Styling
Look, maybe our eyes are failing in our dotage. Maybe we've lost all sense of taste. Or maybe, just maybe, BMW's truly contentious styling exercises of four to five years ago are starting to mature and make more aesthetic sense. And the reason we say that is because... well... the BMW iX doesn't offend us as much as it used to any longer. In fact, we... kind of like it. Yes, run for the hills and all that, but it seems to be much happier in its skin, and it can't be the very minor changes of new light signatures up front (inspired by the Vision Neue Klasse X concept) plus chunkier bumpers fore and aft which have done all the remedial work on the iX. Heck, it even looks nice in the new colour of Dune Grey metallic (£900), which isn't so much grey as hearing-aid beige. M Sport trim, available on the iX for the first time, further helps the BMW's case and leaves us wondering if we've lost our marbles when we conclude... yeah, this looks OK, this does.
Interior
One of the major strengths of the BMW iX has always been its sumptuous and high-quality cabin, and that hasn't changed for the update. Indeed, things have possibly got better inside the SUV because the weird old hexagon steering thing has been replaced by a properly round wheel in the M Sport (which is too thickly padded again, but there we go - can't have everything, apparently), while there's an exquisite new design of fabric seat which has the M tricolour stripe rendered on it in a diagonal pattern. Not only does this chair look magnificent, it's super-comfy and supportive to sit in, so with its glamorous tech, lovely ambience and general air of excellent fit-and-finish, the updated BMW iX continues to lead the way in terms of passenger compartments in this class.
Practicality
You won't complain about the amount of room inside the iX, although it's a pity there's no seven-seat option (even a 5+2 layout would do) considering the sheer size of the Beemer's exterior. Nevertheless, the priority is on space for humans rather than luggage, which is good, because the 500-litre boot is probably middling for a vehicle of this class. We'd say, though, that on balance the iX is perfectly practical enough for what its end users will ever need it for, so it passes the usability brief quite easily.
Performance
All of the erstwhile iX BMWs, which were the xDrive40, xDrive50 and
M60 xDrive, have seen some technical upgrades and so all of their badges have metamorphosed into (respectively) the xDrive45, xDrive60 and M70 xDrive as a result. The latter two have been tweaked rather than transformed, the xDrive60 gaining 21hp over its predecessor to stand at 544hp now (torque of 765Nm), while the new M70 has been blessed with another 40 horsepower - something the M60 emphatically
did not need - for a new 659hp peak (backed up by a colossal 1,100Nm for time-limited periods). Performance hasn't actually improved on either, the xDrive60 running 0-62mph in 4.6 seconds and the M70 taking 3.8 seconds for the same benchmark, and both still use a (roughly) 109kWh net battery with 195kW DC maximum charging speeds. In the case of the xDrive60, efficiency updates mean its maximum official range is now 426 miles, an improvement of 43 miles from previously and in turn making this the first electric BMW with a confirmed 400-mile-plus one-shot figure.
But arguably the most worthwhile suite of changes comes with the base model, and 'base' hardly does this iX justice. Power leaps 82hp, from 326hp previously to 408hp here, while torque also swells 70Nm to a new maximum of 700Nm. These increases are enough to slash a whole second from the old 0-62mph time for a 5.1-second sprint now, and that's despite the much bigger battery pack that's now slotted into the xDrive45.
Ramped up to 94.8kWh from a previous 74.1kWh, it has added between 103 and 110 miles of range to the two variants of the 45 (M Sport and a lesser Sport, respectively), taking their overall claims to 367 and 374 miles accordingly. That's a huge and most beneficial improvement from the preceding EVs with an official max of circa-270 miles, all of which makes the xDrive45 look incredibly tempting in the overall iX line-up. In case you're wondering, the maximum DC charging rate of this new power pack has also been boosted by 25kW, to a 175kW fastest - resulting in a 34-minute 10-80 per cent replenishment time.
