all-new BMW iX3 driving REVIEW 2026 – now the best EV to buy?
One of the most important driving reviews is starting right now. I have both keys here to the all-new BMW iX3, the electric X3 in the new generation. BMW Neue Klasse. Completely new platform. Woo! Crazy! Have you felt that? How are they doing that? And rarely can I say that the review is not only about the car itself, but about the whole brand. The future of BMW and maybe also the future of the German automotive industry. Because with this vehicle here, BMW is saying we are back. The German automotive industry has taken such a beating in recent years. You were late to the EV game. You messed up the recent interiors. You messed up the exterior design and so on and so on. And the criticism was partly right, and I was also part of it. And now BMW says we are back. We want to join the EV party now even more with these vehicles here. And we have it in two versions. M Sport Pro and M Sport, and also two different interior versions to show you all the variety. We’ll test the driving with the efficiency. What is the real, concise, real-world range and so on. Everything you need to know about this super, super crucial vehicle with Thomas on Autogefühl in 4K, full screen, full length. Let’s go! Got the key fobs here in my hand, so I can always open and close the vehicle to get you this illuminated double kidney. In the front we can see this is the new Neue Klasse phase. Neue Klasse refers to, translated, “new class.” They did that in the 70s, and they had these rather small, but vertical double kidneys, because they also took your feedback. Sometimes the double kidney just got too large, and then they said, we go back to the retro style again. Mercedes is also doing that now with the GLC EQ, the direct competitor, and making it a little bit more understated, because German design has always been about understatement as well. This vehicle is equipped with the M Sport package. That means you have a different graphic here, for example, in black. There’s also an air curtain and then a black insert here. The base version would look a little less sporty, so to speak. Doesn’t make the largest difference. And also interesting, it doesn’t make any efficiency difference in the Cd value, which is at 0.24. Excellent for an electric SUV indeed, and also way better than the X3… Combustion engine and plug-in hybrid and so on. This one is at 0.27, and here, the lower, the better indeed. You can get to 0.25 with the larger wheels. I’ll soon explain all of that to you. Then interesting here with the double kidney: this is the, let’s say, the normal look. You can see the outline even when it’s off, and then when I illuminate it, you can see the illuminated kidney. This is an option. You don’t have to go for it, and even if you pick one, you can also deactivate it depending on your liking, and you can see this black mask here in the front. And now, when we switch over to the M Sport Package Pro, we have some differences. Here, for example, the mirror caps are in black. We have red brake calipers here at the side. Soon more about the wheels and so on. And in the front, when the vehicle is off, you don’t see this white outline. So here, it’s all the way in black in this double kidney. However, when I then turn on the illumination, the difference is not that large anymore. However, you can see it’s a little darker because the outline here is black, and that’s why the middle lighting here is a little drawn back, a little more subtle, so to speak. Which one you prefer is totally up to you. In the M Sport Pro, the illuminated double kidney is included in the price already. I’ll soon also make an extended piece about all the pricing because I can tell you already so far, the pricing is very attractive for what you get. Also battery size and so on. If you compare it to a normal X3 or plug-in hybrid, you can almost get the same price if you take the same equipment. And that is even interesting, or maybe sometimes even cheaper. That’s very interesting indeed. Our colors here for the day, by the way: this is Polarized Gray. Has like a blue noise to it. And this one here is Space Silver. Looks also pretty cool. In the side profile here, we have 21-inch wheels on both vehicles. Here, as I said, the red brake calipers for the M Sport Package Pro. 21-inch, and you would start with 20-inch wheels and go up to 22-inch. And now comes the very interesting part: the width, because that is crucial for the rolling resistance and also ultimately for the Cd value even. So in the front, you always get 255 mm tires. Always. No matter which size you pick. But the rear does change. In the 20-inch wheels, it’s also 255 in the rear. 21-inch wheels are both available with 255 in the rear, but also with the wider 275. These here are the same, not the mixed tires. But with 21s, you really have to check the configurator if you go for mixed wheels or not. And then you can also pick aero wheels. We’ll soon show you how they look on the other vehicle. They are actually good. And then the 22-inch wheels, they would always have the wider tires in the rear. So the best setup would be to pick the small tires in the rear for the best overall efficiency result. And then, this is the other key fob. I can also show you the illumination here in the rear. Let’s open the car once again. It’s a cool light show here with the red. That looks really striking, right? So I really love the rear design. Very widely drawn. And here again, we also have a little contrast with the M Sport Package Pro, because here, we have it in dark in the lower part. Whereas here, this is the normal M Sport Package without the Pro. You do not have the black contrast in the lower part. And I’m more a fan of this. Tell me in the comments, what do you think? By the way, here in the side profile, also 21-inch wheels, but these are the aero wheels. Maybe not my favorite from the looks. So honestly, I would probably stick with the 20-inch wheels, because they give you the best riding comfort. At the same time, they also give you among the best efficiency. The aero wheels will also be efficient. Yeah, so you can also— it’s