[javapro]

So, I charged my car yesterday to 90% in my office parking garage and it showed the estimated range to be 304 miles (what I usually get this time of the year). I unplugged it and moved it to a different L2 charger on a lower level. At this point, the car wasn't charging as it reached the 90% charging target. It was still showing the 304 miles estimate range. When I came back to the car about an hour later, it started showing 258 miles of estimated range at the same 90% SoC! I increased the charging target to 95% just to see if charging would cause the estimate range to jump back to around 300 miles but it stayed at 258. Driving around didn't help either and the range started dropping in local street driving and went up a bit on the highway but it was still relative to the 258 miles of original estimate and no where close to 300 miles I would expect. Resetting the iDrive had no effect either.

I know that the estimated range is just an estimate. Also, I did notice that sometimes when I lock my car and come back to it the next day, this estimate drops by a 3-4 miles especially when it gets colder at night. But I've never seen the estimated range to drop by over 40 miles! Has anyone had this happen to their iX?

P. S. I requested a CarData report and it showed the same 103 kWh battery capacity as a month ago, so it doesn't look like it's a battery issue.

[ricerboi]

The battery is very temperamental. In temps of 45-80F on L2 charging to 100%, I will see anywhere from 285 to 320 miles. The battery health ranges from 91-97% also as does the usable capacity. I’ve already swapped from 98% DCFC to 98% L2 charging so that’s improved actual driving range about 15-20 miles but just get used to the range lottery. Buffer at least 15% extra range for your trips if you’re gonna get below 20% and more for winter.

[javapro]

Originally Posted by ricerboi

The battery is very temperamental. In temps of 45-80F on L2 charging to 100%, I will see anywhere from 285 to 320 miles. The battery health ranges from 91-97% also as does the usable capacity. I’ve already swapped from 98% DCFC to 98% L2 charging so that’s improved actual driving range about 15-20 miles but just get used to the range lottery. Buffer at least 15% extra range for your trips if you’re gonna get below 20% and more for winter.

Thanks for the info. In my case, the estimate range dropped by some 40 miles with the car simply parked and the outside temperature dropping from around 73F to around 65F.

[ggalanis]

Originally Posted by javapro

Thanks for the info. In my case, the estimate range dropped by some 40 miles with the car simply parked and the outside temperature dropping from around 73F to around 65F.

perfectly normal and as expected. The car updates the estimate based on the temperature it senses outside.

Similarly if you look at your range in a warm garage and then pop out to significantly colder weather, it will at some point soon after adjust and show you lower range due to now realizing it needs to run the heat pump to keep the cabin warm.

[javapro]

Originally Posted by ggalanis

perfectly normal and as expected. The car updates the estimate based on the temperature it senses outside.

Similarly if you look at your range in a warm garage and then pop out to significantly colder weather, it will at some point soon after adjust and show you lower range due to now realizing it needs to run the heat pump to keep the cabin warm.

My estimated range dropped by 3-4 miles, at most, in the winter when I got out from my underground garage. I definitely have never seen it drop by 40 miles, especially when it was quite warm outside.

[Louis_BE]

Also settings on heating and cooling + changing environment + battery temp all play a role …

[javapro]

Originally Posted by Louis_BE

Also settings on heating and cooling + changing environment + battery temp all play a role …

That I know - the estimated range does drop when you turn on climate control but I didn’t turn on it that time.

[iXM6025]

I’ve had a very similar experience: For example, I’ll charge my ‘25 iX M60 to 95%, at which point the car will indicate a 304 mile range. I exit the charging station (or my garage if at home), and immediately (5 seconds later or less!), I see the range has dropped to 285, then perhaps a minute later (having slowly driven through a parking structure at 10mph) it drops to 278, etc. before stabilizing around 275 after which it does seem to reflect actual driving/AC/etc... I asked my BMW shop foreman about this behavior, and he felt it was typical/expected, and that the ‘304’ number I saw post charge was really an estimate that the software will fine-tune thereafter. I’m learning to just ‘absorb’ such things (I.e., not to expect perfection) with this new technology otherwise I might drive myself crazy ;-).

[javapro]

Originally Posted by iXM6025

I’ve had a very similar experience: For example, I’ll charge my ‘25 iX M60 to 95%, at which point the car will indicate a 304 mile range. I exit the charging station (or my garage if at home), and immediately (5 seconds later or less!), I see the range has dropped to 285, then perhaps a minute later (having slowly driven through a parking structure at 10mph) it drops to 278, etc. before stabilizing around 275 after which it does seem to reflect actual driving/AC/etc... I asked my BMW shop foreman about this behavior, and he felt it was typical/expected, and that the ‘304’ number I saw post charge was really an estimate that the software will fine-tune thereafter. I’m learning to just ‘absorb’ such things (I.e., not to expect perfection) with this new technology otherwise I might drive myself crazy ;-).

