Bmw iX experience

[hantsxlg]

I'm seriously considering a LCI BMW iX on a salary sacrifice scheme. The 45 model with 400hp and 95kwh battery looks sufficient, though the 60 model is tempting.

Just wondering if anyone has real life experience of an iX (naturally not the face-lift 45 model yet)..

[raspy]

I've had an iX40 for 2.5 years. I've enjoyed it. No issues.

Battery has degraded around 3% in that time. I can get or exceed the advertised range in the summertime, even on the motorway at 70mph.

I found non air suspension is very firm on our UK roads. Next time I would order one with air suspension for sure. I would also get an iX with real wheel steering next time as well.

I also suggest the 360 camera option for parking.

Like a lot of BMWs, they are quicker in the real world than the numbers on the website.

Edited by raspy on Monday 5th May 21:42

[bennno]

Had ours for 15k miles, utterly brilliant car. It’s a 40 on 22” alloys and non air suspension, but it glides and is so comfortable. The charging works, heads up display is ace. It’s possibly the best car we’ve ever had.

Massage seats / b&w hifi / 360 camera all brilliant options. Rear security glass and 22” wheels make it look a lot closer to designers sketches.

Edited by bennno on Tuesday 6th May 07:40

[hantsxlg]

Thabk you for quick replies. I had decided that active 4ws and air suspension must have for driving experience so good to hear you agree. I've been playing with specs and balancing b&w vs amido leather as I'm trying to keep under 100k list price. I hear the standard h&w is good though b&w is great! I hope to never hear a b&w so I don't miss it!!

[b19rak]

hantsxlg said:

Thabk you for quick replies. I had decided that active 4ws and air suspension must have for driving experience so good to hear you agree. I've been playing with specs and balancing b&w vs amido leather as I'm trying to keep under 100k list price. I hear the standard h&w is good though b&w is great! I hope to never hear a b&w so I don't miss it!!

I had a 2023 ix 40 Msport edition for a year. If I’d did it again the new 45 would be fine, standard suspension was ok but air would be better. I’d definitely want rear wheel steer as the turning circle is awful. Harmon Kardon is awesome. You don’t need the B&W.

I’m now in a Polestar 3 Performance and I think it’s a much better car to be honest. Looks and handles better.

[SWoll]

If £100k is the limit I'd go for for the 60 MSport with the MSport Pro Pack, active air suspension and read wheel steer.

Quicker, more range, plenty of kit. Going too heavy on the 45 options list is surely going to make the SS monthly cost very expensive?

[bennno]

b19rak said:

I had a 2023 ix 40 Msport edition for a year. If I’d did it again the new 45 would be fine, standard suspension was ok but air would be better. I’d definitely want rear wheel steer as the turning circle is awful. Harmon Kardon is awesome. You don’t need the B&W.

I’m now in a Polestar 3 Performance and I think it’s a much better car to be honest. Looks and handles better.

The b&w is mind blowing….. we picked up a demo that had it. Once we’d heard it our mind was made up.

[SWoll]

bennno said:

The b&w is mind blowing….. we picked up a demo that had it. Once we’d heard it our mind was made up.

As it should be for £4500?

I'd certainly look for it if buying used, the issue with adding it to an SS quote is that you'll likely pay the entire cost of it over the term so £125 a month gross just for an upgraded stereo on a 3 year deal?

[hantsxlg]

Also, any thoughts on the tech pack? Seems you need it to get the 360 view for parking (which is a big help with large cars) and improved driving assistants. I did like the driving assistant Pro I had in my 530e (67 plate) and the new version be generation up on that. It is hard to figure out how good the standard driving assistant plus is though. We test drove a ix50 but not sure if that had the standard assistant to upgraded. Do you get the AR view mode on the dash with the 'plus' or does that mean you have the Pro?

I think I need to call Tusker and see how much a 60 with a few extras (to push it a smidge over 100K) is vs a 45 with more options. Then time to order!

Tanazanite blue I think...

[raspy]

hantsxlg said:

Also, any thoughts on the tech pack? Seems you need it to get the 360 view for parking (which is a big help with large cars) and improved driving assistants. I did like the driving assistant Pro I had in my 530e (67 plate) and the new version be generation up on that. It is hard to figure out how good the standard driving assistant plus is though. We test drove a ix50 but not sure if that had the standard assistant to upgraded. Do you get the AR view mode on the dash with the 'plus' or does that mean you have the Pro?

I think I need to call Tusker and see how much a 60 with a few extras (to push it a smidge over 100K) is vs a 45 with more options. Then time to order!

Tanazanite blue I think...

