[LittleJoe]

This video is in another language but watch how often the sun is reflected in his face from the glass controls while driving. I want soft-close doors but may pass on them because BMW bundled soft-close doors with the glass controls.

[LittleJoe]

And this video at 29:38

[ggalanis]

Originally Posted by LittleJoe

This video is in another language but watch how often the sun is reflected in his face from the glass controls while driving. I want soft-close doors but may pass on them because BMW bundled soft-close doors with the glass controls.

Happens right now with the glass shifter in my X5 but it will likely happen more often with the controls on the doors. I really don't think it is that big of a deal since you can move your head ever so slightly to avoid it, but I get that some may really be annoyed.

Someone on another thread joked around about painting them black.... but I think if it does bother people, you could likely add a tint film over them to make them smoky and I think that would really look nice and reduce the glare.

[slampert]

Yes, too bad the glass controls are not an "a la carte" option as they were on the 2020 X5. I don't want to forgo the soft closing doors or the center console upgrade.

Don't forget your shades !

[LittleJoe]

I'm going to pass on the glass controls. I can live without soft-close doors.

[daswartz]

Originally Posted by LittleJoe

I'm going to pass on the glass controls. I can live without soft-close doors.

BMW has had crystal/glass knobs for a long time. The guys who bashed the crystal controls in the videos were pretty negative in general. I watched at least a dozen of the videos and 2 of the 12+ were down on them. Could I live without them? Heck yeah, but it is my wife's car and she wants them. We'll see...

[LittleJoe]

Originally Posted by daswartz

BMW has had crystal/glass knobs for a long time. The guys who bashed the crystal controls in the videos were pretty negative in general. I watched at least a dozen of the videos and 2 of the 12+ were down on them. Could I live without them? Heck yeah, but it is my wife's car and she wants them. We'll see...

We have the crystal shifter and iDrive controller in our X7 but in general, using crystal in the car is not the issue. It is the placement of the crystal parts in the iX that is causing several reviewers to say pass on them. Of course the glare may not bother everyone but for me it's not worth the risk. And personally, I like the look of the black center control panel over the wood look. But to each his own and your wife wants the bling, the bling it shall be.

[ggalanis]

Originally Posted by LittleJoe

We have the crystal shifter and iDrive controller in our X7 but in general, using crystal in the car is not the issue. It is the placement of the crystal parts in the iX that is causing several reviewers to say pass on them. Of course the glare may not bother everyone but for me it's not worth the risk. And personally, I like the look of the black center control panel over the wood look. But to each his own and your wife wants the bling, the bling it shall be.

I too believe that the placement of them on the door causes the problem in more lighting conditions than where the X5/X7 have the crystals. The reason that so many reviews complained about it, is that a lot of them all did their test drive on the same day, following the same pre-determined route, in the same conditions at around the same time of day. So they all had the opportunity to experience it happening.

Honestly if you are on the fence, I would hold off on deciding for good until I could see how they both look and compare. With my X5 I originally hesitated with the crystal stuff but when I saw the two options in person, it helped me decide to go for it. You may not be in love with the crystal stuff, but you may hate the alternative more.

[Paladin1]

I have them on my current X5 (not on the doors however), and reflecting light has never been an issue, Winter or Summer. Love them.

[sward]

This has never been a problem in my iX. Not once.

[07e92]

I am opting it out although I want the soft close door too.

Another review stated the same on reflecting the sun at 9:16

[nosnoop]

Originally Posted by 07e92

I am opting it out although I want the soft close door too.
Another review stated the same on reflecting the sun at 9:16

Never had any issue with glass control with my X5.
I love them and would definitely order it for the iX. It makes the interior look so much better, and separates it apart from the interiors of most other cars.

[Evrim]

I am driving iX for some time already. I have never experienced such issue.

A few minutes of reviews may concentrate on some details but daily experience should be much more realistic than that.

[patrobX5]

Originally Posted by daswartz

but it is my wife's car and she wants them.

Originally Posted by LittleJoe

and your wife wants the bling, the bling it shall be.

Happy wife, happy life

[NiallG]

We have them in our iX. We didn't ask for them, but we were offered our car 6 months early by getting a cancelled order which had this option.

It does definitely happen. We are in Australia - just gone through weeks of super hot/sunny 30+ degree Celcius weather. That's probably not what most of you will experience in places like Europe though.

However, it's not all the time - the car direction needs to be angled at a specific direction against the current position of the sun. Even then, it's a really minor annoyance, and as long as you aren't majorly distracted it's not going to cause you to suddenly have an accident due to being blinded.

If you are deciding whether to pay extra for this, I'd say no (think it actually looks better without these) - but if it's part of a option pack which has other stuff you do want then it might be worthwhile. In Australia the Sunroof & soft close doors are bundled with the glass bits - so you might want these other things.

[ixhunter]

Another thread suggested replacing the entire center unit with a new part in the optional black, but this looks like a possibly expensive fix. here

Does anyone have ideas about how to "shrink wrap" a matte finish or apply a tint on these small parts? Something that won't interfere with the function still looks good, and ideally, be removable should you want to sell later.

I've got an iX on order and this is my single biggest concern, otherwise very excited!

[WattyB]

Not sure how much different the crystal controls are, but even the base model has the same problem. However, I will say the problem is not consistent and seems to (at least for me) only appear in very limited lighting conditions. Think I've placed by hand over the control like three times in the last few weeks because of the glare.

Wouldn't say it's even close to a dealbreaker, but maybe the full crystal controls are worse?

[deutsch100]

We now have two iX, one with soft close doors and crystals and one without.

LOVE the look of the crystals, and we have only had a few times where we got laser blinded with the sun hitting the crystals in the exact necessary spots for this to be a problem.

My spouse and I greatly prefer the non-crystal seat controls and non-crystal iDrive controller and volume knob.

But, we both like that the wood is smudge free (the shiny black is a hot mess), but the white writing on the wood is hard to see, whereas the font on the black is easier...but smudgy. LOL See where I am going...there is no better or worse. Both crystal vs. non-crystal have plus and minuses.

Our iX with crystals has soft close doors and this is nice, and of course sounds better being that the iX has crappy frameless doors (I am still shocked frameless doors are so popular and widely used).

But, most people do not know about soft close doors and end up slamming them anyways. I am not a fan of soft close doors, simply because unless you tell your passengers or remind your kid 567 times....you just have to sit there and wait for the cringe and internal gasp when your soft close doors get slammed like a 1980s Mercedes tank door

[ppagiga]

Originally Posted by LittleJoe

I'm going to pass on the glass controls. I can live without soft-close doors.

I can not live without soft close for frameless window/doors. Doors feel flimsy to me when I shut them - soft close helps

[razor488]

Dumb question - does the iX come with floor mats or do you have to buy them from the dealer?

[thorws]

Originally Posted by razor488

Dumb question - does the iX come with floor mats or do you have to buy them from the dealer?

I didn't notice floor mats on the list of standard stuff. My build sheet has a ZD9 black all weather floor mats ($240) and Z20 luggage compartment mat ($225) so I am thinking mats were not included. This order became mine when somebody canceled.. would be interesting to learn that the individual who ordered bought something unnecessary.

Then again, they ordered $160 "floating hub caps" on top of the 22' wheels.

[WorldTraveler]

Originally Posted by razor488

Dumb question - does the iX come with floor mats or do you have to buy them from the dealer?

Our iX came with carpeted mats. We purchased the plastic ones instead, due to melting snow and salt do a number on the carpeted ones.