[ScullyD]

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https://evo.co.uk/bmw/204598/bmw-ix-...-done-properly

Incredibly good review for a "normal" car by evo.

[PhilD]

Good review. It tallies well with my experience when I first started looking into EV SUVs; the main thing I noticed is that there is no real competition here in the UK. The hypothetical Tesla Model X is the only car that looks like it competes in terms of comfort, technology and overall experience and that may as well be vapourware here, unobtainable until 2023 at the earliest. The main downside to the iX for me is boot space, that’s literally it.

[hugo_nz]

It annoys me to no small extent when car reviewers get the basics wrong 😞 There is no such a thing as “plant-based leather-like” material in the iX. The test car clearly has the Amido interior which is plain old vernasca leather that in this case uses olive leaf extract in the tanning process. I mean come on! At least get the basics right… Another reviewer even went as far as calling it vegan leather in their review! I mean come on!

Update 23/2/22: I asked BMW for clarification, and the leather in the iX is in fact a standalone leather that is akin to Merino leather.

[PhilD]

Originally Posted by hugo_nz

It annoys me to no small extent when car reviewers get the basics wrong 😞 There is no such a thing as “plant-based leather-like” material in the iX. The test car clearly has the Amido interior which is plain old vernasca leather that in this case uses olive leaf extract in the tanning process. I mean come on! At least get the basics right… Another reviewer even went as far as calling it vegan leather in their review! I mean come on!

Yeah, the version they have is one of the two 'actual' leather trims - they're just processed in as eco-friendly a way as possible. The other trims are all 'faux' though, as far as I can tell, which some people would call 'vegan' leather.

Castanea and Amido trims (the deep red and black 'top' level trims) are natural (real) leather but processed using "olive leaf extracts which would otherwise have been discarded" so as to be more 'eco'. I'd argue, it's so that the could put an olive leaf on the dashboard so that people would erroneously think the 'leaf' meant it was vegan friendly.

Interior Design Atelier trims are 'synthetic' leather. So they *are* 'vegan leather' if you want to call them that. Sometimes called 'SensaTec'.

The Interior Design Loft trim is also faux. It's more half fabric, half faux-suede. So it's 'synthetic' suede leather.

[Paladin1]

All you need to be a reviewer is to have access to the Internet, a YouTube account and a phone....

[prei1978]

I've been keenly waiting for a proper luxury EV that is built by people that knows how to put cars together. Never really wanted to pay $150,000 on a car and have the rear door misaligned with the window behind it by nearly an inch.

That said, I'm still having reservations about EVs in general, especially for the main family car like this, and it comes down to range. Take for example a trip I have planned for April where I'll drive about 3500 miles over 2 weeks, and lets imagine that my B58 G23 M440i can do an average of 250 miles per tankful of gas (conservative) and an i4 M50 equivalent could do 250 miles per charge (optimistic). That would be 14 fuel stops on the M440i for a total of about 2:40 hr, but 112 hours charging (8 hours per full charge) for the EV. It makes it that much harder to plan, especially because the first leg of the trip is from MA to SC for just under 1000 miles, and while I can plan to do it in a single day in a gas-powered car with 4-5 fuel stops, when I add the charging times for the EV I would most likely need 3 days.

Right now I'm torn between buying an X7 with a B58 for its tried and tested technology and reliability, or the iX for its innovative technology and supreme luxury and quality, but can't quite make up my mind.

[Tr4ckD4ys]

Originally Posted by prei1978

I've been keenly waiting for a proper luxury EV that is built by people that knows how to put cars together. Never really wanted to pay $150,000 on a car and have the rear door misaligned with the window behind it by nearly an inch.

That said, I'm still having reservations about EVs in general, especially for the main family car like this, and it comes down to range. Take for example a trip I have planned for April where I'll drive about 3500 miles over 2 weeks, and lets imagine that my B58 G23 M440i can do an average of 250 miles per tankful of gas (conservative) and an i4 M50 equivalent could do 250 miles per charge (optimistic). That would be 14 fuel stops on the M440i for a total of about 2:40 hr, but 112 hours charging (8 hours per full charge) for the EV. It makes it that much harder to plan, especially because the first leg of the trip is from MA to SC for just under 1000 miles, and while I can plan to do it in a single day in a gas-powered car with 4-5 fuel stops, when I add the charging times for the EV I would most likely need 3 days.

