Road test review: BMW iX xDrive50

Monday, 28 February 2022

• BMW iX XDRIVE50

• Base price: $197,900

• Powertrain and economy: 2x electric motors and a 111.5kWh battery, 385kW/765Nm, AWD, combined economy 26.6kWh/100km, range 570km (NEDC)

• Vital statistics: 4953mm long, 1967mm wide, 1696mm high, 3000mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 500 litres, 22-inch alloy wheels.

• Safety: 5 stars (Source: ANCAP)

• We like: Incredible level of tech, superb ride quality, effortless performance.

• We don't like: All that gold, energy efficiency could be better, not an ‘Ultimate Driving Machine’

BMW’s big iX SUV is the company’s latest all-electric offering to land here, and its looks are polarising to say the least. But do those controversial looks hide something rather special?

OUTSIDE

The exterior of the iX is arguably its most polarising feature – all of it, that is – but I will start by saying that it looks WAY better in the metal than in pictures. In a photograph, your eye is instantly drawn to that big “grille” that dominates the nose, but in the metal it isn’t quite so overwhelming.

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Make no mistake, it is still huge and still the dominant feature of the nose, but the whole design seems more at ease when seen in person – whereas photographs make the iX look like an oversized, awkward version of the i3, in the metal it is far more of a sleeker wagon-esque SUV with subtle i3 design cues. And you know what? It works for me, something I would never have said from looking at a pic of one…

One thing that didn’t particularly work for me, however, was the gold-tinged exterior trim which, I’m sorry, isn’t classy – it’s just cheesy and tacky. Fortunately it is very much optional on the outside of the iX, so can be avoided.

Your opinion of the exterior of the iX will very much come down to personal taste, but personally, I hated it when I first saw photos of it, and instantly changed my mind when I saw it in the metal. I am, however, repelled by the gold bits…

INSIDE

Which is a shame, because they are everywhere inside the car too. Although I have to admit they are a bit easier to take on the inside. Which is just as well, because they can’t be optioned away in here.

Still, they are a bit more tasteful on the inside, the same of which can’t be said for the tacky “crystal” switches and dials that BMW has, for some reason, embraced in recent years.

However, opinion on that was quite evenly split in people I showed it to, suggesting that the interior will be as “love-it-or-hate-it” as the exterior. But while I personally have come to like the exterior styling, the same can’t be said of the gold and crystal bits in the interior.

That said – tacky trim bits aside – the design, layout and build quality of the interior is truly stunning. Even the tacky bits are fantastically high quality, with literally every surface you come into contact with feeling like some exquisitely-crafted piece of high-tech equipment from the future.

The huge screen that makes up the entire dash is crisp, clear and immediately responsive, while the lovely central touch surface that is disguised as a nice-looking piece of wood with a tacky crystal dial on it is a tactile delight to use.

But let’s get to the really special bit – the amazing audio system.

Okay, it is admittedly technically the amazing optional audio system, but the $8,500 Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System is quite stunning. Featuring a number of immersive audio profiles, the B&W system takes this further than ever with speakers jammed literally everywhere around the cabin, including a pair in each headrest, as well as the quite remarkable 4D Immersive Bass system that pops a pair of woofers in the lumbar area of all four seats, as well as a larger sub under the seat cushion, meaning you literally feel the bass in this bad boy…

The result is incredibly immersive, and really does make it feel like you are at a concert – a REALLY loud one where you can feel the music in your internal organs.

As someone who has desperately missed going to live concerts over the last two years, the smile that was plastered across my face when the relentless, crunching riff of KMFDM’s Kunst smashes in over the pounding electronica-tinged intro and moved my spleen to a new location took days to come off…

UNDER THE BONNET

Of course, BMW isn’t messing around under the bonnet either, with the iX xDrive50 packing a 385kW/765Nm electric motor set up fed by a 112kWh battery pack that is good for a range of up to 570km.

The xDrive50 will hit 100kmh from a standing start in 4.6 seconds, which sounds okay on paper, but on the road when you are sitting in a massive 2.5 tonne SUV, feels much faster.

However, while you don’t notice that weight when it comes to performance, or even handling, it makes its presence know when it comes to the iX’s energy efficiency, which at 26.6kWh/100km is alright for something of its sheer size, but not startlingly good.

And while there are electrical bits under the bonnet, you will never see them. That’s right, forget a frunk; the BMW’s bonnet is closed to all who aren’t BMW technicians, and the best the owner will ever do is pop the badge up to top up the windscreen wiper fluid. Yes, really.

But if you are getting stressed by the lack of a frunk, don’t bother – it has a simply cavernous boot that can swallow 1750 litres with the rear seats down.

ON THE ROAD

The iX is basically everything I personally want a large SUV to be – roomy, luxurious, supremely comfortable and incredibly polished and composed on the road. It is also a few things I wouldn’t expect it to be – mainly seriously fast, but also far more confident and composed over any road surface than I would have expected.

Ride comfort is superb, with any and all surfaces and imperfections being effortlessly absorbed by the iX, but not to the degree that you don’t know what is going on below you. It is utterly unflustered by bumps and unexpected intrusions, and is deeply composed at any speed.

What it isn’t, however, is an ‘Ultimate Driving Machine’ – while it is ferociously fast, the steering is wonderfully accurate, the brakes confident and powerful, and it is all-but impossible to ruffle its composed nature, it is not in any way engaging to drive quickly.

Everything works perfectly and clinically, letting you know what is going on, and responding accurately and instantly to your inputs, but there is no engagement, no feel, no encouragement.

But then, this is a large, heavy SUV, so you don’t actually expect that, but I desperately hope that is not the case with the upcoming i4…

VERDICT

The BMW iX is a thoroughly staggering tour-de-force of technology, luxury and supreme comfort. Sure, at $197k without options it isn’t cheap, but an X5 M50d costs $185k without options and requires quite a liberal amount of ticks in the option list to get it up to the iX xDrive50’s base level, meaning it's about the same price, and you still won’t get the iX’s level of quality and tech.

While the iX isn’t the best BMW to actually drive with enthusiasm, it is one of the best for almost literally everything else. If you can get past those looks and the cheesier side of its interior design, you will find a truly superb vehicle that is unlike any other on the road today.