The gasoline-powered G95 BMW X5 M is rumored to enter production in late 2028 and it won’t be the first X5 M of its generation to reach the assembly line. BMW M plans to start building the electric X5 M a few months earlier, the same electric-first order the division is following with the next M3.
We reported earlier this year that the electric X5 M is scheduled to start production in April 2028 at Plant Spartanburg in South Carolina. Both versions carry the G95 code and are expected to share that factory. According to our sources, the combustion model keeps the S68 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 as a mild hybrid and should land somewhere in the 600 hp range, while the electric one could go as high as 900 hp. Both numbers could change until production time.
Why The Electric X5 M Reaches Spartanburg First
BMW M is running the same play with the M3. BMW has confirmed that Munich will build the fully electric M3 (codename ZA0) from 2027, and that it will be called simply M3, with no “i†anywhere in the name. The gasoline G84 M3 follows in 2028 from Dingolfing, with sources pointing to a July start, which leaves well over a year between the two M3s.
The X5 M gap is a lot shorter, and the hardware probably explains why. The ZA0 and G84 are different cars: the electric M3 rides on the Neue Klasse architecture, the gas car stays on CLAR, and they come out of different plants. The two X5 Ms share a chassis code and a factory. Spartanburg started building the new G65 X5 in August and will add the plug-in hybrid and the electric iX5 there as well, so staggering two M versions by a few months looks more like a production-planning decision than an engineering one.
It also makes the X5 M the first M model offered with a V8 and a fully electric drivetrain under the same chassis code.
How Much Power Will The V8 BMW X5 M Make?
Probably about as much as the one on sale today. Currently, the S68 gets a 48-volt mild-hybrid system with a 9 kW (12 hp) electric motor built into the transmission, good for up to 200 Nm (148 lb-ft) of extra torque. That motor fills in before the turbos come on boost and smooths out the stop-start system, and it adds very little to the peak figure. An improved 48-volt MHEV could bring more power.
Earlier this year, sources put the G95’s output at 460 kW (616 hp). That’s the same rating as the current F95 X5 M Competition, which BMW quotes at 617 hp and 553 lb-ft in the U.S. and which already pairs the S68 with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system. The V8 won’t be exclusive to the M car, either. BMW has confirmed a V8 M Performance version of the new X5 for 2027, which we expect to be called X5 M60, so the S68 returns to the X5 lineup roughly a year before the full M version arrives.
Up To 900 hp Would Make It The Most Powerful BMW SUV Ever
Our sources say the electric X5 M could produce as much as 900 hp. That’s 152 hp more than the XM Label Red’s 748 hp, the most BMW has put in an SUV so far, and close to 300 hp more than the V8 X5 M is expected to make.
BMW hasn’t confirmed output, motor count, or battery size. We expect the four-motor layout from the electric M3, with one motor per wheel and BMW M’s software doing the job of a mechanical differential. Our sources have put the ZA0 itself in the 800 to 900 hp range, so a 900-hp X5 M would sit at the top of that bracket. If it uses the 147.8-kWh pack rumored for the electric X5, it would also carry the largest battery BMW has used so far.
The electric X5 M caps a ladder that starts with the iX5 60 xDrive, rated at 578 PS (about 570 hp), and continues with the iX5 M70 xDrive. That M Performance model is due in September 2027 with at least 650 hp expected. Prototypes of the X5 M have been testing in Germany with a taller, closed 3D kidney surround, bigger intakes than the iX5, a second roof spoiler element, and blue calipers over perforated discs. A market launch is expected in the summer of 2028.
The next-generation X6 M (G96) is expected to follow the same gas-and-electric split, though we don’t expect full M versions of it before 2029.
First published by https://www.bmwblog.com