Right now I'm torn between buying an X7 with a B58 for its tried and tested technology and reliability, or the iX for its innovative technology and supreme luxury and quality, but can't quite make up my mind.

Lease X7, wait three years, then buy electric

[prei1978]

Originally Posted by Tr4ckD4ys

Lease X7, wait three years, then buy electric

That ain't a bad idea...

[Paladin1]

Originally Posted by prei1978

I've been keenly waiting for a proper luxury EV that is built by people that knows how to put cars together. Never really wanted to pay $150,000 on a car and have the rear door misaligned with the window behind it by nearly an inch.

That said, I'm still having reservations about EVs in general, especially for the main family car like this, and it comes down to range. Take for example a trip I have planned for April where I'll drive about 3500 miles over 2 weeks, and lets imagine that my B58 G23 M440i can do an average of 250 miles per tankful of gas (conservative) and an i4 M50 equivalent could do 250 miles per charge (optimistic). That would be 14 fuel stops on the M440i for a total of about 2:40 hr, but 112 hours charging (8 hours per full charge) for the EV. It makes it that much harder to plan, especially because the first leg of the trip is from MA to SC for just under 1000 miles, and while I can plan to do it in a single day in a gas-powered car with 4-5 fuel stops, when I add the charging times for the EV I would most likely need 3 days.

Right now I'm torn between buying an X7 with a B58 for its tried and tested technology and reliability, or the iX for its innovative technology and supreme luxury and quality, but can't quite make up my mind.

Actually according to ABRP, driving in an i4 M50 from Boston to Columbia as an example, it would take 18h 25m, including 2h 51m total charging time (adding about 3 hours to just on-the-road time), which would include stopping to eat somewhere for an hour or so, and assuming I could find a charger nearby would add nothing for that), and assuming you started out with a 90% charge. For a 930 mile trip in my X5, I'd need at least 6 stops (for me, not the car), and counting 15m per fuel/break stop in addition to the hour needed for lunch, about 2h total for stops, making the actual difference about an hour between petrol/electric. If I drove straight through to the max on my tank with a slight reserve, I'd spend about 20-30 minutes refueling for about a 16h trip. And be very uncomfortable...

[ggalanis]

Originally Posted by prei1978

That would be 14 fuel stops on the M440i for a total of about 2:40 hr, but 112 hours charging (8 hours per full charge) for the EV. It makes it that much harder to plan, especially because the first leg of the trip is from MA to SC for just under 1000 miles, and while I can plan to do it in a single day in a gas-powered car with 4-5 fuel stops, when I add the charging times for the EV I would most likely need 3 days.

You are thinking about it a little wrong. I of course don't know the specifics about your actual trip, but with an EV, you wouldn't charge until 100% when driving between destinations, unless it coincided with a stop for a meal or something where you'd be stopped anyway.

Putting in a generic MA to SC trip with mainly default settings on a better route planner (I modified the initial state of charge to 100% instead of the 90% default) yields a way different picture.

I get 3.5 hours of charging spread over 7 charging stops... 13.5h driving for about 927 miles. You can play with the site and add a meal or some other stop in that plan to make it more realistic.
Now I am not saying this is better than with a gas car, it isn't. It might not be ok for you, but it is not 3 days.

Also another alternative if ever this type of EV route is not ok for you is to buy the EV to benefit from it in your day to day and rent a gas car for longer trips where you don't want to deal with the public charging network/time.

[ggalanis]

Originally Posted by Paladin1

Actually according to ABRP, driving in an i4 M50 from Boston to Columbia as an example, it would take 18h 25m, including 2h 51m total charging time (adding about 3 hours to just on-the-road time), which would include stopping to eat somewhere for an hour or so, and assuming I could find a charger nearby would add nothing for that), and assuming you started out with a 90% charge. For a 930 mile trip in my X5, I'd need at least 6 stops (for me, not the car), and counting 15m per fuel/break stop in addition to the hour needed for lunch, about 2h total for stops, making the actual difference about an hour between petrol/electric. If I drove straight through to the max on my tank with a slight reserve, I'd spend about 20-30 minutes refueling for about a 16h trip. And be very uncomfortable...

damn you beat me to it.