On my iX40, I have whatever the top spec of driving assistant was back in 2022, and it's very good, whether at low speeds in motorway traffic jams, or providing steering assist and auto lane change on the motorway (in terms of tapping the indicator and the car does the lane change) - it does a splendid job of staying centred in the lane and I've not had one phantom breaking episode.

I have the AR view mode using the BMW nav which puts the AR view on the touchscreen, but newer models seem to have it on the dash behind the steering wheel too.

Looking at the configurator for the new model, it seems that Driving Assistant Plus is the only one that specifically mentions Active Cruise Control with Stop and Go function.

You may need to double check with BMW GB to get clarity you need (unless others on here can clarify) as the Tech Pack shows Driving Assistant Professional, and the Driving Assistant Plus cannot be combined with Driving Assistant Professional. It's confusing to me.

Oh I highly recommend the safety camera option (it's a yearly subscription with my car via Connected Drive) but essentially, the heads up display will have a popup when speed cameras/average speed check/red light camera is approaching and will count down in distance as your approach.

[Gone fishing]

We've had out iX 50 for coming up to a year. It has all the toys (it was a well spec'd CPO), and the LCI 45 seems to be very close to that on range and performance

It's hard to comment on ride, we have the air with rear wheel steer and its certainly good although not as good a drivers car as say our old X5 was on country roads, maybe you just get to higher speeds quicker in the iX where it starts to show its weakness (probably mainly its weight), but refinement is very good.

If not standard, the top down parking cameras are well worth it, I use them a lot. The driver assistant professional is good and you might need it for the adaptive regen which I find much better than the one foot driving I have on previous EVs, a chunky option at over £3k but I'd get it .The active cruise and lane keep are also very easy to use and intuitive. I had similar on our old Tesla and stopped using it due to various issues with its performance, the the BMW system is actually nice to use - I guess BMW implemented it as a drivers aid from the outset whereas Tesla implemented theirs as a stop gap to self driving, not that they're close over here.

The comfort pack at 2,900 seems a lot, but it's unclear if you get electric seats otherwise. I'm not a fan of the heated arm rests, not because they're not nice, but because ny elbow has damaged the heating element on the last 2 cars I've had with them including the iX. Seems to be a design issue with my elbow

Sky roof I wouldn't bother with, not unless you have a rear seat passengers a lot

The leather interior option is very nice but again, 3k on a company car is a big chunk of change.

We haven't got the clear and bold glass switches but reviews seem to suggest the sunlight reflects badly so I'd spend money elsewhere. Same witht he titan bronze exterior

In general wheel size can hurt EV range, but with out 22" wheels in summer on a run we're getting around 300 miles, more if we're at 50mph or so. Winter it falls to maybe 250 but still decent. I'd still probably go no bigger than 21's though if I was ordering.

[smokingturbo]

I've had an iX 40 for coming up to three years, and 50k miles, overall it's been a great car. The range has served me well and in the time we've had it the national network has definitely improved which removes the normal range anxiety of the smaller battery size - I just couldn't justify the premium for the 50 when I got it.

It's had the odd niggle - one of which kept it off the road for three months (high voltage insulation fault) but I think in part this was due to my local dealership (not the one I bought it from) being inexperienced (and under-tooled) to diagnose and fix it. (That dealership has since closed anyway). BMW GB/DE eventually got involved and it was quickly resolved, throughout I had an X5 M Competition loan car with fully funded fuel, plus they covered my finance payments whilst it was off the road and compensated me financially as well! Other than that it's hard two new steering columns, a charging flap that refused to open and latterly one that thinks it's always open. Software faults were minimal, and the iDrive is much more stable than when I first got it. I stand by the fact I think as an early car it had more teething problems than most.

It has eaten tyres like nothing I've ever owned before - the OEM Bridgestones seemed to be made of toffee, and wore very quickly and then punctured easily. I think a combination of the semi-rural roads where I live and heavy vehicle definitely contributed. Most recently I switched to a full set of Pirelli's and actually wore a set out without them getting damaged!

I pick up my next EV on Friday - fancying a change from the brand (didn't want another iX and the i5 Touring didn't suit my needs) - so I'll be interested to see how I feel in retrospect about it in a few months.

[theboss]

We've done approaching 40k miles in our 2023 M60 in about 20 months of ownership so it's had some fair use.

Very happy with it overall, it's hard to fault as an all-round every day family car.

I haven't experienced extreme tyre wear, the factory Bridgestones were only changed at 18k miles and I thought for a 620bhp heavy car that isn't driven by Miss Daisy that's pretty good. The Pirellis seem to ride and grip a bit better but have worsened economy slightly.

Very happy with it overall. You have to look past a certain amount of piss taking with these given the styling and overall poor reception, but it's hard to fault it objectively as a family car.

