[Paladin1]

Originally Posted by ppagiga

Ty for everything Hugo.

Is there a spare or an option for one ?

Looks like BMW has gone for the "Mobility Kit" a la Audi, and no RFT. I'm assuming partly for weight to squeeze out the maximum advertisable range, and partly for space. I never actually used my Audi kit over about 20k, but it would have been easier than changing a tire so a reasonable trade-off. With concierge services, AAA et al, changing a tire on the roadside becomes less important in urban and highway settings - and is never a good idea today. The most utility for a spare is in off-road and remote areas, and just like some Audi owners you could throw a compact in the cargo area or on top with rails (or on a tow rig), but I expect a minimum number of iX drivers will be headed to Silver City, Idaho in their $100k electrics (charging being just one complicating factor)....

[hugo_nz]

Originally Posted by ppagiga

Ty for everything Hugo.

Is there a spare or an option for one ?

As above no spare at all. It’s curious though since audi managed to cram a space saver spare in the e-tron underfloor trunk area.

[sahajesh]

Originally Posted by Paladin1

Looks like BMW has gone for the "Mobility Kit" a la Audi, and no RFT. I'm assuming partly for weight to squeeze out the maximum advertisable range, and partly for space. I never actually used my Audi kit over about 20k, but it would have been easier than changing a tire so a reasonable trade-off. With concierge services, AAA et al, changing a tire on the roadside becomes less important in urban and highway settings - and is never a good idea today. The most utility for a spare is in off-road and remote areas, and just like some Audi owners you could throw a compact in the cargo area or on top with rails (or on a tow rig), but I expect a minimum number of iX drivers will be headed to Silver City, Idaho in their $100k electrics (charging being just one complicating factor)....

Intrigued about Silver City - what's the big deal with this place?

[Paladin1]

Originally Posted by sahajesh

Intrigued about Silver City - what's the big deal with this place?

One of the few real Western "ghost towns" in Idaho that is preserved "as-is" and is - sort of - accessible. And a true part of the old "Wild West" mining culture. It actually still has seasonal residents, and a - sort of - working hotel. Dates from the 1860s, and once had 400 homes and a population of almost 3,000 (the Winter population now is 1 - an average of 5-6' of snow in Winter). It's also on top of the 8,000' Owyhee Mountains, and once was a fairly challenging drive to get to. It was part of a collection of "towns" and mining camps all over the mountains, and one of the major silver mining areas of the West ($60M) - it was even electrified in 1890 (although not now), and had the first telegraph and newspaper in the territory. Over the years it has become a tourist-y attraction, now with a semi-graded dirt road accessible for about half the year, and some of the homes fully-ish restored, but it once was a point of pride to have driven the "Silver City Road" (road being a loose collection of semi-cleared areas up the mountain), and to see it as it was when the owners stepped away, sometimes with their possessions still intact and the coffee pot on the stove. Still a fun drive and fun to explore as a day trip, but I'm pretty confident I wouldn't be taking an iX or even my X5 over the much "improved" road now, although you can drive it in ideal conditions in a not-low-slung car today over what is pretty much a rough dirt road. There are two roads - you want the dirt road. Really. Charles Kuralt came up in a helicopter I believe in the 1980s. I drove it in a fully offroad-equipped, locking axle knobby-tired front-winch Bronco (that could climb up a wall) back in the day, and it was, um, "challenging."

[sahajesh]

Originally Posted by Paladin1

One of the few real Western "ghost towns" in Idaho that is preserved "as-is" and is - sort of - accessible. And a true part of the old "Wild West" mining culture. It actually still has seasonal residents, and a - sort of - working hotel. Dates from the 1860s, and once had 400 homes and a population of almost 3,000 (the Winter population now is 1 - an average of 5-6' of snow in Winter). It's also on top of the 8,000' Owyhee Mountains, and once was a fairly challenging drive to get to. It was part of a collection of "towns" and mining camps all over the mountains, and one of the major silver mining areas of the West ($60M) - it was even electrified in 1890 (although not now), and had the first telegraph and newspaper in the territory. Over the years it has become a tourist-y attraction, now with a semi-graded dirt road accessible for about half the year, and some of the homes fully-ish restored, but it once was a point of pride to have driven the "Silver City Road" (road being a loose collection of semi-cleared areas up the mountain), and to see it as it was when the owners stepped away, sometimes with their possessions still intact and the coffee pot on the stove. Still a fun drive and fun to explore as a day trip, but I'm pretty confident I wouldn't be taking an iX or even my X5 over the much "improved" road now, although you can drive it in ideal conditions in a not-low-slung car today over what is pretty much a rough dirt road. There are two roads - you want the dirt road. Really. Charles Kuralt came up in a helicopter I believe in the 1980s. I drove it in a fully offroad-equipped, locking axle knobby-tired front-winch Bronco (that could climb up a wall) back in the day, and it was, um, "challenging."

Cool - I'd love to drive this one day and spend some time there, sounds fascinating

[razor488]

I read in the motortrend review that it can memorize some tricky parking scenarios (up to 10). Does this mean that if you have a very tight single car garage, you can teach it to park itself in there so you don't have to thread the needle every time yourself?

[hugo_nz]

Originally Posted by razor488

I read in the motortrend review that it can memorize some tricky parking scenarios (up to 10). Does this mean that if you have a very tight single car garage, you can teach it to park itself in there so you don't have to thread the needle every time yourself?

Yes this is coming soon via an OTA update, and another update later in the year will allow you to execute the memorised manoeuvre from outside the car using the MyBMW app.

[cruzer666]

Originally Posted by hugo_nz

Yes this is coming soon via an OTA update, and another update later in the year will allow you to execute the memorised manoeuvre from outside the car using the MyBMW app.

Scary!

