BMW iX - anybody able to tell me what it's like in the wild?

[greggy50]

Unless you really need the extra space I would get the IX3.

The iX is hideous in the flesh, I have seen a couple and I can't believe the design was signed off.

I would also say the 40 model is a waste of time also as you really need the 50 for decent range & performance. The 40 is only 6.2 seconds to 60 which is pretty slow compared to rivals and given its only 70kwh usable and massive I suspect will only do about 180 miles in winter which for £85k with a decent specification simply isn't good enough.

I have seen decent deals on them however for the cost of the car which is probably due to the fact they don't appear to be shifting many.

Edited by greggy50 on Wednesday 3rd August 11:16

[oop north]

I drove a 40 for a couple of hours late last year. Didn’t really like it - ipace was much nicer to drive, and the boot was v poor for the sheer size of the thing. It felt to me like it was pretending to be sporty without actually being sporty. I preferred the xc90 phev that I drove about the same time, but I am more interested in a bit of comfort these days

[SWoll]

oop north said:

I drove a 40 for a couple of hours late last year. Didn’t really like it - ipace was much nicer to drive, and the boot was v poor for the sheer size of the thing. It felt to me like it was pretending to be sporty without actually being sporty. I preferred the xc90 phev that I drove about the same time, but I am more interested in a bit of comfort these days

Same story as the Polestar 3 being discussed. Boot space appears to be secondary to cabin space for most manufacturers, driven by the demands of the ever growing Chinese market.

The iPace, EQC, iX, iX3 all seem to have landed on 500 litres being the optimum size, yet the iX is considerably longer at 5m v 4,7m for the others. Our slightly shorter etron has 670 litres in comparison and plenty of rear room so not sure how BMW have managed it with a ground up design. Must be cavernous in the back?

[TheDeuce]

SWoll said:

oop north said:

I drove a 40 for a couple of hours late last year. Didn’t really like it - ipace was much nicer to drive, and the boot was v poor for the sheer size of the thing. It felt to me like it was pretending to be sporty without actually being sporty. I preferred the xc90 phev that I drove about the same time, but I am more interested in a bit of comfort these days

Same story as the Polestar 3 being discussed. Boot space appears to be secondary to cabin space for most manufacturers, driven by the demands of the ever growing Chinese market.

The iPace, EQC, iX, iX3 all seem to have landed on 500 litres being the optimum size, yet the iX is considerably longer at 5m v 4,7m for the others. Our slightly shorter etron has 670 litres in comparison and plenty of rear room so not sure how BMW have managed it with a ground up design. Must be cavernous in the back?

I don't mind this trend - so long as the rear seat fold flat, in which case you reclaim whatever space the rear cabin takes up anyway.

I often have a full car but for shorter journeys. If we need to carry a lot of stuff longer distance it's normally just the two of us sat up front. If we go longer distance as a larger group and need to carry a lot of luggage... train/plain/airport car.

If I had a larger boot, say 700 litres, I'm not sure what part of the above would really be enhanced. If I had four people in the car there still wouldn't space for four suitcases. I'd need something like a large people carrier to achieve much more in terms of people + luggage carrying practicality.

[SWoll]

TheDeuce said:

I don't mind this trend - so long as the rear seat fold flat, in which case you reclaim whatever space the rear cabin takes up anyway.

I often have a full car but for shorter journeys. If we need to carry a lot of stuff longer distance it's normally just the two of us sat up front. If we go longer distance as a larger group and need to carry a lot of luggage... train/plain/airport car.

If I had a larger boot, say 700 litres, I'm not sure what part of the above would really be enhanced. If I had four people in the car there still wouldn't space for four suitcases. I'd need something like a large people carrier to achieve much more in terms of people + luggage carrying practicality.

I agree. The amount of trips where you are 4 up with a full boot is IME tiny compared to the number 4 up with little or nothing back there. My comment was that in a 5m long SUV there should be acres of room for back seat passengers without needing to reduce the boot size by 30%? I'm 6.4 and can comfortably sit behind my driving position in the etron, just how much room do people need back there?