Thanks for sharing this. Please do note that I didn't turn on climate control or even drove the car. I simply unlocked it after it was done charging.

[iXM6025]

I had a chance to quickly document this observed behavior, and making sure I did nothing but turn the car ‘on’ post-charge, and sure enough, the range indicator dropped from 280mi @ 90% to 276mi. Photos attached showing progression from Starting Charging session, to Charge Ending @90%/280, to waiting prior to turning on car (still shows 90% / 280), to turning on the car which shows the instant drop to 276.

[darylp310]

I asked my BMW shop foreman about this behavior, and he felt it was typical/expected, and that the ‘304’ number I saw post charge was really an estimate that the software will fine-tune thereafter. I’m learning to just ‘absorb’ such things (I.e., not to expect perfection) with this new technology otherwise I might drive myself crazy ;-).

If I remember correctly, the estimated range is based on the weighted average of your last 15 minutes of energy utilization. So if you are sitting in your car "idling" listening to music, the estimated range would go higher (e.g., 4.6 miles/kWh). If you just came home, and your house is at the top of a hill, the last few minutes would be inefficient, so your estimated range would go lower (2.5 miles/kWh).

It is a strange thing to get used to after driving ICE cars for our whole lives, but I promise you'll get use to these fluctuations after a while!!

And eventually you'll be able to do the math in your head and you'll intuitively know that in warm weather 50% of battery for your M60 is roughly 140 miles, and you can ignore any crazy displayed numbers that are too high or below that.

[NomoTesla]

Originally Posted by javapro

So, I charged my car yesterday to 90% in my office parking garage and it showed the estimated range to be 304 miles (what I usually get this time of the year). I unplugged it and moved it to a different L2 charger on a lower level. At this point, the car wasn't charging as it reached the 90% charging target. It was still showing the 304 miles estimate range. When I came back to the car about an hour later, it started showing 258 miles of estimated range at the same 90% SoC! I increased the charging target to 95% just to see if charging would cause the estimate range to jump back to around 300 miles but it stayed at 258. Driving around didn't help either and the range started dropping in local street driving and went up a bit on the highway but it was still relative to the 258 miles of original estimate and no where close to 300 miles I would expect. Resetting the iDrive had no effect either.

I know that the estimated range is just an estimate. Also, I did notice that sometimes when I lock my car and come back to it the next day, this estimate drops by a 3-4 miles especially when it gets colder at night. But I've never seen the estimated range to drop by over 40 miles! Has anyone had this happen to their iX?

P. S. I requested a CarData report and it showed the same 103 kWh battery capacity as a month ago, so it doesn't look like it's a battery issue.

A 40 mile drop in estimated range in a matter of minutes in a parking garage is NOT normal at all. The temp swing would have to be quite wild to result in a 40 mile range drop like that in such a short period of time. 73º to 65º won't do that.

What is your driving efficiency? Divide your estimated range by your driving efficiency in mi/kWh and you will see the approximate battery capacity the car is using to estimate your range. This may be a good way to determine if you have a problem with one or more battery modules if the calculated capacity comes in significantly below the 103 kWh figure.

One might expect a battery issue to trigger a warning alert, but as far as I'm aware, Teslas and other EVs that encounter pack issues resulting in reduced range do not necessarily throw errors.

[javapro]

Originally Posted by NomoTesla

A 40 mile drop in estimated range in a matter of minutes in a parking garage is NOT normal at all. The temp swing would have to be quite wild to result in a 40 mile range drop like that in such a short period of time. 73º to 65º won't do that.

What is your driving efficiency? Divide your estimated range by your driving efficiency in mi/kWh and you will see the approximate battery capacity the car is using to estimate your range. This may be a good way to determine if you have a problem with one or more battery modules if the calculated capacity comes in significantly below the 103 kWh figure.

One might expect a battery issue to trigger a warning alert, but as far as I'm aware, Teslas and other EVs that encounter pack issues resulting in reduced range do not necessarily throw errors.

