BMW renews its iX electric SUV to give its sales a new boost

A little over four years after its official presentation in November 2020, the Bavarian manufacturer has announced a long-awaited renewal of its luxury electric SUV, the iX. BMW has opted in this case to introduce subtle design improvements, focusing all its efforts on significantly improving its interior technology.

Visually, the design of the iX now offers a more sporty and elegant appearance, with bumpers in the standard body colour. The optional M Sport package will, on the other hand, add a more dynamic touch with more aggressive contours and distinctive rear reflectors.

On the technical side, the powertrains have been improved, although it still retains the same 400V architecture. We will therefore have to wait for the launch of the so-called Neue Klasse to see the first electric models with an 800V architecture in the Bavarian manufacturer’s range.

Go even further

All three versions of the iX on sale have received power increases, which has led BMW to change the model names. The base model, now called iX xDrive45, increases its power to 300 kW and is now capable of reaching 100 km/h from a standstill in just 5.1 seconds. The iX xDrive60 -formerly xDrive50- also increases its power to 400 kW, stopping the clock at 0 to 100 km/h in 4.6 seconds. Meanwhile, the top-of-the-range version iX M70 xDrive, previously known as the M60 xDrive, gains 30 kW to reach 485 kW of power, allowing it to reach 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds in Sport mode.

The engineers at BMW have achieved these improvements in technical specifications by recalibrating the systems and integrating new inverter technology that has increased efficiency in power delivery. The capacities of the battery packs, on the other hand, have increased across all models, with a particularly notable increase of 30 percent in the entry-level model, now reaching 94.8 kWh and 602 km of WLTP range.

The iX xDrive 60, for its part, now features a battery pack with a capacity of 109.1 kWh, with which, according to the manufacturer, it is capable of covering 701 km on a single charge under the WLTP homologation cycle. This makes it one of the electric models with the greatest range of any brand, and the lowest among those available on the European market.

At the top of the range, with a 108.9 kWh battery pack, the iX M70 xDrive is now capable of covering just 600 km under the WLTP homologation cycle.

Faster charging to compensate for the increase in battery pack capacity

Beyond the increases in battery pack capacity across the three versions of the BMW iX on sale, the supported charging power has also improved in all cases, rising to 175 kW in direct current for the xDrive45, and to 195 kW for the iX xDrive 60 and M70 xDrive. Likewise, the supported charging power in alternating current has also been improved across all three versions, rising to 22 kW.

It should also be noted that the increases in battery pack capacity, and therefore also in their weight, have forced the engineers at BMW to recalibrate the suspensions.

On the software side, the updates received now allow for better integration of the charging strategy, support for Plug&Charge, together with optimised charging using solar energy and taking advantage of dynamic electricity tariffs. Additionally, the MyBMW app now offers improved route planning, along with information on the availability of charging points at stations.

Finally, with regard to price, in Germany the entry-level iX xDrive 45 now costs 83,500 euros. The iX xDrive60 costs 99,900 euros, and for the top-of-the-range M70 xDrive the required outlay increases to 124,900 euros.

Technical specifications of this car

CrossoverBMW iX3 versions · from 88,700 €