really funny— you can pick the wheels in the configurator, and then the average consumption always changes, and you can check it out. But yeah, the biggest difference will be between the 22 and the 20, for example, or the 21 aero wheels. Very interesting. Talking about comfort and suspension, so far, it starts with a normal base suspension. But I can tell you, it’s actually a very good one. Soon more to that in driving. We do expect an adaptive suspension as an option at a later stage. Or maybe if you watch this video here also at a later stage, then it’s maybe already available, but it will not be available from the start. However, we’ve already driven this vehicle, and we found it very good in the driving, although it does not start with the adaptive suspension. That’s actually a very interesting thing to know. And then about the length here, you can see it, it is at 4.78 meters or 188 inches. Slightly longer than the combustion-engine X3, but still, yeah, probably the same in the segment here, definitely. And you can see the wheel arches— really clean, monolithic design, no contrasting wheel arches and so on. So tell me, what do you think about the design? Would you go for a base version? You can check it out also in the configurator— M Sport or M Sport Package Pro. And now it’s time to talk about the hard facts: battery, charging, and power. So it starts with the normal all-wheel-drive version, the iX3 50. So one electric motor in the rear, which is the stronger one, and one electric motor in the front. 4.9 seconds in the acceleration figure, 0–100 km/h, 62 mph, and it’s around 470 hp. Later, we also expect rear-wheel-drive-only versions as an entry, and also more all-wheel-drive versions, like the true M version, the iX3 M, expected to have over 1,000 hp. This will also be very exciting indeed. And then also about the entry-level rear-wheel-drive version, we also expect a smaller battery. My guess would be 80-something kWh, but here the big battery, which
will so far also be the hot or seller, because especially with this vehicle, everyone wants to go for range. Sometimes I have to activate the kidneys again, so they look a little cooler. So this one here: 108.7 kWh. You could basically round it up to 109 kWh, and that is the net battery size. And considering the price of the vehicle, it’s a very large battery, and together with the great Cd value, they give you a WLTP range figure of over 800 km. That’s very impressive. What the real, concise driving range is, we’ll test it today. Here in Spain, we’ll also go on the motorway, like, you know, even terrain, 120 km/h, like 70 mph, and can tell you our first experience about that. Really looking forward to that one. But it seems to be, from all the facts and figures, and what we see from the build quality, and from our first driving experience, that this will indeed be a very crucial vehicle, not only for BMW, but even for the whole industry. And bear in mind that this one here will also pave the way for the BMW 3 Series Electric, for the all-new BMW i3 that will be coming up soon. We will keep you updated on that, and it will use the same platform. One difference is, this one is built in Hungary, and the i3 will be built in Munich. The US market will receive this one here by mid-2026, and the Chinese market a little bit later in 2026, then with a special longer version, like a longer wheelbase version, and also some infotainment adaptations for the Chinese market. Hi! Best greetings from me, Lea! Please remember to subscribe! And about charging, this is supposed to be an intelligent charging flap, so that most of the time you do not have to press it, but when you stop at the charging station and walk around the vehicle, the vehicle will recognize, ah, probably Tom is going to charge now, from how he’s moving with the key in his pocket, and we’re at the charging station and so on, and then it will open automatically. Other than that, you can also press here. It’s an electric charging flap. There we go. And then it opens like this, and AC charging 11 or 22 kW, later available, and DC charging peak is 400 kW, and you can also close it again, but it’s supposed to do that automatically, as I said, and it’s about 21 minutes from 10 to 80% state of charge with its 800-volt architecture, but it can also easily take 400-volt charging stations, so also good in these charging figures. Then let’s check out the frunk. I pulled it twice, so I don’t have to do another unlock here. And then we have a nice logo here on the top, so a lot of attention to detail and separate. There we go. It’s not too small. It actually fits a charging cable, or maybe something else like this. Yeah, but my favorite is definitely here, this proper BMW logo here on the top. And now to the exciting interior, and we will show you two different versions and show you the differences. This will be super exciting, I can promise. Here, first of all, these are the flush door handles that come out when you are closer to the vehicle, and then they, you know, they don’t move really. So I’m more a fan of the physical door handles, the classic ones, and they have also proven to be a little bit safer. So this idea here, this will go away again. And the background story about it is that the manufacturers, especially German ones, did some investigation on the Chinese market. And on the Chinese market, there was a huge push that the customers all wanted these flush door handles. And so they had to react: okay, if you want to sell in China, we have to put the new cars with the flush door handles. Now, strangely or funnily, the impulse comes from China again, because there they had crash accident problems with flush door handles. And then, you know, I think from next year or so, or from 2027 on, they will make it forbidden again to use these flush door handles, and then all manufacturers will go back again to real classic door handles. Yeah, that’s the way it sometimes goes in the automotive industry. However, all the manufacturers say, at least the German ones we’ve talked to, that they automatically go out in case of a crash. That’s, of course, very important. Then, inside the