[razor488]

Originally Posted by hugo_nz

Yes this is coming soon via an OTA update, and another update later in the year will allow you to execute the memorised manoeuvre from outside the car using the MyBMW app.

I wonder how precise this is... because my garage only has mere inches on either side of clearance, and has to enter at an angle because of the way the driveway and garage line up. My wife has scuffed many a quarter panel parking this way.

[hugo_nz]

Originally Posted by razor488

I wonder how precise this is... because my garage only has mere inches on either side of clearance, and has to enter at an angle because of the way the driveway and garage line up. My wife has scuffed many a quarter panel parking this way.

From what I’ve seen the system works in a way similar to the reverse assistant in that it memorises the movements and locations. You store the manoeuvre by manually recording a macro, essentially, of you getting in to the parking space. The car then mimics those actions when it’s instructed to do so. The reverse assistant worked pretty well in my testing so I have hope for the park assistant. We have a tricky parking situation at home as well which will test the assistant to the max :-)

[razor488]

So how does BMW compare to Tesla Autopilot or GM Super Cruise? Are we waiting for that "imminent" level 3 update to find out?

[PhilD]

Originally Posted by hugo_nz

Yes this is coming soon via an OTA update, and another update later in the year will allow you to execute the memorised manoeuvre from outside the car using the MyBMW app.

I’ll be really interested in this feature. We live in an urban area with a courtyard garden sized garden that we have gates into and can park in. That’s where the charger will be but we will usually park on the street. It’s quite narrow and I have to reverse the car to make room for the gates opening inwards, open the gates, then move out. Similarly when I park, I have to drive further back, close the gates then pull forward. If I could have those four manoeuvres programmed in and somehow do them with the app without being in the car, that would be *insanely* useful!!

[hugo_nz]

Originally Posted by razor488

So how does BMW compare to Tesla Autopilot or GM Super Cruise? Are we waiting for that "imminent" level 3 update to find out?

It doesn’t since hands off driving isn’t offered by BMW. Might be comparable once the L3 updates roll out.

[Paladin1]

Originally Posted by hugo_nz

It doesn’t since hands off driving isn’t offered by BMW. Might be comparable once the L3 updates roll out.

Actually TJA is hands-off and it works really well, but in very specific circumstances (divided highway, <40 mph). I used it in a cross-country trip a couple of years back on a US Interstate with semi-stalled traffic (German "stau") and it worked perfectly - steering, braking and acceleration/deceleration for more than 2 hours, hands-free. It did reduce fatigue.

[cruzer666]

Originally Posted by Paladin1

Actually TJA is hands-off and it works really well, but in very specific circumstances (divided highway, <40 mph). I used it in a cross-country trip a couple of years back on a US Interstate with semi-stalled traffic (German "stau") and it worked perfectly - steering, braking and acceleration/deceleration for more than 2 hours, hands-free. It did reduce fatigue.

On my X6 Function is called Extended Traffic Jam Assistant and it comes with the Driving Assistance Professional Package.

It is full hands off driving and in addition to what was mentioned, there's a Driver Attention Camera that's in the dashboard that is tracking your eyes and makes sure your eyes are on the road.

[razor488]

Is the parking assistant pro feature part of the driver assistant pro option?

[hugo_nz]

Originally Posted by razor488

Is the parking assistant pro feature part of the driver assistant pro option?

Depends on how BMW decides to bundle it in your country. My SA received confirmation from BMW that Parking Assistant Pro will (a) not be available as a retrofit on pre March 2022 cars and (b) not be offered as an OTA update on post March 2022 cars. It has to be specified at time of order from factory.

[asrgt]

Originally Posted by hugo_nz

Depends on how BMW decides to bundle it in your country. My SA received confirmation from BMW that Parking Assistant Pro will (a) not be available as a retrofit on pre March 2022 cars and (b) not be offered as an OTA update on post March 2022 cars. It has to be specified at time of order from factory.

That's interesting is there a hardware item missing from these builds ?
Its a shame really as for me one the one of the key draws to the IX is that it was going to allow for OTA updates to add features but if there just going to hide them all as must be packaged with purchase offering for no reason other than .. well $$$ from what I can tell then its a shame.

When I ordered in Feb this year there was no option for this however its now offered but only as part of a package that includes.

• Adaptive 2-Axle Air Suspension
• Parking Assistant Pro
• Integral Active Steering

[hugo_nz]

Originally Posted by asrgt

That's interesting is there a hardware item missing from these builds ?
Its a shame really as for me one the one of the key draws to the IX is that it was going to allow for OTA updates to add features but if there just going to hide them all as must be packaged with purchase offering for no reason other than .. well $$$ from what I can tell then its a shame.

When I ordered in Feb this year there was no option for this however its now offered but only as part of a package that includes.

• Adaptive 2-Axle Air Suspension
• Parking Assistant Pro
• Integral Active Steering

This is a screenshot of BMW's response to my SA when I asked:

1) Will Parking Assistant Professional be enabled via OTA software update on my car?

2) If Parking Assistant Professional is enabled via OTA software update is there any indication of when that update will be rolled out?

3) Will Parking Assistant Professional be available as Function On Demand through the BMW store?

4) Are there production week restrictions on the Parking Assistant Professional feature (i.e, will it be available for iX models built before March 2022)

[asrgt]

hugo_nz Thanks for clarification mate, that clears that up.

[grueber]

Originally Posted by razor488

I wonder how precise this is... because my garage only has mere inches on either side of clearance, and has to enter at an angle because of the way the driveway and garage line up. My wife has scuffed many a quarter panel parking this way.

My brother has a Tesla X. He used to use the auto park feature to park it into his garage. It has a large single door with a steel pole inside the garage that divides the space for two cars.

One time he let the Tesla auto park and the pole sheared off the side mirror. $5k repair.