The BMW iX is a beauty of a beast of a car. It is hands down the best car I have ever driven. When I thought of the positives versus the negatives, I could think of only one downside: it is too wide. But, then again, I am a Mini driver. My new Countryman seems like a giant to me, so the iX is like a tank. Albeit a beautifully designed, aesthetically pleasing, comfort-overloaded, tech-marvel of a tank. Like a Cartier Tank (Francoise), as it were.
Watch our video review of the BMW iX in South Africa
It is also insanely fast. The torque is truly impressive. And it is (mostly) silent the entire time. Without the obvious noise from a combustion engine, all there is, really, is road noise. BMW has done a superb job of isolating you in a bubble of silence. I had a 35-minute call with a friend, who was amazed to discover I was driving. He thought I was sitting in my office.
Apart from the size (albeit from a small-car driver), there is arguably nothing wrong with the car. It is impressive in every way. It looks like it’s the future – which is appropriate given that this is such a compelling vision of what the future of automobiles could be.
And, it looks like a million bucks, or R2.1m for the xDrive50 model. I was pulled over twice by traffic cops who just wanted to take a look at it.
The last time I drove a car like this, which required an extra 15 minutes every time I left a venue because people wanted to take pictures and their selfies in, was the BMX i8. I called that first blue model “Tron’s car, if Tron had a car”. And it was a head-turner of a car, a low-slung sports car with sleek lines and an insanely slick driving experience – complete with sports car speed.
The iX is different. It is essentially a premium SUV with arguably the most prominent of grills to appear on a BMW. It is as powerful a symbol as the three-angled logo. But it has no grill, as it were, because it requires no air to flow through it. Because it has no petrol engine. It is self-healing too, given a day and some heat from the sun, and gashes will repair themselves.
Inside, the futuristic cabin has no traditional dashboard – and a curved 75cm touchscreen instead – and no door handles. To get out, there is a button that opens the door. The vegan leather seats are plush and comfortable, while the dial interface has been upgraded to Swarovski crystal, while the central control panel has a matte wood finish.
The all-electric iX is BMW’s latest luxury offering to the South African EV market. Two models will land on our shores, the xDrive40 and xDrive50. We had a chance to test the former which starts at R1.6m. For that, you’ll get a power output of 240kW and 630 Nm of torque.
With the 71kWh battery, you’ll get around 350km before you need to recharge. You can recharge from your 220V plugs at home but that might take a while. It also supports DC fast charging and that’ll get you from 10% to 80% in about 31 minutes.