doors. First of all here, there is a structured surface, soft touch here as well. This is one color scheme. You don’t have to go for this one. You can also go plain black or bright. So different color schemes are available. Also soft here for your elbow. And then in contrast to the X3 combustion engine, there is a completely different pad here. Also nicely done here with this galvanization for the individual windows. This is one button here. Fold in the side mirrors, for example. I always say “fold in the windows”. Also funny, right? And then here, you can also easily adjust them, but it’s straightforward. And here, you can also open the trunk if you hold it. Lower part here, I would wish for some fabric on the inside. This is still hard pack. And then we have here the M entry badge. This is the M Sport package without the Pro. The Pro will come soon. This is also the sport steering wheel. There is then some perforation at the side. The base steering wheel would also have two spokes here and here, but be a little bit slimmer. Then here, the sport steering wheel has these wider spokes, a sportier design, and, as I said, the perforation and really nice grip here. And soon, I’ll show you the completely round steering wheel in the other vehicle. And then here, you can see you have this so-called Shy Tech. So these buttons will only illuminate when you can really use them. I’m not the biggest fan of these buttons, because they’re also capacitive. #CapacitiveB. However, they’re illuminated, and sometimes it’s, let’s say, easy for the parking function, for example, that you only have to hit one button and then the automated parking starts. So that is a cool thing about that. By the way, here they use some fabric, and then you can see the ambient lighting shining through from the back. And here on the dashboard, also soft touch. So, so far, we see a good build quality. These here are the comfort seats, or multifunctional seats, as they call them. You get them in fabric in the base version. Depending on the market, probably won’t be available in the US. And then here, this is the Veganza. This is the high-grade leatherette, animal-free material. And you can see it’s extremely soft. It’s perforated and plush, high seating depth, “Einsitzhöhe”, as we say in German. And if you would go for the M Sport package in standard equipment, you would get them in black and also with some microfiber accentuation here in the top shoulder part. So it’s worthwhile to take a look at the configurator there. And what BMW is doing here is, you know, I was always advocating for animal-free seats, you know, to have an animal-friendly solution, at the same time good comfort. And there are, of course, always skeptics who say, I might lose something. I might lose comfort, or they’re maybe not as durable and so on. And what BMW is doing here is trying to convince the customer, saying, hey, we have the more animal-friendly and sustainable solution here, but at the same time, we’ll make it more comfortable and more durable than the animal material. And this is working very well here. And I think this is the way to go to convince also those who might be a little bit skeptic about these things. And they are extremely comfortable and really, really soft. And no one could tell that it’s not like a 7,000 euros, you know, extra animal leather option or something like that. This is even softer, actually. So this is really going full circle to convince also customers who are maybe, you know, not accustomed to these materials. This is really very well done. And we’ll soon compare the other M Sport seat to that. Headroom here, let’s say here to the side, I’m 1.89 meters, 6’2″. Some headroom left, no problem as for that. Then this here, fixed panoramic roof. You can either go for a closed roof or, optional, this glass roof. It is fixed. You cannot open it. And there’s an automatic filter in the glass. It keeps it from getting too hot here on the interior. You cannot change it or anything like that. Yeah, it protects, you know, with this automatic layer inside. However, I’m probably more a fan of a fixed roof, because this one will still get a little hotter in very, very hot states. But we can also test it in hot summertime for you. Steering wheel, by the way, manual in and out, up and down. I think it’s an easy solution to keep it manual, because you can quickly adjust it to your wishes. The main thing is really the excellent comfort here from the ergonomics. BMW is indeed leading in seating comfort. But will it be the same in the other vehicle? We’ll soon find out. Now to the M Sport Pro interior. Here, once again, you can see the flush door handles. They look spectacular, but not really necessary. Also illumination there on the side, and the door closing sounds. We forgot that. Interesting. Actually, it was better with this vehicle here. Let me check it again. Right. Not sure if it was… It’s actually better with this one than with this one. So the door closing sound is not the best I’ve heard. Then let’s check it out. Here, the inside of the doors, we have some microfiber inside. That’s also beautifully done, all in black if you want it unicolor, so to speak. So that’s cool. And then we have here the same entry badge for the M Sport Pro, and these are the M Sport seats. They look really amazing. I love the look. This one here has an integrated head restraint. Even with illumination here, the M logo. But you can also move it up and down from the screen. So you can make the head restraint a little higher. This is the highest position, whereas at the passenger seat you see the lowest position. Then once again, you have perforated high-grade leatherette Veganza. Really nice and plush. And you have the microfiber insert on the side. Main difference here: first of all, you have this one here, the length extension in the lower area, and you can also see it is sportier. More accentuation here. It’s also tighter, with more shoulder accentuation. But the question is: better, same or worse comfort? It is indeed very different. The differences are as follows. Here you have more shoulder support in the upper area. However, the comfort