Every other headline you’ll be reading today is about the new 3 Series and its M350 xDrive six-cylinder sibling, but BMW is also rolling out a different kind of M-badged 3er. Meet the first-ever i3 M60, an M Performance version of the i3 electric sedan that debuted earlier this year.
While specs remain under wraps since the car won’t go on sale until next year, the press shots reveal the car in its entirety. Better yet, BMW has already decked out the i3 M60 with optional M Performance Parts, which supposedly bring it closer to the more aggressive look of the electric M3 coming next year. Plenty of carbon-fiber extras are available, and I'm sure they'll charge a pretty penny for each one.
However, a big piece of the puzzle is still missing. BMW may say the i3 M60 is “ultra-potent,” but it deliberately leaves out how much power it actually makes. We do know it has a pair of electric motors for all-wheel drive. We can safely assume it’ll comfortably outpunch the regular i3 50 xDrive, which is rated at 463 horsepower and 475 pound-feet (645 Newton-meters) of torque.
The BMW i3 M60 Will Be Properly Quick
Consequently, it should also be much quicker to 62 mph (100 km/h) than the 4.7 seconds needed by the standard electric 3 Series sedan. Flat out, we imagine it’ll go faster than the 124 mph (200 km/h) at which the non-M variant runs out of puff. Well, BMW sets an electronic top-speed limiter, but you get the idea.
Using the EPA testing procedure, BMW estimates the i3 50 xDrive can do anywhere from 446 to 468 miles (718 to 753 kilometers) on a single charge, but logic tells us the M-flavored model won’t be as efficient. Over in Europe, the regular i3 is rated at a whopping 567 miles (912 kilometers) in the more relaxed WLTP cycle. Still, again, the M Performance model is unlikely to match that given its sharper focus.
As for pricing, the house of M will obviously command a premium. In the U.S., the 2027 i3 50 xDrive starts at $62,850, including destination charges. We reckon the i3 M60 will cost more than the spicy M350 xDrive we mentioned earlier, which starts at $67,250 before you start throwing options at it. Of course, these M Performance trinkets, which are also coming to the gas model, will inevitably drive up the price.
The Full-Fat M3 Electric Is Coming Soon
2027 should also bring the full-fat electric M3, packing four motors and fake (sorry, simulated) gear changes. As for another generation of the inline-six model, it's not expected to arrive until the following year. Rumor has it the gas-fueled sedan will be sold strictly with all-wheel drive and an automatic transmission, but this isn't official until BMW says so. Even if the next ICE-powered M3 goes xDrive-only, it’s likely to get a pure rear-wheel-drive mode like the current-generation model and the upcoming M350.
All these cars might be available as more practical wagons later this decade, but it remains to be seen which, if any, Touring models will get a U.S. visa. America missed out on the outgoing M3 Touring, but it did get the long-roof M5, which has proven quite a success. Hopefully, that has convinced BMW's higher-ups to approve more wagons for North America. Fingers crossed.
2027 BMW i3 M60
The New BMW 3 Series And i3 Rollout Begins Q1 2027
Meanwhile, the first order of business is to roll out the i3 50 xDrive alongside the M350 xDrive in the first quarter of 2027, when the four-cylinder 330 and 330 xDrive models are also scheduled to arrive. A plug-in hybrid 3 Series is coming to Europe next year, where diesel is dead, by the way, but availability beyond the continent is unknown for now. The lower-powered 318 and 320 gas models aren't coming to the U.S. either.
