BMW iX Prototype type: Mia-san-mia-Mobile

With the BMW iX, the Munich-based company wants to regain lost reputation. While competitors such as Audi or Mercedes rushed headlong into electromobility, the Munich-based company held back with the pure-bred electric vehicles after the i3. According to the premise in the “Power of Choice” strategy, according to which the customers decide for themselves which drive concept they prefer. Nonetheless, electromobility is an important pillar for the future of BMW. At the Petuelring in Munich they like to snap their suspenders and it is therefore clear that the next phase of electromobility will be rolled out from above and will begin with a technology flagship. The BMW iX is this Mia-san-mia-Mobil. “The iX is the snow plow for the electric version of the 7 and 5 Series. As with the i3, we’re rolling up our sleeves and showing what BMW can do,” explains project manager Johann Kistler. The friendly Bavarian is a BMW veteran who has already put the important BMW 7 Series and the BMW X5 on the right track.

This should also work with the BMW iX, for which the best is only good enough. Even if the somewhat hastily proclaimed autonomous driving skills of level 3 are not implemented. Nevertheless, the BMW iX still offers a lot of technology that is supposed to transport the joy of driving into the electric age. In the BMW iX xDrive 50, two electric motors (front axle: 190 kW / 258 hp; rear axle: 230 kW / 313 hp) add up to an all-wheel drive with 385 kW / 523 hp and a maximum torque of 765 Newton meters. The electric machines are the latest, i.e. the fifth generation, and do not require raw materials from rare earths. “The engines are on par with those from Tesla and even better in some details,” says Johann Kistler. To ensure that the dynamics are right, the actuator-related wheel slip limitation familiar from the BMW i3s and the BMW 1 Series is used for the first time on two axles. There is also a chassis with two-axle air suspension including automatic level control. The engineers did not use 48-volt roll stabilization for reasons of efficiency.

The wow attitude continues in the interior. The seats resemble armchairs and thanks to the ultra-long steering wheel column, you can easily find a perfect seating position. The BMW iX is the gentleman on the go: The comfort and the silence in the interior are impressive. The stiff body, the quiet engines and the 22 inch tires, which are provided with noise-absorbing foam absorbers, contribute to this. Only at higher speeds can you hear the wind noise on the A-pillar and the exterior mirrors.

Thanks to the rear-axle steering, which allows the wheels to turn up to three degrees, and the equal axle load distribution, the BMW iX also performs splendidly on winding country roads, but this technical arsenal cannot completely hide the impressive weight of 2,510 kilograms. It never gets uncomfortable. With the BMW iX you somehow always have the feeling of moving a solid piece of metal milled from one piece. When it comes to driving modes, BMW focuses on the essentials, as there are only three alternatives with personnel, efficiency and sport. In sport, the body is constantly lowered by ten millimeters (otherwise from 140 km / h) and the acceleration commands are accepted more immediately. The BMW iX leaves a mature impression even as a prototype. Only the steering could be a bit more communicative in terms of traction and the nature of the ground. There is still some time, as the E-SUV will not be available until November.

The power of the two electric motors makes the BMW iX xDrive 50 an alpha animal on any asphalt. No wonder, the start is almost irresistible thanks to the rapid onset of torque and the 100 km / h mark is reached after just 4.6 seconds, and the propulsion ends at 200 km / h. That brings us to consumption, an important factor in an electric car. Thanks to aerodynamic tricks, such as the active air flap control, the almost completely covered underbody and specially arranged air openings, the drag coefficient for a car of this size is a very good 0.25. BMW states a consumption of 23.0 kW / 100 km, we came to 26.5 kW / 100 km in the test drives including motorway sprints at top speed. You almost have to take off your hat to the Munich marketing acrobats, sell the monstrous BMW kidney grille as an “intelligence surface” and mean that there are all sorts of sensors behind the closed grille, such as the radar or infrared technology. These sensors are also used by the adaptive cruise control, which automatically decelerates, recuperates or coasts depending on the traffic and route situation. One-pedal driving is also possible. With the large 111.5 kilowatt hour battery (net 105.2 kWh), BMW promises a maximum range of up to 630 kilometers. Thanks to a maximum charging power of a maximum of 200 kW, the batteries on a direct current fast charger are filled from ten percent to 80 percent after 35 minutes. With AC refueling, only 11 kW are currently possible, later 22 kW should be in it.

The infotainment of the iX heralds a new BMW era. Two monitors measuring 12.3 “and 14.9” combine to form one screen that hugs the driver’s seat as a “curved display”. The interior looks tidy as BMW threw out half of the switches and buttons. Thank goodness a modern version of the good old rotary push button has been preserved and so you can quickly find your way around. With the head-up display, the Munich-based car manufacturer follows the latest trend and projects a large image onto the road in front of the driver. In contrast to the Mercedes S-Class or the VW ID.4, BMW does not use augmented reality to let the navigation instructions fly through the air, but instead leaves the spectacle on the monitor. The whole thing has nothing to do with a technology disadvantage, it is intentional. “We found out in various projects that this representation in the head-up display distracts the driver more,” explains Johann Kistler.

With a base price of 98,000 euros for the BMW iX xDrive 50, a premium product also has that much technology in this discipline. Those who are satisfied with 240 kW / 326 PS and a 776.6 kilowatt hour battery (71 kWh net) will find what they are looking for in the BMW iX xDrive 40 for 77,300 euros. Later, a BMW iX M60 will define the top performance.