[prei1978]

Thanks Paladin1 and ggalanis, I appreciate both of your replies and I was thinking of it wrong. It does make sense that with fast charging I can get up to a certain % of the battery much quicker than from that to full.

Damn, when you put it that way actually, the EV looks a ton more appealing. I'm installing solar panels at home so for my day-to-day driving I'd be charging it for free, and if for a trip like that the total time it would add to the journey is only about 1 hr...

[prei1978]

Damn, I had a play with ABRP and the stops it proposes in that trip would actually be very convenient and the times I'd be stopped pretty reasonable. Damn. Consider me impressed.

[hugo_nz]

Originally Posted by prei1978

I've been keenly waiting for a proper luxury EV that is built by people that knows how to put cars together. Never really wanted to pay $150,000 on a car and have the rear door misaligned with the window behind it by nearly an inch.

That said, I'm still having reservations about EVs in general, especially for the main family car like this, and it comes down to range. Take for example a trip I have planned for April where I'll drive about 3500 miles over 2 weeks, and lets imagine that my B58 G23 M440i can do an average of 250 miles per tankful of gas (conservative) and an i4 M50 equivalent could do 250 miles per charge (optimistic). That would be 14 fuel stops on the M440i for a total of about 2:40 hr, but 112 hours charging (8 hours per full charge) for the EV. It makes it that much harder to plan, especially because the first leg of the trip is from MA to SC for just under 1000 miles, and while I can plan to do it in a single day in a gas-powered car with 4-5 fuel stops, when I add the charging times for the EV I would most likely need 3 days.

Right now I'm torn between buying an X7 with a B58 for its tried and tested technology and reliability, or the iX for its innovative technology and supreme luxury and quality, but can't quite make up my mind.

I think pretty much all of us who have ordered an iX have accepted that we are paying a significant early-adopter tax lol. My SA framed it very well while I was debating between the iX and iX3: the iX is an emotional purchase rather than a rational one. I for one am looking forward to driving something that stands out from the sea of Teslas.

[Paladin1]

Originally Posted by ggalanis

damn you beat me to it.

Had to change my outlook on EVs as well - I had thought "Drive, stop and charge 100%, drive, stop, etc." Now knowing that extra hour is going from 80% to 100%, and realizing you can supplement with fast chargers. A long trip in an EV is definitely do-able now, particularly with the overhead in newer cars to keep driving if you need a backup charging station. If Elon gives the go-ahead in the near future (as he says), Tesla stations will add to the mix and provide charging even over the Midwestern plains and Western deserts. Cool. The near term problems are still:

1. Insufficient infrastructure, discussed to a fare-thee-well. Getting there, but not there yet. Particularly with the slope of increase curve of EVs on the market and on the road - I passed four Teslas (that I could recognize) and an unknown number of PHEVs today out shopping, just in our local community, by no means "electrified."
2. In addition to not enough public chargers for cars we have (or barely enough), there is the fact that not all of them work all of the time, hence the need for careful route planning not to go to zero at the exact moment you arrive at a - maybe - inoperable station.
3. Adding to the above, one of the already increasing number of EVs on the road may be parked at the station you want to use. Just. Requiring you to wait an additional 30 minutes to an hour before you get your turn. When just twice as many EV drivers show up as we have now, easy to imagine even this year, we will break the rapidly developing system until it catches up - again. Rinse and repeat.

All of the above peripherally related, the good news is that of the historical annual driving average for Americans of slightly over 14,000 miles, the considerable majority of which (90+ percent) are within 30 miles of home. Hence the benefit of home charging for most EV drivers, recognizing the difficulty of achieving that for everyone currently. The bleeding edge of technology is sometimes just that....

[GuyOh]

A quantum leap in ugly…

Jokes aside, i love everything about the ix , i just really find the exterior of the car extremely unattractive

[ggalanis]

Originally Posted by prei1978

Damn, I had a play with ABRP and the stops it proposes in that trip would actually be very convenient and the times I'd be stopped pretty reasonable. Damn. Consider me impressed.

It does assume a few things like no broken chargers, no waiting for other cars to charge to free up the charger, likely assumes ideal charging (i.e. battery is properly pre-heated) etc. It offers a ton of flexibility to mirror how you drive (i.e. speed, departure/arrival SOC, minimum buffer for charging stops, etc.) and you can adjust the estimated consumption manually if ever their estimate does work for your car (i.e. you got some aftermarket wheels that aren't as efficient).