[TheDeuce]

SWoll said:

TheDeuce said:

I don't mind this trend - so long as the rear seat fold flat, in which case you reclaim whatever space the rear cabin takes up anyway.

I often have a full car but for shorter journeys. If we need to carry a lot of stuff longer distance it's normally just the two of us sat up front. If we go longer distance as a larger group and need to carry a lot of luggage... train/plain/airport car.

If I had a larger boot, say 700 litres, I'm not sure what part of the above would really be enhanced. If I had four people in the car there still wouldn't space for four suitcases. I'd need something like a large people carrier to achieve much more in terms of people + luggage carrying practicality.

I agree. The amount of trips where you are 4 up with a full boot is IME tiny compared to the number 4 up with little or nothing back there. My comment was that in a 5m long SUV there should be acres of room for back seat passengers without needing to reduce the boot size by 30%? I'm 6.4 and can comfortably sit behind my driving position in the etron, just how much room do people need back there?

Emerging markets love the luxury of space in their luxury vehicles - and increasingly so do many people over here. Stuff practicality, bigger is better and it's bigger for humans, not luggage.

Wait until they make an iX7, it'll probably be 3 feet longer than a Range Rover

[SWoll]

TheDeuce said:

Emerging markets love the luxury of space in their luxury vehicles - and increasingly so do many people over here. Stuff practicality, bigger is better and it's bigger for humans, not luggage.

Wait until they make an iX7, it'll probably be 3 feet longer than a Range Rover

Ahem..

[DMZ]

I don’t have any problems with the space configuration of the I-Pace and the passengers definitely like the space. It’s taken a full compliment of family and luggage to the airport several times. I rent a van whenever I need to carry anything big also to avoid damaging the interior. No need to have a huge boot for those rare occasions.

[TheDeuce]

DMZ said:

I don’t have any problems with the space configuration of the I-Pace and the passengers definitely like the space. It’s taken a full compliment of family and luggage to the airport several times. I rent a van whenever I need to carry anything big also to avoid damaging the interior. No need to have a huge boot for those rare occasions.

Same. And it's already the exact same dimensions as all the parking spaces in my town, so it's big enough!

[TheDeuce]

SWoll said:

TheDeuce said:

Emerging markets love the luxury of space in their luxury vehicles - and increasingly so do many people over here. Stuff practicality, bigger is better and it's bigger for humans, not luggage.

Wait until they make an iX7, it'll probably be 3 feet longer than a Range Rover

Ahem..

Wait.. what is that exactly?

[malc993]

We've had our poverty spec iX40 since April and have put about 5.5k miles on it, including a trip to France. Originally went for it due to the mega tax advantage of running it.

Everyone goes on about its looks, in reality you can't see what it looks like when you're in it and the interior is really nice. It is so much better finished, designed and robust than the RRS it replaced. It is also really comfortable and v quiet, and that is on the base wheels (?21inch) and coil springs.

The performance is more than adequate for a large SUV and it has that characteristic EV push off the line.

The range is a bit rubbish, granted. On average since we've run it, a range of ~200-210 miles is the norm. Obviously, that will go down further in the winter - we shall see. It is very cheap to run though. 600miles coming back from mid France cost less than £80 in juice. The Rangie would have cost probably 3 times as much in diesel.

In all, I am very happy with it and would happily recommend it, but don't spend a lot in the options bit of the configurator - its not worth it IMO.

[Silvanus]

SWoll said:

TheDeuce said:

Emerging markets love the luxury of space in their luxury vehicles - and increasingly so do many people over here. Stuff practicality, bigger is better and it's bigger for humans, not luggage.

Wait until they make an iX7, it'll probably be 3 feet longer than a Range Rover

Ahem..

What the hell is that? I'm sorry if I offend anyone but if you look at that and think 'that is the car for me!', you are probably someone who makes this planet a little bit worse.

[SWoll]

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the BMW XM Concept.

If you think the back is bad wait until you see the front.

https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/topics/discover/concept-c...

[TheDeuce]

SWoll said:

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the BMW XM Concept.

If you think the back is bad wait until you see the front.

https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/topics/discover/concept-c...

