Specifications

There are two different models of the iX that have been produced in 2022. The BMW iX XDrive40 and the BMW iX xDrive50. 

BMW iX xDrive 40 can go from 0-62mph in6.1 seconds. You can really feel the car taking off when it does so. When charging at home for a range of 62 miles a wallbox charger will take 2 hours and 28 minutes. A flexible charger will take 5 hours and 4 minutes and the standard charging cable or flexible charger on a household socket takes up to 8 hours and 12 minutes. This seems like a considerable amount of time, however, BMW has revolutionised the electric vehicle game as the range from a single charge on a BMW iX is from 300-370. Which smashes other vehicle brands out of the park. In regards to charging on the road for a range of 62 miles, a high-power charging station will take only 8 minutes. A rapid charging station takes up to 21 minutes and the AC charging station takes up to 50 minutes. The latter is the expected time for an electric vehicle to charge on the move. These time frames are impressively short and are probably one of the reasons why the BMW iX xDrive40 is expected to make up to 78% of the sales. 

There isn’t much difference between the iX 40 and the iX 50 in regards to charging range and speed specifications. The 0-62mph can be done in 4.6 seconds instead of the original 6.1. All of the charging times are more or less the same, give or take a few minutes. 

BMW has offered 12 months no basic charge ‘charging card’ for each BMW iX purchase. This allows you to be able to charge your vehicle all over different stations of Europe. So if you have a family road trip in mind this could be the most energy and cost-efficient way. Whilst still being able to travel in luxury. 

Driving Styles

The range of a vehicle depends on many factors. Things such as route conditions, weather conditions, payload, driving style and vehicle equipment. Therefore, it’s important for your vehicle to understand what is going on within its surroundings for the driver to have a better experience. 

The first driving mode is Sporty. This style assumes 100% driving at average motorway speeds and uses dynamic acceleration. 

The second driving mode is Economical. This style assumes defensive driving on country roads with an average speed of around 50 mph. 

Settings in-between any of the two produce a mixture of both. 

Driving Experience

BMW has introduced the ‘iDrive’ infotainment system. It is meant to be a personal and immersive experience for the driver. It uses innovative sensors and Artificial Intelligence to allow the driver to feel more connected to the system, the car and its surroundings. This is also supported by the driver-oriented design. There are enhanced interfaces such as voice and gesture control. Here at AutoExport, we saw the gesture control in the BMW 7 45 E not long ago and we were impressed so you can only imagine how much this has improved since our own encounter with it. The Sat Nav system has had a serious upgrade in the BMW iX. There’s a slight gamification of the sat nav. When heading in your direction the interface uses a camera to show you the road on the screen and uses arrows to direct you round each corner. Subtly like a race track… and very similar to Mario Kart. Another feature that took me by surprise was the vehicle tracking your battery life. As a result of low battery life, the sat nav will plan and direct you to a destination that has a charging station available. Leaving the driver to relax and not worry about forgetting to check this themselves. In addition to this tracking ability, the vehicle remembers routes that the driver takes regularly so if there’s traffic on one of the routes then it will text your phone to suggest leaving earlier to avoid this disruption in the driver’s schedule. 

Driving Assistance

DAP. Driving Assistance Professional. This feature is used for optimum convenience and safety in critical and monotonous traffic situations. It comes as a standard feature in the BMW iX, helping to soothe the driver’s anxiety in high tensity situations. BMW has really thought of it all in the production of this vehicle. Other standard features include: Steering and lane guidance assist, emergency steer assist, lane-keeping assistant with side collision warning, parking assistant plus (which can also help with manoeuvring) and a large number of cameras to give you a full display of objects surrounding your BMW iX. The vehicle can also show these images in a 3 Dimensional form. 

Due to the car’s silent nature, as it is electric, and emotional sound design form BMW IconicSounds Electric underlines the driving experience. A collaboration between the BMWGroup and Academy Award-winning film score composer Hans Zimmer has taken place to produce the realistic sounds of a car. The sounds produced are meant to reflect the specific performance characteristics and the signature attributes of an electrified BMW in a new authentic way. However, to me, it does sound a lot like a spaceship taking off. The head of BMW design Adrian Van Hooydonk stated that sound is a fundamental part of the emotional driving experience in a BMW. Therefore, they wanted to reinforce this feeling of still being in one. Forming an emotional bond between driver and car through sound and technology. The car is still a little quieter than most, but that is down to not wanting to completely change the fundamentals of an electric car experience. Restrictions do have to take place as a vehicle’s acoustics have a role to play in terms of safety. The sounds that have been manufactured are designed to alert pedestrians and cyclists that an electric vehicle is approaching. 

Interior

The BMW iX interior is nothing short of premium luxury. The travelling experience that you could have in this car has no limits. BMW wanted to create an interior that is minimalistic yet still impressive. Filled with high-tech and luxurious comfort. I’ll start with the Glass iDrive controller on the centre console. This feature is optional and you can get a black controller instead, however this glass feature on the centre and seat controls on the doors add that extra premium detail to the car. Alongside this are haptic touch controls inserted into a wooden material. An authentic and sleek design for the iX. The next noticeable feature is the end-to-end panoramic glass roof. You can choose to have it in blackout or see-through from the touch of a button. 

Speaking of buttons, the 12.3” infotainment display with iDrive installation. Designed around the touch function of curved display and voice communication. BMW has also added an intelligent personal assistant in which you can call this assistant whichever name you would like. So all you Marvel fans will be thrilled when you can ‘Hello Jarvis’ on your morning route to work. One downside about the infotainment system is the sheer amount of apps on the home screen. It doesn’t seem safe to be scrolling through all of these apps whilst trying to keep your eyes on the road. Yet I have found that you can personally organise each app, i.e put the ones you need the most at the front, but this is still quite a lot of faffing about considering the car is meant to be minimalistic. 

The car’s air conditioning can be split into four zones. Creating a better interior environment as you don’t have to suffer in the cold in the back anymore. You do want to call shotgun on this car though as they have front electric and massage seats. Providing you with the ultimate luxury and relaxation whilst travelling. The hexagonal steering wheel took me by surprise but I do really like it. It makes the iX stand out from other cars and BMW has thought this exactly.