So a real life trip could have some bumps along the way if you hit issues with the charging stops. Based on social media posts i have seen, there are issues with chargers often enough that you need to be at least somewhat cautious. I would always suggest reviewing the stops it suggests to make sure there is a decent backup charger nearby and when that is not possible, to try and plan around it by charging longer before that stop to avoid an area where you would be screwed if there was a charger down. That might not always be possible.

But with all that said, yes it isn't as bad as most think it would be.

[prei1978]

Originally Posted by ggalanis

It does assume a few things like no broken chargers, no waiting for other cars to charge to free up the charger, likely assumes ideal charging (i.e. battery is properly pre-heated) etc. It offers a ton of flexibility to mirror how you drive (i.e. speed, departure/arrival SOC, minimum buffer for charging stops, etc.) and you can adjust the estimated consumption manually if ever their estimate does work for your car (i.e. you got some aftermarket wheels that aren't as efficient).

So a real life trip could have some bumps along the way if you hit issues with the charging stops. Based on social media posts i have seen, there are issues with chargers often enough that you need to be at least somewhat cautious. I would always suggest reviewing the stops it suggests to make sure there is a decent backup charger nearby and when that is not possible, to try and plan around it by charging longer before that stop to avoid an area where you would be screwed if there was a charger down. That might not always be possible.

But with all that said, yes it isn't as bad as most think it would be.

Yeah, it all makes sense. In addition, a trip like the one I have planned for April is a once a year or once every two years kind of thing, so 90% of my driving is done within 30 miles of my home so would be charging overnight at least 48 weeks of the year.

I thought the same about looking at backup chargers and things like that. It does seem like ABRP tries to not let you go below 10% remaining capacity, but I could tweak it and make it so that I stop when I have around 20% remaining, giving me the chance that if that charger is not available, I can drive another 30~50 miles to find another one.

I'm sure some adaptation will be necessary, but after this conversation, I'm much more inclined to go with the iX instead of an X7. The car is seriously exciting in terms of luxury, comfort, and build quality, and going for the xDrive50 I'd get quite a powerful car too. I may have to talk to my dealer about this soon.

[prei1978]

Originally Posted by GuyOh

A quantum leap in ugly…

Jokes aside, i love everything about the ix , i just really find the exterior of the car extremely unattractive

The exterior for me has gone from "damn that's fugly" to "it ain't that bad". Not sure it will go beyond that. I watched an interview by BMW Blog with the product lead for the IX and she mentioned that they wanted a "monolithic" design for the car. They certainly achieved that, for better or for worse.

What does it for me is everything else about the car. The interior looks exquisite, it has a decent range, plenty of power, and you know that it will be put together well given that it is a BMW after all.

With all of BMW's new designs, however, it seems like they are a little lost and shooting in all sorts of directions. I hope they can soon find a language that works and then refine that into something that is more strikingly beautiful like their cars used to be.

In the meanwhile, I'm bidding on a beautiful E24 M6 that I hope to add to my garage to join my E30 M3, and the G23 M440i (which I think is beautiful). Don't mind if the daily driver is ugly if I can just hop in one of those beauties and enjoy them at leisure.

[hugo_nz]

Originally Posted by GuyOh

A quantum leap in ugly…

Jokes aside, i love everything about the ix , i just really find the exterior of the car extremely unattractive

BMW certainly did create a stir with the design of the iX. Turn the clock back 20 years to the launch of the E65 7-series and the E60 5-series and you'll see a familiar pattern. Both those cars were universally reviled for their designs yet after the initial firestorm died down people took a step back and thought "hey, the design isn't actually that bad". I owned the facelift E65 and despite being 17 years old the design has held up remarkably well.

Will the same be said for the i20 iX? Who knows Like the E65 and E60 before it the iX is the herald of a new era of design at BMW.

[Paladin1]

Look at some of the early comments about iDrive (some of them deserved!). Worst thing to happen to cars in 100 years! Now it's almost the industry standard. Not bad, BMW....

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by Tr4ckD4ys

Lease X7, wait three years, then buy electric

Indeed. Wait 3 years until solid state batteries are available.