Yes, it looks like it can achieve these sorts of figures in reality, as well. Our test xDrive45 had around 82 per cent battery charge when we set off and it claimed it could do 302 miles on that amount of power, while it then went on to return an indicated (and deeply impressive for its size) 2.9 miles/kWh during our test drive, which was conducted... reasonably briskly, shall we say? At that consumption level, it would be a genuine 275 miles per full charge, so with only moderately careful driving standards a realistic 300 miles is going to be easily achievable from this electric BMW SUV.
And on the basis of purely its straight-line performance, it's hard to know how you could ever want more speed from a big, heavy, 2.5-tonne electric SUV than the xDrive45 can serve up. It's beautifully progressive and linear as it accelerates, and it's swift enough to feel suitably strong and rapid, without ever having that uncomfortable neck-snapping sensation you get in 1,000Nm-plus EVs (yes, M70, we're looking at you) when you flatten the accelerator. In essence, the pace of the xDrive45 is in the Goldilocks Zone of performance: not too fast to feel sick-inducing, not too slow to come across as malnourished and blunted by the vehicle's giant bulk.
Furthermore, the iX continues to make the brilliant, totally un-combustion-like noises onboard courtesy of Hans Zimmer. There's a whole array of these and some are more successful than others, but the outlandish synth-heavy groaning of Expression or the ethereal choir you get in Relax are
exactly the sort of sounds a top-end EV ought to be making. They give the BMW a sci-fi edge that's wholly befitting of its madcap exterior styling and lavish, lounge-like interior, and we could not approve of them more if we tried.
Ride & Handling
Without ever being scintillating or threatening to challenge for the (totally made-up) crown of 'Best Driving BMW In History', the iX xDrive45 M Sport is a magnificently polished, thoroughly likeable thing to travel along in. There's feel and bite to the steering, muted though it is by the needless depth of padding on the rim of its wheel in the cabin, and the body control on the suspension is suitably composed, even if you start throwing the giant Beemer into corners like it's some sort of hot hatch that's about half the size. Grip and traction are both unimpeachable, certainly in the dry, and the 408hp iX therefore feels about bang on the money for handling.
Yet it doesn't let the side down on the ride comfort and rolling refinement fronts, where - if anything - it's even more convincing as a grand, luxury item. The damping in particular deserves praise, because while there's optional dual-axle air suspension with electronic damper control for the iX 45, the standard set-up is much more passive. Yet, despite its giant 2,525kg mass, those regular dampers do everything to a suitably high standard indeed. There are only very, very infrequent and mild instances where the 21-inch wheels at all four corners make themselves felt, but for the rest of the time the iX xDrive45 M Sport is supple, well-controlled, admirably hushed and incredibly comfortable as it rolls along. It's everything you could want of a luxuriant SUV like this, in all honesty.
Value
You could argue the best-value model of the new iX family is the middle one, the xDrive60, because it has gained more power and extra range, but is actually cheaper than the xDrive50 it replaces. However, at £93,115, and with the M70 above it rocking in at £114,215 basic, these two upper iXs are not inexpensive vehicles. Nor, for that matter, is this M Sport variant of the xDrive45, which is a three-grand price walk from the entry-level Sport (£75,405), but at least £78,000 seems a little more reasonable than six figures. Be careful with the options, though, as various option packs on the 45 can quickly push the price higher - our test car had around £10,000 of gear fitted, which made it £87,400 overall.
Verdict
The updated BMW iX is going to cost you a fair chunk of money and, despite our protestations to the contrary, for many people it is still going to be too ugly on the outside to reasonably consider. But if you can get past the styling - and we find we can these days, far more easily than we could four years ago - then what you have here could very well be termed as BMW's finest all-rounder on sale right now. Great to drive, wonderful to sit in, blessed with just the right level of performance, and possessed of a real-world 300 miles of one-shot driving range, it's hard to find a genuine weakness with the brilliant iX xDrive45 M Sport.
