By Nauman Farooq
First, a little note: The car in this review is not as clean as we would have liked it to be, but first, it's black - which is very hard to keep clean - and second, this winter has been incredibly harsh, so the roads aren't even remotely clean. So, our apologies for a dirty automobile, but let's get on with the review!
Thanks to government mandates favoring electric over gas or diesel powered vehicles, every manufacturer rushed to bring EVs to market.
Truth be told, many jumped too fast, reacting to a mandate that is at least a decade away! What we are left with are vehicles that aren't flying off the showroom floors!
Take the BMW iX for example - when was the last time you saw one of these roaming the streets?
In short, it's not a popular vehicle; but is it a bad vehicle?
To find out, I borrowed this BMW iX XDrive50 from my friends at BMW London (a dealer in Ontario, Canada), to see if its impresses or disappoints!
Styling: First up, let's discuss looks - which is the most controversial part of this vehicle! I have spoken to many people about this vehicle, and none of them find it attractive. All of them have an issue with its schnoz - the fake grille is just way too big - but walk around it, and it starts to look better. I particularly think that the rear three-quarter view is quite nice. The slim lights would get the approval of Henrik Fisker, who was the first to put a slim set of neon lights on a production car, which was the BMW Z8 (back in the year 2000).
I like the iX, but am not a fan of its looks; but perhaps, beauty is more than skin deep!
Interior: Open the door, and you'd smile (most people did, even the ones who didn't want to admit it). The iX has a beautiful interior, that is both super modern and futuristic, but also approachable. You'll get familiar with it right away, no encyclopedia required to work out how most things operate.
It has cool features such as a panoramic roof that has electrochromatic glass that can lighten or darken at the touch of a button, and a very comprehensive infotainment system.
What I liked the most were the seats, which had lots of adjustments, with the ones in my tester also having the massage function. In short, if you spend a lot of time in a car, this would be ideal!
Powertrain: You get a 111 kWh battery pack, two electric motors (watch the video for power output), and a single speed transmission. Range? Roughly 430 to 500 km on a full charge, depending on your driving style and weather!
Performance: In my testing, I achieved a 0 to 100 km/h (zero to 62 mph) acceleration run in 4.37 seconds! That makes it exactly one second quicker than the Volvo XC60 T8 - which I posted a review on about 10 days ago!
Driving Dynamics: As you'd expect from a BMW, the iX is sure footed and stable, and handles quite well; despite its 2.5 ton weight!
The acceleration is impressive, and shoots you forward convincingly at any speed - this is a fast EV CUV.
BMW has given the iX a lot of drive modes, and they all make noises, some are cool, other very annoying. Perhaps the best is "silent" mode, which lets you relax on your journey.
Ride comfort is very good, but the iX isn't perfect! I would have preferred a heavier steering feel on the highway, and a brake pedal that bit harder on initial contact. You can get used to both things, but I wish I didn't have to adapt to that.
Economy: The number I've seen is, 2.9Le/100 km - so I'd go with that, which I think is good!
Pricing: The very basic iX is roughly $80,000 in Canada. The iX XDrive50 model starts from $101,000 - so it is priced well in its segment.
Verdict: I didn't think I was going to like the iX, but after spending a few days with one, I reckon it is the best EV that I've experienced. Comfortable, full of tech, powerful, and fun to drive - yeah, it's got it all (almost)! I just wish it was prettier.
Still... much better than anything made by a Elon Musk company, such as a Tesla.
Hope you enjoyed the video.
BTW: We do car reviews, just like Top Gear - Fifth Gear - Throttle House - The Straight Pipes and Autocar on YouTube, hope you like our takes on everything automotive, and if you do, please hit the "Like & Subscribe" button, plus also look up Automotive Affairs on Instagram and Facebook.
P.S. The digital sounds that the BMW iX makes were composed by Hans Zimmer - who is one of the most accomplished music composers of all time. After all, he did the soundtrack for Pirates of the Caribbean - yup, the movie starring Johnny Depp.
#luxurylifestyle #automobile #luxury #bmwix #electriccar #electricvehicle #germancar
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