is quite wide there. So both are nice. From the backrest, both are good. This one is definitely tighter. That might be a problem if you, you know, have a wider size. It depends on what you like, if you want it a bit closer. But for me, it’s a little better when it’s more open. Here, of course, you have the advantage that you can extend this part for the legs. That’s actually quite cool. However, they are maybe a little tighter seats. Both are very good and very comfortable, but yeah, it’s a tough question. I like both, but for the best comfort I would stick with the comfort or multifunction seats. Yeah, because I see that while driving, I think they are a little softer. That would be the main thing. You can easily go with both, but for best comfort I’d choose the other ones. This one here, however, has the best look. Then another interior difference, the main one — more on that. This is the M Sport steering wheel, which is more classic in styling. And here you don’t have the vertical spokes, but rather these here. Once again with perforation on the sides. Now more about this cockpit. First, the steering wheel — the M Sport. If you want a more classic styling, you would go with this one. With perforation on the sides. And it’s really soft. Both here, the 12 o’clock marking and also the perforation. And this grip here actually makes people use the 3 o’clock or 9 o’clock position. That’s a good thing. And it really feels nice to have a proper grip there. Honestly, I have to say I’m not the biggest fan of their steering wheel designs, nor of the capacitive buttons. However, the way you handle it here with your thumbs is amazing. And the material is one of the best so far in the industry. And now comes the interesting part. They did some tests. So far, BMW offered animal-free steering wheels, but never in the M Sport trim. Now they said, hey, let’s test it. We invite all the workers we have here and make an internal clinic, put different materials, and then ask them: Can you feel a difference? Which one is animal material, and which is the new modern material? And no one could tell the difference. Some even said, oh, this must be the very high-class, extra-price animal skin equipment. But it’s not. So here, once again, they make this logic circle and also convince skeptical people. And I’m also, you know, one of the skeptics when it comes to new stuff in vehicles to make it really like a better experience and animal-free at the same time. This is a really great thing. So everyone who is not convinced of that one yet, try it out, feel it, drive with it, and I can promise you will be convinced. Then here, one of the most special things here is this Panoramic Vision. It goes all the way through. It’s standard. You always have that from left to right. So on the one hand, you don’t need a head-up display. You can. This is one has the option head-up display. Like it’s this additional box here. But it is already far away in the long focus here. There will also be the speed. So you do not need the head-up display, but you can get one. And in the middle part, you can have different information what you want to have. There can also be GPS information in there. But if you, for example, don’t like it, you can also make it drawn back and say like, hey, I don’t want anything on the right. I can soon show that to you. Then we have as the front layer, this display. Why did they do it in that way? Because here, it is easily accessible. Like here, you have your hand here on the steering wheel and then you want to do something and you can easily change the temperature. I said, you know, I’m a friend of physical dials and I also told BMW that, that we actually wanted that. But here, they have the digital solution and it is, for a digital solution, easily accessible and you can easily switch between steering wheel and temperature. This is the sense of that, bringing the screen closer to you. But then again, information in your long focus, make it far away that your eyes can keep long focused. That’s, I mean, I can understand this strategy. And here, there’s also heated steering wheel available. It’s an option. Heated seats, for example. Cooled seats are not available yet. I also asked BMW for that because the X3 combustion, plug-in, diesel, petrol and so on, has that. This one, not yet. So I was asking BMW, hey, if you offer that for the combustion engine version, you also got to offer that in the electric version. And they told me, that’s like the most current answer now, that they are looking into that. Because like cooled seats, it has a low take rate so far. But it’s one of these features that is really emerging at this moment. Because when you once had a cooled seat in hot summertime, you’re never going back. These seats, however, are also perforated. So it’s like passive cooling. And I can also tell that this high grade leatherette is also better. It doesn’t get that hot as easily as the animal skin. But it’s only when you pick a high quality of that. There are also bad leatherettes out there, definitely. So it’s also very interesting aspect here with the seat cooling or heating, definitely. It’s also unique that we have this special form of the screen. It’s not really needed, but it doesn’t really hurt. What is crucial to me is they have this like this layer design. And then when you hit the brake and want to start here, some hotkeys appear like the EU speed chime law thing. You can easily deactivate that it’s beep, beep, beep when you are like at 51 kilometers or when it’s 50 or something. And here, you can also easily deactivate the lane keeping assist. So anything that might annoy you is really easily accessible in your line of sight, basically directly right here. So that’s actually a cool thing. And then you have here, for example, the GPS. You can also click on it. Then have yet full screen here. Could be a little bit quicker, maybe a little bit more responsive. Now it’s a little bit more responsive. Yeah, but of course, you can also… Oh, actually, the screen quality is really nice. Like when you touch it with your finger, it feels nice, you know, just from the tactile experience. That’s