BMW dropped a new generation of the X5. It’s big. It’s versatile. It comes in gasoline, diesel, electric, hybrid, and even hydrogen forms. Five powertrain types.
But you know what’s missing at launch? The noise.
The inline-six engines are there. They are plenty loud if you want them to be. But the big one, the eight-cylinder heart, isn’t ready for prime time. At least not yet.
Tucked away in a dense press release about this Spartanburg-built monster, BMW confirmed the 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 is still alive. It will arrive in the X5 line in 2027, likely as the X5 M60.
Yes. Without the “i” at the end.
BMW is stripping the letter from their gas models. The “i” belongs to electric now. Clean branding. Or just branding.
The V8 version won’t launch with the rest of the family. You wait a year.
Most enthusiasts won’t care about the wait because it isn’t a full-blown M560 M Performance hybrid. It won’t have that heavy battery pack dragging down the rear. It’s a purer thing. A mild hybrid system might tag along. A 48-volt setup. Negligible weight gain compared to a plug-in. It matters less. You want torque. You want noise.
The V8 experience is pure. Not compromised. Not yet.
M Performance and the waiting game
There is an M60e version at launch. A plug-in hybrid. It won’t sell in the United States, so American fans can ignore it for now. BMW is also whispering about a hotter electric version of the X5, essentially a muscular iX5 derivative.
A true, full-fat X5 M is still a rumor. No official date. Maybe 2028. Maybe electric, maybe gas, maybe both. Munich won’t say. They play it cool.
This current generation of the X5 will last forever. Or at least until the early 2030s, which in car years is eternity. That means this V8 has a long life ahead of it.
The next X7 gets one too in 2027 as a facelifted M Performance model. Alpina, BMW’s high-speed boutique tuner, is working on a V8 seven series and likely an X7. The cylinder count is secure.
What about twelve?
The V12 lives on.
Just not in a BMW.
The 6.75-liter twin-turbo V12 built in Hams Hall, UK, belongs exclusively to Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royce scrapped their plan to go all-electric by 2030. They aren’t going electric anytime soon. That engine stays on the line.
Don’t expect it to trickle down to the blue and white oval.
Euro 7 is the enemy
Mercedes-AMG gets the credit for shouting about keeping the V8. BMW just… keeps building it. There was never an announcement killing large engines. Just quiet persistence.
Here is the snag though.
Output.
Europe wants cleaner air. Euro 7 regulations are looming. They are strict. Unreasonably so.
BMW had to nerf the power in the M5 and the XM to pass the sniff test. They took away horsepower. Just to keep it legal.
The X5 M60 in America might roar with full force. The one in Germany might whisper. Will it lose those Bavarian horses? We don’t know yet.
Does it matter to you if the number on the sticker drops?
