t outrageously quick, even when new, but it was agile and felt real-world fast. And BMW’s M team wants the gas-free M3 to be, too.

So it’ll have four electric motors, allowing it to run in either rear- or all-wheel drive mode, and it’ll feature agility-boosting torque vectoring capabilities. Which should mean that even if you have to pull your M3 over to let one of those power-powered Chinese EVs past, you’ll probably be the one wearing the bigger grin.

SH Proshots

BMW’s all-electric M3 is just around the corner, debuting a couple of months ago as a concept and set to be sold alongside the combustion model we all know and love. While it’d be easy to assume the EV, perhaps badged the iM3, is only being built for regulatory compliance, the German brand insists that’s not the case.

The boss of BMW’s M division, Frank van Meel, says the electric M3 isn’t being built because BMW has to do it, but instead because it wants to give customers the choice of either an EV or a car using combustion power, hence why it’s still committed to its six- and eight-cylinder engines.

Read: BMW’s New Electric M3 Proves The Concept Wasn’t Kidding

“We are not doing this because it has to be done, but because we are convinced you can build a fast and even better car this way,” van Meel told Motor1 while speaking about the electric M3. “The timing has to be right, though. It only works if we can do it 100 percent the way we want to do it.”

A New Platform

The key enabler for the quad-motor M3 is BMW’s Neue Klasse platform, which allows the car to be developed from the ground up rather than relying on a pre-existing architecture that might have required modifications to support a large battery pack and powerful electric motors. “We said we could only make a high-performance M with four electric motors, torque vectoring, individual control, a central control unit, and our own software,” he added, noting the car has to feel “M-like.”

It’s possible some BMW M enthusiasts may feel like they’re being force-fed a high-powered EV they don’t necessarily want. However, van Meel says the company does “not decide for our customers what they have to drive,” but rather wants to “build cars that we ourselves love” and that buyers can choose whether they want an EV or a combustion-powered car.

The new model, previewed with the M Concept Neue Klasse, draws on the design of the standard i3 but includes all the upgrades you’d expect of an M car, including flared arches, new bumpers, distinctive wheels, and a custom hood. Chances are, the production model will look very similar.

In terms of power, BMW M has revealed that the concept includes four motors, and while horsepower hasn’t been confirmed, the production car is tipped to have between 700 hp and 1,000 hp. Expect to see the first-ever electric M3 presented in its final form next year.