something new. So here, GPS hotkey. Then here, this is the full climate menu. I can change everything. And interesting, of course, always the vehicle menu. Here, like some quick access things. For example, here also to control the Panoramic Vision. And then you can also configure it. And you can pick your own widgets. So you can, for example, also delete everything. And then everything will be clean. So when I go off this menu, then there we go. So if you are not the biggest fan of the Panoramic Vision, just leave it like this. Check the speed. And the rest is more, yeah, nothing. But then you can also say, hey, I want to have maybe like, I don’t know, whether there are date and time, telephone something, acceleration position, wheel steering angle, air quality. Whatever you want to have there, you can put it on. So that’s very easy to configure. And also interesting, the driving modes. You can set a personal driving mode, sport mode, efficient and silent. Only in, there’s an animation for the sport mode. But only in the efficiency modes, then there is less power output. Other than that, if you are, you don’t have to go to the sport mode to have the full power. When you pin down, you always have full power as well. And now, this is a special thing here now, because so far, the personal or my mode, you could not configure that in a normal combustion engine, BMW, or also in the latest EV version. Now you can. And I can go to personal, configure. So here then, I go individual, setup, and then here, for example, I could go steering to sport. And when there would be the suspension, later on, the adaptive session, I could go for that one to, you know, something like soft and so on. Or here, also the recuperation setting. If I want a little recuperation or maybe more like a high one-pedal driving feeling or adaptive, I can all set it here. And it’s also saved for next time. And that’s actually a quite good thing. So really listen to the customer feedback that they now offer that as well. If you want to switch to one-pedal driving here, from drive mode, pull backwards to B, then here we go. One more time, from D to B. And then, there we go, is directly the hard recuperation. And you can see when I lift my foot off throttle, it goes to zero. By the way, here, this is when you have the CarPlay running. ‘Take a slight right turn.’ And you have it on the map here. But in the Panoramic Vision, you have just basic arrows then when you have the next intersection and so on. Whereas with the car internal GPS, with this one, you also have extended guidance with intersections and so on in the Panoramic Vision. Quick preview from the automated parking feature. Here, left thumb. Press this button. And then I have this view that is suggesting me some parking spots. But I want to park in front or next to this Cupra Formentor there. And let’s see, when I turn here, this is the formentor then in the screen. If the car is realizing that, there’s a parking spot next to it. So just one on the right. And there it is. So there it’s now. And then I can actually pick one. And I can decide if it’s forward parking or reverse parking. Maybe reverse parking is the bigger challenge. So I hit it then here. And then… Okay. So the car here just wants forward parking here. Yeah, because it’s easier. Yeah, it’s easier probably. Let’s go for it. So start. And then let’s see how smooth it is. And also, sometimes in these automated parking features, you tend to get sick because the car is doing it too extreme. Let’s see how smooth it’s doing it. Here also, the green symbol like in the highway assist. We’ll soon also drive 130. That would be my feature, by the way. Yeah. The parking feature. Highway assist, one of 30 kilometers an hour. Soon to come. That’s super smooth. That’s smooth, yeah. Super smooth. Yeah, I think the most special thing about this one… That the braking is not that hard. It was really smooth. Yeah, that you’re not like… So that’s pretty cool. Then down here, inductive charging pad on the left. It’s also ventilated. Only on the left for inductive charging. Right side, two USB-C chargers. I always prefer the cable charging, honestly, as well. Also better for the battery. And then here, adaptive cup holders, three-way. That also keeps different sizes. And then here, this is how you put in the gears. Drive and reverse. Or then here, the electric parking brake. This is a manual volume jog still. Good to have that one. You can also change the steering wheel as well. Then here, also soft for your elbow. And that’s also soft enough. And then you can open it. And here, you also have a better interior build quality than with the combustion engine X3 on the inside here, honestly. Because that’s something where they have to fix more with the X3 plug-in hybrid and so on, and the petrol and the diesel. That’s some things where they open stuff and it has to be better quality on the interior. See, left elbow. Yeah, yeah. I think it could be a little bit softer here for the left elbow when you have your arms right here. And here, we also have more fabric on the dashboard, for example. And here, in this case, all in the darker styling. So more drawn back. But no matter which version you go for, you have different color schemes available. And there’s also additional storage here underneath the middle console. It’s actually quite large. I mean, it’s cosier here in the way in the upper part, but maybe like in the sit bone area here, this is where the comfort seat is, has more seating depths, is a little bit softer. So both nice. But yeah, but I think I’ll be happy with both. But if I could freely configure, I would probably go with the comfort seats, although they look amazing here. Oh, here, I want to show you this top part here. So when I, let’s say, go to seats and then… There we go. And then I can put that lower and higher. And it will also be saved with your user account, actually, so that when you get into the vehicle and, for example, like it should be like also recognized on the smartphone app that, for example, when Leah enters the vehicle, that the seat is then set to her position. And when I enter the