The Carsplain Long-Term Fleet has been through a bit of a whirlwind (as always) this past year, maybe we should start calling it a mid-term fleet… We originally intended to keep our BMW X5 Plug-In Hybrid for the long haul, literally and figuratively. With 30-ish miles of EV range, it was enough for most daily errands and my wife’s short commute to the office when she went in, but then we were plugging it in every single day in order to maximize EV driving. With the flexibility of gas driving beyond the 30 miles we expected to use the X5 on any longer treks away from home that might’ve required fast charging stops with an EV. However, an opportunity came up as BMW started heavily incentivizing their all-electric iX.
While the iX was never really on our radar as the pricing for nicely equipped models easily crested $100,000. As BMW started cranking up sales volume pressure, so came the deals. When we shopped ours, as always thanks to our friends at BMW of Alexandria, we got a very generous offer on our BMW X5 Plug In, especially when you consider we received the direct $7,500 tax credit on purchase. The deals on the iX, this time as a lease, came with roughly a 10% discount + an additional $9,900 lease credit (BMW was and is still providing above and beyond the federal $7,500 lease credit). So we had equity on our X5 and we lowered our monthly payments considerably, insurance also came down a bit. With some 300 miles of range, we no longer had to plug in every single night just to enjoy the smooth EV driving-ness, but it also meant we’d lose the gas safety net we’d thought we should have at least one in the household.
Onto the iX! Yes it’s a bit quirky looking on the outside. Definitely not as good looking as the X5, but it does grow a bit on you. Ours was in a beautiful Storm Bay exterior color that was pretty similar to the Thunder paint on our Polestar (weather name themes anyone?). Where the X5 is pretty squared off, particular at the rear, the iX is ultra tapered for aerodynamic efficiency. Also for aero benefits are the lack of protruding door handles, but instead of weirdly positioned or pop out levers, it’s a simple cavity in the door panel itself and you pull the door outward while tapping a pad within. I think this is the most simple and elegant solution, VW’s ID4 has a similar execution. While I originally was a bit miffed that only the front doors have the door lock touch sensors on them, it was mitigated by BMW’s latest phone as a key integration where they enable walk away lock and any door unlocks as you tug it open. And where the X5 has our preferred split tailgate/liftgate, the iX makes do with a single liftgate.
Stepping inside, our car also had a choice interior with a deep red leather with a cool quilting pattern. The seats were ultra comfortable and the overall design is definitely more modern than the X5 while still retaining a good number of physical controls. Space upfront felt open and wide with the floating center armrest that allows for a passthrough space of sorts between the driver and passenger. The iX is a bit lower to the ground than the X5 also, so instead of stepping up into the car, you slide a bit laterally for the most part. This was a good benefit for our daughter who could more easily jump in and out. Also a good benefit for kids was the space in the 2nd row. While the X5 and iX are very close in length and wheelbase, the iX doesn’t have to proportion to keep an inline 6-cylinder engine up front. So the hood is effectively shorter and there’s more length inside the cabin. This meant that where our rear facing car seat was a bit tight in the X5, it fit easily in the iX. The frameless windows on the iX doors do make it hard to get any sort of window shades for the rear doors though.
While we had purposely gotten the 2023 X5 to keep the physical toggles and controls for most of the heating and ventilation controls, the newer iDrive in the iX proved to be easy to use, especially after an early software update made some of the more common controls persistent along the bottom edge of the screen. One personal drawback on the iX was that the sunroof no longer opened as on the X5, it’s just a fixed glass piece, and no physical sunshade, but did have the electrochromic shade/frosting. That’s better than no shade, but would still have preferred both opening and full shade options.
Driving the iX was easy, smooth and powerful, just like you’d expect an electric BMW to be. Yes it’s got some heft, but it’s all well sorted and managed. Even the squircle/hexagonal steering wheel is something you get used to really quickly. Braking, something EVs generally have to figure out how to best blend regenerative braking and the physical friction brakes, is another area that BMW does well in. One-pedal driving isn’t really a thing without going into B mode on the drive selector each time. That can be a bit cumbersome.
On long treks the iX (which came with Electrify America sessions) was quick on the charge and efficient on the road. It was aided by some of the best hands-free highway driving assist I’ve used to date, part of their Drive Assistance Professional Package, well worth the $2,700, especially if you’re just leasing and paying just a portion of that cost. Also appreciated that the iX charge port door wasn’t an over engineered motorized contraption, just push and pop open/closed.
BMW’s product strategy seems to be swinging towards EVs sharing platforms with ICE vehicles in the latest 5 and 7 Series, that gives me hope to seeing an all-electric X5 in the next generation!