[cerb4.5lee]

raspy said:

hantsxlg said:

Also, any thoughts on the tech pack? Seems you need it to get the 360 view for parking (which is a big help with large cars) and improved driving assistants. I did like the driving assistant Pro I had in my 530e (67 plate) and the new version be generation up on that. It is hard to figure out how good the standard driving assistant plus is though. We test drove a ix50 but not sure if that had the standard assistant to upgraded. Do you get the AR view mode on the dash with the 'plus' or does that mean you have the Pro?

I think I need to call Tusker and see how much a 60 with a few extras (to push it a smidge over 100K) is vs a 45 with more options. Then time to order!

Tanazanite blue I think...

On my iX40, I have whatever the top spec of driving assistant was back in 2022, and it's very good, whether at low speeds in motorway traffic jams, or providing steering assist and auto lane change on the motorway (in terms of tapping the indicator and the car does the lane change) - it does a splendid job of staying centred in the lane and I've not had one phantom breaking episode.

I have the AR view mode using the BMW nav which puts the AR view on the touchscreen, but newer models seem to have it on the dash behind the steering wheel too.

Looking at the configurator for the new model, it seems that Driving Assistant Plus is the only one that specifically mentions Active Cruise Control with Stop and Go function.

You may need to double check with BMW GB to get clarity you need (unless others on here can clarify) as the Tech Pack shows Driving Assistant Professional, and the Driving Assistant Plus cannot be combined with Driving Assistant Professional. It's confusing to me.

Oh I highly recommend the safety camera option (it's a yearly subscription with my car via Connected Drive) but essentially, the heads up display will have a popup when speed cameras/average speed check/red light camera is approaching and will count down in distance as your approach.

I have all that in the X5 40d and I really like it. I'm not really a "tech" kind of person, but I do like all that stuff though to be honest.

[hantsxlg]

So, Pistonheads upgraditus is working well. I've updated my quote to a ix 60 m-sport based on some of the comments on here and have dropped off the upgraded leather, air suspension and glass shiny bits and have a price only about £30 a month more than the 45e was going to be. That has to be value for 150 extra HP and 50 miles more range!

The LCI model 'standard' interior is black/grey Sensatec/alcantara. I've only had 'standard' interior options on previous BMW (e39, e61 and G30) so I expect I will be happy enough with that. Just need Tusker to fix the 'order' button now on the portal so I can place the order and stop talking myself into more upgrades as 'only £10 a month extra.... 13 week lead time is going to feel like a long time!

[SDK]

It’s a no brainier if you do a lot of daily miles to go for the iX60 over the 45. The saving charging at home vs public charging is worth is alone.


I’ve had an iX40 for 18 months.
It’s a fab family car - there is literally nothing else I would want.

[Zcd1]

smokingturbo said:

…I pick up my next EV on Friday - so I'll be interested to see how I feel in retrospect about it in a few months.

What’s next?

[newberry]

SDK said:

It’s a no brainier if you do a lot of daily miles to go for the iX60 over the 45. The saving charging at home vs public charging is worth is alone.


I’ve had an iX40 for 18 months.
It’s a fab family car - there is literally nothing else I would want.

What sort of range have you been getting for a full charge, specifically during winter? partner is swapping to an IX40 m sport from and audi etron 50 s-line.

[bennno]

newberry said:

SDK said:

It’s a no brainier if you do a lot of daily miles to go for the iX60 over the 45. The saving charging at home vs public charging is worth is alone.


I’ve had an iX40 for 18 months.
It’s a fab family car - there is literally nothing else I would want.

What sort of range have you been getting for a full charge, specifically during winter? partner is swapping to an IX40 m sport from and audi etron 50 s-line.

Around town, or pure motorway at 75-80mph??

[SDK]

newberry said:

SDK said:

It’s a no brainier if you do a lot of daily miles to go for the iX60 over the 45. The saving charging at home vs public charging is worth is alone.


I’ve had an iX40 for 18 months.
It’s a fab family car - there is literally nothing else I would want.

What sort of range have you been getting for a full charge, specifically during winter? partner is swapping to an IX40 m sport from and audi etron 50 s-line.

For me

Winter
-> Lot of short trips (less than 8 miles) : 160 miles
-> Fewer longer trips (+20 miles) : 185 miles

Summer
-> Lot of short trips (less than 8 miles) : 220 miles
-> Fewer longer trips (+20 miles) : 250-270 miles

We did 5x round trips to Thorpe Park theme park last year : This is a journey containing 85% motorway : M42, M40 and M25, so 70-75mph and for these I was getting 260-270 miles with 2-5% SOC remaining when I got back home.