But the 'X' is now the X5 in EV form. But this is a phev. So is this a ne form of X5 or an entire new car, for the sake of it?

[SWoll]

TheDeuce said:

SWoll said:

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the BMW XM Concept.

If you think the back is bad wait until you see the front.

https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/topics/discover/concept-c...

But the 'X' is now the X5 in EV form. But this is a phev. So is this a ne form of X5 or an entire new car, for the sake of it?

Entirely new, high performance, high luxury. £150k+ starting price.

Think Bentley Betayga/Lambo Urus rival
.

[Silvanus]

SWoll said:

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the BMW XM Concept.

If you think the back is bad wait until you see the front.

https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/topics/discover/concept-c...

Let's see the front then

[TheDeuce]

SWoll said:

TheDeuce said:

SWoll said:

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the BMW XM Concept.

If you think the back is bad wait until you see the front.

https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/topics/discover/concept-c...

But the 'X' is now the X5 in EV form. But this is a phev. So is this a ne form of X5 or an entire new car, for the sake of it?

Entirely new, high performance, high luxury. £150k+ starting price.

Think Bentley Betayga/Lambo Urus rival
.

Jeez, feels a bit late to the party. I can't get excited about any new SUV that isn't electric, the EV powertrain basically fixes all of luxury performance SUVs historic problems, CoG, noise, performance, packaging.. and most importantly of all, less of a target for criticism if you're obviously worth millions but at least you're not running a 'guzzler'.

Don't get me wrong, I still adore ICE in sports cars... But not in SUV form.

[SWoll]

Silvanus said:

SWoll said:

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the BMW XM Concept.

If you think the back is bad wait until you see the front.

https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/topics/discover/concept-c...

Let's see the front then

What do you think the link is for?

I'd post a pic but wouldn't want to give unprepared and sensitive posters nightmares.

Edited by SWoll on Wednesday 3rd August 21:55

[raspy]

Just had a 3 hour test drive of the iX 40 M Sport, and overall, as a package, I really do like it. I thought it drove extremely well, it feels like a good car that just happens to be electric.

The demo car had the optional 22 inch rims (no air suspension but ride was surprisingly good given size of wheels) and it did not feel like a large car to drive, and so easy to park etc because of the amazing cameras and sensors. It's a very calming and luxurious drive, mostly because of the interior space, the comfort and how quiet it is (I'm sure they have stuffed loads of heavy sound proofing in the car) - It seems to work well whether going through narrow city streets or cruising on the motorway. Yes, it is heavy but it still stops and steers well, imho.

I'm well over 6 foot and there was masses of space behind me for someone 6'6" or taller to sit behind me.

The only issue (which might put off many buyers) is just how much of the interactions with the car require "learning" how to use the technology and that for whatever reason, sometimes, the features available don't always work first time round. I've heard the software on these is not entirely bug free.

Lots of things you can adjust, many of which are buried in menus on the touchscreen. Tesla make it much easier in that respect. Personally I would have preferred more buttons, but what can you do, this is where modern cars are heading.

The standard HK sound system was excellent, very loud! I was looking at the paper stats of 0-60 thinking it would be slow-ish and I would be wanting the quicker 50 model, but in the real world, I found the 40 had more than enough grunt to move quickly. Despite no paddles on steering wheel to alter regen levels, it's not that bad, especially if you set the regen to adaptive using the menu. The gigantic full colour heads up display is wonderful (My last two cars had a hud and I have gotten used to it)

Why is the charge port on the right hand side though? No frunk despite a massive bonnet is also not very impressive, and yes, for such a big vehicle, the boot is a tad on the small size, but one can't have everything.

I didn't bother checking efficiency during my drive. I was having too much fun. I know it's not as efficient as other big EVs, but my daily mileage is 50-60 miles max, so the range is more than adequate for me.

So I'm ordering one, just need to choose colour, wheels and options :-)

[gangzoom]

raspy said:

So I'm ordering one, just need to choose colour, wheels and options :-)

Am sure you will enjoy it, as I've said loads of them in Norway already, and on the road I personally think they look pretty decent for a larger SUV. All the reviews also suggest the iX is right up there with efficiency for a car its size.