BMW iX xDrive50 Sport 2021 Review - International

The 2021 BMW iX is going hard after the opposition in Australia, especially in the entry-level single-motor xDrive40 version, which weighs in at $135,900 plus on-road costs.

That positions it well below the far more compromised Mercedes-Benz EQC 400 ($141,400 plus ORCs), the Audi e-tron 50 ($137,100 plus ORCs) and the Jaguar i-PACE EV400 SE ($138,460 plus ORCs), following the axing of the base EV400 S previously available for $124,100.

But like its most direct rivals, the BMW iX will also be available in a higher spec – in this case the BMW iX xDrive50, which is more expensive at $169,990 plus ORCs and was the only car available to test in pre-production form – and there’s the top-shelf iX M60 to come next year.

It’s all 5G in the cabin of the iX, and it has the eighth generation of BMW’s iDrive operating system to help keep the driver’s eyes on the road instead of always stumbling through touch-screens.

There’s a curved instrument cluster that morphs into a wide screen, but is actually two screens together, plus a 14.9-inch display for the instrument cluster and a 12.3-inch multimedia screen.

BMW claims it has halved the usual number of buttons in the cabin, and it seems to have moved a lot of stuff onto the curved display, which stands proud of the short dash and also hides the head-up display.

There’s an optional electrochromatic glass roof that shades at the push of a button, flanked by frameless doors that open at the push of a button, both inside and out.

Even the open-pore wood options have touch-sensitive surfaces, and the entire cabin is twisted to favour the driver.

Yes, there’s even a hexagonal steering wheel. It’s a reflex conclusion to assume it’s just a gimmick, but after some driving we’ve concluded it’s just a gimmick and BMW doesn’t offer a round-wheel option. Still, it has just two knobs on it, instead of the dozen or so they replace.

There are recycled materials in the interior, which hide the speakers that are scattered around the cabin. Some environmental touches include the use of olive leaves to tan the leather and using 50 per cent recycled polyester for the seat, door and console surfaces.

Everything BMW knows how to do and every piece of hard-won experience from the i3 and i8 programs is distilled into the 2021 BMW iX, along with lots more. It’s not quite money-no-object from BMW’s development team, but it’s close.

The chassis is an aluminium spaceframe with a carbon-fibre frame and roof brace for the body.

That horrid grille is polycarbonate, hides the radar sensor and cameras and is coated in 0.7mm of self-healing polyurethane, so stone chips and minor scratches disappear after a few hours of sunlight.

The amount of engineering in the BMW iX is almost frightening and it makes its rivals like the Mercedes-Benz EQC and the Audi e-tron feel, frankly, old.

BMW packages the electric motors, the power electronics and the transmission together in one housing, saving space and complexity and (though you’d struggle to credit it) weight.

It carries the most comprehensive driver-assistance package ever fitted to a BMW, including a frontal collision warning that now detects oncoming traffic whenever the car is turning left or right, including pedestrians and cyclists.

There’s a crossroads warning system combined with a city-braking function to minimise the chance of crashes on crossroads. And it has steering and lane-control assistance along with active cruise control, speed-limit assist, parking assist and even an option of a remote theft recorder.

It’s getting serious now. The 2021 BMW iX xDrive50 is the faster of the two versions and carries two electric motors.

BMW wants to retain a rear-biased weight and driving feel, so the rear axle hosts a 230kW/400Nm electrically excited synchronous motor, which eschews rare-earth minerals.

The front-end houses the same kind of technology, but with 190kW of power and 365Nm of torque. Between them they deliver a healthy 385kW/765Nm, which seems necessary for a car that weighs 2510kg.

There’s a single fixed-ratio transmission (let’s call it a differential) at each end, plus five-link rear suspension and a double-wishbone front-end, but no frunk – despite 4953mm of overall length and a high bonnet.

That’s because the space is taken up by the cooling systems for the big 111.5kWh lithium-ion battery. There is 105.2kWh of net capacity in the battery pack, which is rated at 369 volts.

It’s enough to charge the iX xDrive50 from 10 to 80 per cent in 35 minutes on a 200kW DC fast-charger, though it still takes 11 hours to charge it via an 11kW AC device.

BMW claims the iX has unprecedented EV agility for its size due to electric all-wheel drive, torque vectoring, wheel-slip limitation through actuators very close to the wheels, air suspension, electronically controlled dampers, integral active steering (including the rear wheels) and enormous optional 275/40 R22 tyres.

Firstly, that BMW iX xDrive50 steering wheel. It grows on you to a point, but only to a point. The lack of buttons on the wheel gets a big tick, though.

It is impressive to open the door and see so much visible carbon-fibre in the frame of the body, and then the iX opens up to an enormous interior that’s bigger than an X5’s.

It’s a very easy car to feel at home in, with the lack of buttons leading to quick familiarity, and the voice-activation is so much better than what went before it at BMW that the iDrive scroller is hardly necessary.

The overwhelming feelings from behind the wheel of the iX is its immense silence, its thorough thrashing of all non-essential noises and its sheer strength of acceleration – anywhere, at any time.

Enormous tyres like this have no right to silence, but these ones master it. There is no road noise to speak of inside the cabin, and hardly a scarp of bump-thump, either.

The only noise above 60km/h is a touch of wind noise from around the base of the windscreen and the mirrors, and BMW claims a modest 0.25Cd drag coefficient, at a time when others are claiming 0.21.

The way the iX gets off the line would have been killed for in motorsport as recently as the 1980s, and it hammers to 100km/h in 4.6 seconds.

That’s impressive, but what’s more impressive is the way it hurls itself from 100km/h to 200km/h, then stays there using about 35 per cent of its power, according to the dash display.

It’s hard to deny the 2021 BMW iX xDrive50 feels like a very, very high quality car, from top to bottom.

The refinement is so developed that it’s more comfortable in Sport mode than most BMWs – even luxury ones like the 7 Series – are in their softest modes.

It’s not just that it piles on speed at an incredible rate, from any point in the speed range, but that it does it without fuss and without ever feeling frantic. It’s just strong.

The curved screen is a revelation from BMW. It’s so easy to use and natural to feel at home with, and it has a helpful graphic in the dash with an iX and a clear ‘window’, which shows you how far you can get on the battery range.

The weight is an issue, though, and as easy as it is to fling into corners, the sheer mass becomes apparent in any direction change – but every EV other than the Taycan has the same problem.

The BMW iX is an overwhelmingly classy machine, and it’s one that deserves to do very well.

How much does the 2021 BMW iX xDrive50 Sport cost?
Price: $169,990 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Late 2021
Powertrain: Two electrically excited synchronous motors
System Output: 385kW/765Nm
Front motor: 190kW/365Nm
Rear motor: 230kW/400Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 111.5kWh lithium-ion polymer (105.2kWh net)
Range: 549km-630km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 19.8-23kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested