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      05-19-2021, 11:45 AM   #1
eddiehaug
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Impressions after attending a private viewing of the new BMW iX



This is with regards to the invite I received to attend a private viewing of the iX a few days ago, as described here: https://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/s....php?t=1825536

Today, for a whole 10 mins, I saw and "experienced" the new iX in person.

The car I saw today has the full leather red interior and red exterior (which actually looks more spectacular in pictures than in person), exactly as the one in the pictures. Another local BMW dealer got the one in blue with the fabric interior.

The exterior:

It looks pretty much the same as in the pictures, is neither better nor worse looking. In my opinion, and unlike the 4 series, this car is not prettier in real life. The inside area of the grill is supposed to be self-repairing from scratches and small stones hitting it on the road.

On top of the grill is the front camera, while on the lower part there are sensors and below the grill is the radar.

The lights are as in the pictures. The laser light is located in the inner corner of the headlight and there is a decorative blue line in the bottom part of the module.

The door handles cannot be pulled. They rather have a button inside the handle which it presses when you do the normal "pull" of the door. The doors in this trim, the Fully Charged, have soft-close.

The door's locking sound is nothing like what we're used to in a car of this class, such as the X5 for example. They sound like a much cheaper car, though according to my sales rep is because they're frameless. I'm not sure that's the actual reason though.

The hood cannot be opened, only the logo opens as seen in videos.

The Interior

It seems BMW has gone to great lengths to keep the weight of the car as low as possible, and so you can see carbon fiber on different places, such as on the B-pilar, on the frame of the luggage compartment, etc. This, in my opinion, looks horrible.

Another thing they seem to have done is to replace metal for plastic (or carbon fiber) in different places where you would expect metal. You definitely don't get the same feeling of being in front of a high-end car, as you do when you see an X5. Even my 3-series feels more premium than the iX.

The seats are like taken directly from a very expensive and comfy couch: they are very thick, very comfy, but I'm not sure in a good way. As seen in pictures, you can move the seat up, down, forward, back, and recline it from the controls on the door. Any other adjustments, however, have to be done from the infotainment screen. The seats include heating, ventilation and massage function.

The climate controls are always visible in the infotainment screen, and you have a ton of options for adjustment, all in software though.

The seats in the back are comfy as well, and the floor is completely flat. On the back you have controls for the 4-zone AC.

On the driver seat things are quite weird. I got the feeling of sitting on a very comfy van, but not on a BMW. The center console has the very unfortunate layout we've seen in pictures, with the controls "in the air", while under it you have space for a couple of bottles. The armrest storage is very deep and big, and it opens as in the 5-series, i.e. one button and it splits in two.

The iDrive physical controls are exactly as in the picture, but though the've gone with the crystal effect on the gear selector and a supposedly fancy wood effect for the buttons around the knob, it all feels plasticky and a bit cheap.

In front of the mid-console there is quite a bit of empty space, i.e. between the two front seats, something that contributes to the feeling of sitting in a van.

The steering wheel has that hexagonal shape seen in pictures, and it's not possible to spec the car with a rounded wheel. The buttons on the steering wheel are ok, and the steering wheel heating must be activated from iDrive, i.e. no physical buttons for it.

The doors open with a button, but there's an emergency opener under the door handle. There is good room for a bottle and other items in the door as well.

The car comes with ambient light as standard, and there is a led along the top of the door that lights up red if any door is open, something you can see from the exterior of the car.

The infotainment system uses iDrive 8. I checked it quickly and it looks more like a UI refresh of iDrive 7 than something completely different. The screens are very high-res and look nice, though the overall layout of everything inside the car is kinda weird. Again, you have that feeling of sitting in a van, not in an almost USD120K (without VAT or other charges) luxury SUV.

The back seats split in three, so you can easily have skies or other long items plus passengers in the back.

Finally, the luggage compartment is OK in size, not the biggest, but more or less what you would expect. There is a big underfloor storage compartment as well, where you can put the typical net that comes with this kind of cars.



In conclusion, I would personally not buy this car. For this kind of money, I would rather sacrifice some equipment and get an X5 instead of the iX. Where I live, we're being pushed into buying electric cars, and it may well be that the i4 will be exactly what I've been waiting for, but the iX is definitely not it.
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Last edited by eddiehaug; 05-19-2021 at 11:54 AM..
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      05-19-2021, 12:52 PM   #2
volodp
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Many thanks for your feedback. Very interesting.
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      05-19-2021, 07:28 PM   #3
stein_325i
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Thanks for the very detailed post and information. The interior of the vehicle is what I'm most curious about and want to try out since it will likely influence many other models in the range. It sounds like the removal of many key hardware buttons will likely take some time to adjust to.
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      05-30-2021, 03:02 PM   #4
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Great input. Thanks.I was thinking to buy one after my x7 lease is over, but I don't think so.
Why ix can not have a frunk? What Tesla can do that Bmw can not?
BTW 300 miles range is so "yesterday ish"
I'm looking at i4 now but I'm guessing it will not be much better than ix.
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      05-31-2021, 05:22 AM   #5
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i3 has a frunk.
My Tesla had a frunk, but I very very rarely used it. Currently have an i3 and have never used its frunk.

Wouldn't miss it at all.
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      06-03-2021, 05:29 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JorgenM View Post
i3 has a frunk.
My Tesla had a frunk, but I very very rarely used it. Currently have an i3 and have never used its frunk.

Wouldn't miss it at all.
The car is that big it doesn't really need a Frunk, looking at the build videos the hood/bonnet is on gas struts so at least it can be opened (I assume) unkike the i8
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