vehicle, the seat is set to my position. And here again, as a contrast, the other interior. So with the comfort seats, also with some colorful accentuations, I really like the bright interior we had in the initial studio episode. I will probably go for that one. Yeah, but you can pick the colors individually, of course, as you wish. And here again, the other seats. And the steering wheel, you can see in the comparison, like the M Sport steering wheel is more roundish. And this one here is a little bit more flat in top and bottom. That’s, yeah, one of the other differences. But so many styles are available. I think everyone can find something he or she likes. Now to the rear seats. Here also, everything soft. That’s nice. Good structure. Nice build quality. Only, once again, I would wish for fabric in the lower part. These here, by the way, the door openers. So they are, let’s say, they react electronically, but they’re both physical at the same time, so to speak. And then here, the rear seating experience. Isofix covers are nicely done here. Look at that. You can lift it up like this then. So why not? Then you can also adjust the back part of the seat. Like this. Can make it in this cargo position, or more upright or more laid back. Here, putting on these. Also adaptive cup holders. And then you can also pull down the ski hatch. That would also be possible. And then about the legroom. There’s really very good legroom available. Look at that. It’s also way better than in the X3 combustion engine model. So they’re really making use of that platform here. So yeah, it’s really nice. I’ll also soon take a look how it is in comparison to the sport seats. If it’s the same or more or less. So we can remember that headroom here. I would say like to this side, there’s still some left like this. So no problem. This again, the one with the fixed panoramic glass roof. There are no handles here, however. This is here like a jacket hanger, but you cannot like hold on tight or so on. However, the general comfort is really good here. So good experience. Also, once again, because here the seats here, especially here in the sit bone area, are really plush and nice with this perforation. Feels great. And here with the M Sport seats, it’s actually, I would say, the same. I mean, the cutout is a little bit different. It’s a little bit open here. Yeah, but both offer similar kinds of legroom. Although the form is kind of different, it’s maybe like we are back and forth how the cutout is. But yeah, both offer good legroom, definitely. Now to the trunk or the boot, which is at 520 liters, electric hatch. Let’s open it. And here, this is a massive cover here for the boot. And it’s really interesting. Let me show that to you because it holds a secret surprise. So first of all, you think, wow, this really excellent build quality. Rarely have seen such a massive cover here. It’s really good because it closes off everything. So it will be good against noise, actually from the outside while driving. And then you might think, well, when it’s so heavy, I cannot store it anywhere in the trunk. And I was thinking the very same. But actually, I found out, yeah, something very surprising. So when you lift up this one here, not this way, but if you turn it around, like flip it like this, then surprisingly, it really fits underneath. Wow, that is interesting. Didn’t know about that yet. Just found out. And then here, the width here is actually quite amazing because here, we are now like 1 meters 10, you know, or like 43 inches. It’s a little bit more narrow than here, but overall quite good. This one also fits underneath the cover, as you have seen. Then the normal length is here at a meter or 40 inches. And the maximum height at 28 inches or 70 centimeters. And then here, the total length to the seats as we would be driving. This is here at 1 meters 83 or 72 inches. So indeed, very well usable. And yeah, good thought behind that one as well. And there’s also an adaptive towing hook available right here. There we go. All electric indeed. And towing capacity is at 2 tons. Let’s start driving the BMW iX3. This will be huge. And I want to start with this one here, a huge speed hump. And now watch the vehicle. It’s straight. And there was something I realized when we did the first pre-drive of this vehicle a couple of months ago. It’s astonishing. When you go over these humps up and down and usually many cars wobble or shake afterwards. There’s another one coming. But when you go down this one again, the car is straight again very quickly, but without the suspension being super stiff or anything like that. That’s it. And it’s also comfortable for the passenger. You know, that is really astonishing. And remember, this is the base suspension. Yes, the base suspension already has a hydraulic cushion. Later on, adaptive suspension is available. But this one is, let’s say, passively adaptive. And later, the adaptive suspension also changes according to the driving mode. But this one is already doing a good job. We have the 21-inch wheels here. You could even go one size smaller if you want a bit more comfort. That would be possible. But here, once again, the hump is crazy, right? And usually we have that kind of comfort with really elaborate adaptive suspensions or air suspension. Yeah, the GLC air suspension, for example. I usually say, for example, when you order an X3 combustion engine, plug-in hybrid, diesel, and so on, always go for the adaptive suspension. But here I can really say: if you want to order right now without adaptive suspension being available, it’s perfectly fine. This is really astonishing. What we can switch here is the steering response in the driving modes. There we go. In Sport, I have a little more feedback from the steering, you know? It’s still light, yeah. But in Comfort mode, it’s lighter. That’s why I would go for the Individual setup to set the steering to Sport for more feedback. Leah would probably say, ah, you know, whatever. I like it when it’s soft steering. And here, you can also switch between low and high recuperation. Let’s see if there’s true one-pedal driving, if it really comes to a