{"id":55112,"date":"2025-08-08T18:29:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T18:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/55112\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T18:29:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T18:29:08","slug":"is-this-the-ultimate-driving-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/55112\/","title":{"rendered":"Is this the ultimate driving machine?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four years after its original launch, BMW<\/a>\u2019s high-tech flagship electric car has been given a thorough upgrade. The iX may have controversial looks, but there\u2019s never been any doubt about the quality of the engineering underneath. Now I\u2019m living with an iX to see if BMW can combine that tech with the usability needed of a big SUV<\/a>, but more importantly, the driver appeal that BMW has always been known for.<\/p>\n

My car is an iX xDrive45 \u2013 xDrive is BMW-speak for 4×4, and the 45 designates the entry-level battery, which has been boosted to 94.8kWh. The original iX xDrive40 was often criticised for a lack of range, but so far, the claim of 367 miles in this bigger-battery version seems to be pretty realistic.<\/p>\n

Other tweaks include a slight refresh to the car\u2019s appearance, but out of the \u2018go big or go home\u2019 playbook, that oversized double-kidney grille has been highlighted \u2013 literally \u2013 with a thin strip of LED lights all the way around. BMW calls it the Iconic Glow Kidney Grille, and it costs an extra \u00a3500. You\u2019ll have your view, but I like it \u2013 I\u2019m a geek and love the look of these new LED lighting treatments we\u2019re seeing more of these days. You\u2019ll struggle to notice the changes to the bumpers, but you will notice the new LED driving lights in the main headlamp units that are the sign of things to come with BMW\u2019s new Neue Klasse models due over the coming years.<\/p>\n

My car comes in M Sport trim and has an added black trim on the outside, smart 21in alloy wheels and sports seats with a diagonal \u2018M\u2019 stripe across them. I\u2019ve always thought the interior of the iX was one of its strongest suits with a brilliant blend of quality, advanced style and usable tech. Let\u2019s see how I get on with all that in the coming months.<\/p>\n

Of course, this is a BMW, so there\u2019s an increased focus on performance in these latest models, both in terms of outright speed \u2013 my car claims a 0 to 62mph time of 5.1 seconds and feels every bit as quick \u2013 while the chassis has been updated to cope with the extra performance the new 45 model brings.<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s see how the iX stacks up as the Fowler family car for the next few months. We\u2019ve got lots planned, including a testing summer holiday<\/a> with people and dogs on board, so we\u2019ll be putting this big BMW through the ultimate test of family life.<\/p>\n

BMW iX xDrive45 M Sport\"My<\/p>\n

My BMW iX came in Dune Grey paintwork \u2013 although it looks more like beige to me (Steve Fowler)<\/p>\n

Options: Dune Grey paint (\u00a3900), Iconic Glow Kidney Grille (\u00a3500), Sky Lounge Panoramic Glass Sunroof (\u00a33,200), Sun Protection Glass (\u00a3500), Comfort Pack (\u00a31,650), Technology Pack (\u00a33,250)<\/p>\n

Maximum claimed range: 367 miles<\/p>\n

The BMW iX after week one<\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t taken long for me to really get into the groove of running a BMW iX. In fact, it has very quickly become something that I really look forward to driving \u2013 even on the early morning station run to drop my son off. I guess that\u2019s exactly what BMW is aiming for, and it\u2019s worked. It\u2019s just an easy car to get into, simple to drive and enjoyable even on the most mundane trip.<\/p>\n

One thing I particularly like in the iX \u2013 and it\u2019s something I like about Teslas<\/a>, too \u2013 is the deep front windscreen. The dashboard is set low with the lovely, curved widescreen display sitting proudly on top (there\u2019s a clear head-up display on the windscreen, too), but the view forwards is good, as is the view backwards. And my family is happy in the back with the flat floor and view out of the show-stopping Sky Lounge Panoramic Glass Sunroof (an expensive option at \u00a33,200). The sunroof offers great views and cleverly goes from clear to opaque at the touch of a button.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A great view out and fabulous interior make even the most mundane trip in the BMW iX enjoyable (Steve Fowler)<\/p>\n

One thing we\u2019ve all noticed is that the ride is a bit firmer than in previous iXs that we\u2019ve been in. There have been some upgrades to the suspension in the latest version, but it\u2019s just given the ride a slightly harder edge \u2013 although nobody would say it’s really uncomfortable. And despite having been in iXs before, the electronic door openers always flummox people \u2013\u00a0you press a button on the door handle to unlock the doors, which then tend to shut with a slight shimmy as they do without frames for the glass. That\u2019s about the only question I\u2019d raise on the quality. Otherwise, the cabin is as plush, smart and well-made as you\u2019d hope at this price.<\/p>\n

\"BMW<\/p>\n

BMW knows its customers and has fitted a handy one-button solution to turning off the annoying speed limit warning chimes (Steve Fowler)<\/p>\n

Among all the tech that comes either as standard or as part of the aptly-named Technology Pack (another extra at \u00a33,250), there\u2019s one really handy feature.<\/p>\n

One thing that many people seem to loathe about modern cars is the obligatory warning chime you get if you stray just one or two mph over the speed limit. It\u2019s an EU directive that every car has these days, but BMW obviously knows it\u2019s something customers don\u2019t like. So, BMW has listened. By doing a long press on the \u2018Set\u2019 button on the steering wheel that you use for the adaptive cruise control, it instantly turns the speed limit warning off. Thanks, BMW \u2013 that\u2019s really impressive. What\u2019s not so good is that the EU insists it’s switched back on again automatically every time you turn the car on.<\/p>\n

BMW always impresses me with the usability of its tech, too \u2013 whether it\u2019s the AI assistant that detects that I lower my window every time I leave my driveway and offers to do it automatically, or the rotary iDrive controller surrounded by useful fast keys that mean you don\u2019t have to use the touchscreen if you don\u2019t want to. There\u2019s \u2018hey BMW\u2019 voice control, which works well, too.<\/p>\n

So, one week in, and life is good with the BMW iX. It\u2019s proving to be an easy car to live with, and it is living up to BMW\u2019s \u2018driver\u2019s car\u2019 tag. It\u2019s quick, handles well, and it makes a great noise (which has been designed by Hollywood film score star Hans Zimmer<\/a>). My family and I have many outings planned over the rest of the summer and beyond, and I\u2019m now looking forward to them even more with the iX.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four years after its original launch, BMW\u2019s high-tech flagship electric car has been given a thorough upgrade. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[32556,36798,49,48,6974,36799,36797,61],"class_list":["post-55112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-bmw","tag-bmw-ix","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-car","tag-electric-car","tag-steve-fowler","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}