The new BMW i5 hasn’t exactly received unanimous praise, as opinions seem to be mixed, however its receptions has been far better than many of BMW’s other recent releases. I personally think it looks rather good and is certainly a massive step up from cars like the 7 Series, XM, and even the 4 Series. With a sharp design, normal looking kidney grilles, and a fabulous interior, the new 5er is one of the best designs from BMW in ages. Thankfully, we had the chance to see it in person at the absolutely jaw-dropping Villa d’Este on Lake Como.
If you haven’t already noticed by these photos, Lake Como is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. In fact, as I write this I’m looking up real estate listings near Lake Como and figuring out how much my non-essential internal organs are worth on the black market. So, as you can imagine, it’s the perfect place to debut a car because the backdrop helps make any car look good.
More specifically, one of the cars you see in this photo gallery is the BMW i5 M60, which will be the fastest, most exciting version of the electric 5 Series. It’s also going to be the fastest 5 Series of any kind until the G90-generation BMW M5 debuts. Oddly, that car will be a plug-in hybrid and not a full battery-electric vehicle (BEV) like the i5 M60.
In its max power launch mode, the i5 M60 makes 590 horsepower and 605 lb-ft of torque, which makes it almost as powerful as the F90-generation BMW M5. According to BMW, it can get from 0-60 mph in 3.8 seconds but we suspect, as with most BMWs, it will be quite a bit quicker than that. So a 3.5-second time but be realistic. It is frustrating to see BMW keep some sort of arbitrary hierarchy alive by making the iX M60 more powerful than the i5 M60, despite them having the same powertrain. If anything, the 5 Series—the model that’s existed for decades—deserves to make more power than the iX, which just got here five minutes ago. The i5 M60 is capable of more power and performance and it’s a shame BMW hamstrung it.
Still, we’re just happy that it’s here and good looking. It isn’t perfect and I wouldn’t call it beautiful but it’s cool and interesting looking, which can’t be said of the 7 Series or XM. So let’s take what we can get and appreciate the BMW i5 for what it is—a handsome looking, high-performance, electric sedan with a superb interior.