stop. Doesn’t seem like it. No. Keeps rolling. But there is strong recuperation. If you want to switch to one-pedal driving, from Drive mode pull backwards to B. Adaptive would also be possible. In that case, it depends if there’s a car in front of you, for example. That’s a very interesting finding. And another thing with the Panoramic Vision and the head-up display: at this moment, I have the internal GPS set. And here, I’m showing you something— or maybe I’ll leave it that way. I don’t need to have this one here because I also have the GPS there in my line of sight and in the head-up display. So this is now… You can’t miss the exit. This is now absolute GPS overkill. One, two, three. I see lines and arrows all over the place saying: “Thomas, you will turn at the next intersection.” So yeah, funny thing to have. Yeah, but the cool thing is this is always short focus. But when I look at the Panoramic Vision or the head-up display, it’s still long focus. And now some motorway acceleration. Let’s see, 40 to 120. Let’s go. Okay, crazy. That was 40 to 120. That’s crazy. I mean, this is the 50 version, the normal all-wheel-drive version. 4.9 seconds is the acceleration figure, but that felt even quicker. And we even got the diameter going. Wow! That is really powerful. So I can tell you, even the rear-wheel-drive entry-level version will be more than enough. And if they want to do an iX3 M… Why? That would be absolutely crazy. Yeah, and here on the motorway. So now, let’s put some 120 km/h, 70 mph, like that. And the only thing you hear, obviously— not good weather here at the moment. But it’s a good test of how silent it is. And the only thing you hear is raindrops on the front windshield. There is no significant wind noise around us. We don’t have laminated windows here, still. It’s very silent. And the interesting thing is: I always call it a sovereign ride, like a very sophisticated ride. Yeah, like this. It’s the part Italian in me. Best greetings to all our Italian friends. And the thing is really that it stays upright. Also when you do some quicker lane changes, for example like this. It doesn’t shake at all. And it almost feels like… Feels like… Coldplay song. It always feels like you have anti-tilt control, or maybe a hydraulic pump system they now have in Porsche or Nio or something like that. But it’s still the non-active adaptive suspension. It’s the base suspension, and the car is always upright. And this might also be one thing if you compare it to the X3 combustion engine, which I feel—or Leah said earlier— sometimes has more booming noise when you’re driving over uneven parts. And this one— it kind of feels like an even more premium experience. Yes, it’s heavier. That might have an effect on tight corners when you push it. But when do you do that with an SUV? I mean… But when you, for example, go from a BMW 7 Series and switch to this one, you have a similar feeling: this one here feels like you’re driving a grown-up long-wheelbase luxury sedan in how calm the body movement is. That’s a very interesting thing. Rarely did we have a car that was so calm in body movement. That’s really cool. That’s really, really cool. Steering I’ve set to Sport, as I said, to get a little more feedback. That’s more when you see here: I always keep it 3 o’clock, 9 o’clock. So, time for this here. Yo, yo, what’s up, guys? This is over. Everyone will drive this car like this. And that’s maybe also a good safety thing, right? I think, yeah, we do have the raindrops on the front windshield, but other than that, it’s still silent. Look at that. This car is passing us now. And usually this is extremely loud when you do that in rainy conditions. But it’s actually not here. So, very sophisticated ride. I could also imagine driving a longer trip now. We’re driving the comfort seats first. Later on, we’ll hop to the sport seats again, to the other model. Because one thing is: how it feels when you’re stationary, but how does it feel when you’re driving? It might be, for example, stationary I say these are comfortable, but then while driving the sport seats are comfortable. Gotta see about that, you know? So, that’s very interesting. What about the highway assist? Oh yes, the highway assist. One press of a button, and it’s already active. Now it also confirms here with the… Let’s see. Does it offer that I can take my hands off the steering wheel? Because they are green now. So, confirm. There we go. Because that’s allowed now across Europe, and even up to a speed of 130 km/h. It’s still a Level 2 system. So you’re still responsible yourself, in case. But it’s also a very relaxing thing. And now the special thing comes: they have tuned these assistance systems to another level of sophistication. Oh, I think it was quickly offering me a lane change. Let’s see if I can induce it one more time. No? There we go. I was looking into the mirror, and then automatic lane change, and how smooth the system is. Yeah. Now also here in the corner. And the thing is that Leah usually tells me with every vehicle: stop doing that, drive yourself. When you close your eyes, it’s fine. Yeah. The thing is, when Leah closes her eyes now, she could not tell if I’m driving or if the car is driving, and we never had that before. Yeah. That is crazy. That is really crazy. Because everything is done so smooth. We did some tests also in traffic when it was really slow. And when the car is accelerating or braking, and you close your eyes, you cannot tell when the car starts accelerating or when it comes to a standstill. It’s crazy. Because usually like with these ACC systems, they tend to be like too aggressive, And then they accelerate too hard. But this is so smooth.
I can’t believe it. Wow. And I just have to stress it one more time. BMW has not paid me a single cent ever to say anything. So we did share some criticism on certain things earlier. Yes. And we do that on more things, definitely. But when I say that this is the best