I was also afraid that something happened to the battery but multiple CarData reports show its usable capacity at 103 kWh. After that phantom 40 mile estimated range drop, my current estimated range is hovering around 298-305 miles for a full charge. Considering that my average efficiency during cold months is around 2.8-3 mi/kWh, this seems to be inline with 103 kWh usable battery capacity. When it gets warmer, my efficiency usually increases to around 3.3-3.5 mi/kWh which should result in an estimated range of around 330-350 miles on a full charge. It already got quite warm, so the estimated range of 337 miles on a full charge that I saw before the phantom drop was what I was expecting. I am still not seeing it coming back to that level though. I hope it will eventually as I drive more.

[NomoTesla]

Originally Posted by javapro

I was also afraid that something happened to the battery but multiple CarData reports show its usable capacity at 103 kWh. After that phantom 40 mile estimated range drop, my current estimated range is hovering around 298-305 miles for a full charge. Considering that my average efficiency during cold months is around 2.8-3 mi/kWh, this seems to be inline with 103 kWh usable battery capacity. When it gets warmer, my efficiency usually increases to around 3.3-3.5 mi/kWh which should result in an estimated range of around 330-350 miles on a full charge. It already got quite warm, so the estimated range of 337 miles on a full charge that I saw before the phantom drop was what I was expecting. I am still not seeing it coming back to that level though. I hope it will eventually as I drive more.

Software updates can reset the algorithm, causing the displayed range to drop for a few drive cycles.

[javapro]

Originally Posted by NomoTesla

Software updates can reset the algorithm, causing the displayed range to drop for a few drive cycles.

I know but I installed 11/2024 OTA update a few weeks ago.

[javapro]

Originally Posted by javapro

I was also afraid that something happened to the battery but multiple CarData reports show its usable capacity at 103 kWh. After that phantom 40 mile estimated range drop, my current estimated range is hovering around 298-305 miles for a full charge. Considering that my average efficiency during cold months is around 2.8-3 mi/kWh, this seems to be inline with 103 kWh usable battery capacity. When it gets warmer, my efficiency usually increases to around 3.3-3.5 mi/kWh which should result in an estimated range of around 330-350 miles on a full charge. It already got quite warm, so the estimated range of 337 miles on a full charge that I saw before the phantom drop was what I was expecting. I am still not seeing it coming back to that level though. I hope it will eventually as I drive more.

So, after a couple of 30-40% to 100% DC fast charging sessions in May without my usual top offs to 80-90% every other day that I used to do with level 2 chargers at work, I am getting around 330-340 miles estimated max range at 100%. So, it looks like charging from low double digits to 100% does help with the estimated range calibration.

[NomoTesla]

Originally Posted by javapro

So, after a couple of 30-40% to 100% DC fast charging sessions in May without my usual top offs to 80-90% every other day that I used to do with level 2 chargers at work, I am getting around 330-340 miles estimated max range at 100%. So, it looks like charging from low double digits to 100% does help with the estimated range calibration.

Does your maximum DC charge rate still show as 185 kW or has that gone back up to 195?

[javapro]

Originally Posted by NomoTesla

Does your maximum DC charge rate still show as 185 kW or has that gone back up to 195?

Still shows 185 kW using both Electrify America chargers and Tesla Superchargers, so it does look like it’s charger dependent. If you look at the post from iXM6025 here - https://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/s...7&postcount=10 - it even shows 180 kW. It’s really a mystery why this max DC charging rate is not a constant 195 kW.

iXM6025, does yours always show 180 kW max when DC fast charging?

[iXM6025]

javapro - For an accurate answer, I’ll report back when I charge again at EE soon. From memory, I could have sworn I saw max 185 on my screen (just like your image) but my previous posting clearly shows 180. I’ll check next charging session and report back.

[iXM6025]

Reporting back per question above from javapro :

Just charged my car up at EE, using a 350 kW rated charger. My car still shows 180 as the max DC fast charging power. Oddly, when I lookup the documented max rating for my car, it says 195kW….so…. Not sure why my display says 180.

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by javapro

Still shows 185 kW using both Electrify America chargers and Tesla Superchargers, so it does look like it’s charger dependent. If you look at the post from iXM6025 here - https://bmwi.bimmerpost.com/forums/s...7&postcount=10 - it even shows 180 kW. It’s really a mystery why this max DC charging rate is not a constant 195 kW.

iXM6025, does yours always show 180 kW max when DC fast charging?

I charged at EA today and it showed 190 for the max rate. Odd.

[javapro]

Thank you iXM6025 and LVBMW. It seems like BMW made a change in the software and the max DC charging rate could be based on some kind of calculation based on the charging station parameters.