The panoramic glass roof flicks between clear and opaque at the press of button – a tech first for BMW. And speaking of which, BMW has got rid of all the but the most essential buttons. The thinking is that you will lean more heavily on gesture control, which no one will use, or voice control, which you might indeed use.
The latest iDrive 8 system is operated by a tactile thin piece of wood with the buttons hidden underneath and lit from below. However, the use of crystal for the main controller dial and seat adjusters is a bit OTT and smacks too much of what your dad thinks the future looks like. BMW has shoehorned 20 times more computing power than any previous BMW into the iX. And yes it’s all here: one giant sweeping, curved display that houses a 14.9-inch infotainment screen alongside a 12.
The one concession to its EV nature is seen in the boot. The integrated drive unit on the rear axle means you get a higher boot floor. Capacity is 500 litres, which is still a perfectly decent amount, but it’s 150 litres less than the similarly sized X5.If BMW was aiming for the performance of an X5 with the ride of an X7 with the new iX, then it hasn’t done a bad job at all. The car’s performance is genuinely impressive.
WiredUK I’ll take my Mach E any time.
WiredUK Why is the design so weird? And for that price!