assistance systems calibration we have ever experienced, it’s just fact. It’s true. I say that voluntarily, and I have comparisons from thousands of vehicles, and it’s just true. Maybe others will catch up, but this is here. In Germany, we say: “Großes Kino.” Like “big cinema.” This is big cinema. Yeah. Pretty cool, man. Wow. Kudos to that. And first: efficiency test result. We’ve been driving mainly on the motorway, to the motorway and back again. We even out topography, and we drove mainly like 100– 120 km/h. But the average speed is, of course, always lower, because maybe I could drive to the motorway and drive it maybe like with 20 or 30. Then the average speed always goes down to about 70 km/h. Rainy conditions. Not too cold, but also not too warm here in the evening. And so far, the result here was around 18 kWh per 100 km. That would mean here, for the big battery, a real-world range for these conditions of around 600 km or 370 miles. That is close to the EPA, the North American standards for the driving cycle. Already a very decent result, that you can get a good range out of this car. We will test more conditions. Now we switch to the M Sport Pro vehicle with the sport seat, and here, some more bumps, because we really have to talk about this. Here. I can accelerate off this speed bump, and it feels like nothing. And the crazy thing is: yes, it’s a base suspension. The only thing they have here is a hydraulic cushion, basically at the end of the damper. And this is making the magic, together with all the engineering experience of the suspension guys. And it really feels like you have an active hydraulic pump at each wheel and so on. And here, you can almost race the speed bumps. And then it’s perfectly comfortable also for the passengers. That is the really amazing thing about this vehicle. Honestly, guys, it is the best normal suspension of a vehicle I have ever tested. By far. It’s absolutely insane. It’s not an active adaptive suspension. There’s no air suspension. We do not have a hydraulic system. There’s no active anti-tilt control whatsoever. And this is absolutely crazy what this suspension does. I’ve never seen something like that. So yeah, you’ll be absolutely fine with the base suspension here. And although it doesn’t have any special, super-complicated technologies, it is actually better than most other suspensions that even have these special technologies. And they did this intentionally because they said they could have added more technologies and also go higher in price. But they wanted to keep weight a little bit lower, also make the car less complicated, because the more parts you add, the more complicated the suspension system, the more parts are prone to failure. So they wanted to keep it a little bit more simple, especially in the suspension technology. It just works. Yeah, this is one of the most astonishing things of this vehicle here. Now let’s drive a little bit more dynamic. Still in the M Sport Pro vehicle with the M Sport seat. And gotta say, of course, when you have some fierce bumps in the road, then it’s still better to go with 20-inch wheels. So definitely note that. But once again, also here in the dynamics, left and right, the car really stays straight all the time. That’s the cool thing. Also, for example, when I force it here into the slalom, it feels like a way smaller car, actually. So that’s pretty cool The sport seat here, by the way, keeps me tight in the upper area. That’s comfortable, especially during dynamic driving. And the rest of the seat is also quite comfortable. Just again, this sit-bone area thing — that is more comfortable with the comfort seat. So yeah, I’m thinking back and forth with these seats, but I would probably end up with the comfort seat, I think. And there, you can also put the bolsters a little tighter. That’s also possible. Yeah, especially here. Here, with these waves in the road, and usually most other vehicles would wobble up significantly, but this one just does not. And that is a very astonishing thing. So, so much fun. Woo! You have so much water on the road here today. Unusually rainy days here in the Málaga region, which is usually a very dry region in Spain. But it’s so much fun to drive this year-round. And remember, you have a huge battery here in this vehicle. That means there’s also, once again, significant weight. But one more time — astonishing: although it’s so heavy, it’s so much fun to drive also in an agile way. And this is also what differentiates this one here, this driving experience, from, for example, the new Chinese competitors, which make great interior build quality and come with so many features as standard equipment, really put pressure on the market, and sell at very attractive prices. But the driving is, at least if you’re interested in that, still something where there’s a big difference here, especially compared to the BMW i3. The thing is, of course, not everyone cares about driving so much. And when you are maybe, in your country, mainly stuck in traffic and don’t drive agile, don’t drive fast, you might say: yeah, I don’t care. But for everyone who still cares about driving, or is maybe afraid that an electric vehicle drives worse than the combustion-engine type, I can say: this one actually drives better. It’s definitely one of the best driving EVs or SUVs overall. And that’s quite an accomplishment. And another efficiency test: we just did motorway only and drove 100 km/h, 60 mph, or 120 km/h, like 70 mph. So we really kept it on the motorway and also did this, you know, equalization of the topography, so back and forth, and really could hold this average. And then we scored here in the, again, rainy conditions — sometimes really heavy rain, the wheels, you know, have to move through it. And these were also 21-inch wheels, still same size, but not the aero wheels. Here then, between 20 and 21 kWh per 100 km, so that’s 3 miles per kWh, would mean a real-world range here in these cases of about 520 km, or about 320 miles. As for pricing — super interesting. We do expect a lower entry-level version, smaller battery, rear-wheel drive, which will start at about 60,000 euros. At this moment, the big battery, which is probably the most desirable one for the range and so on, will start at around 70,000 euros. And once again, this is a very good
price-to-battery-size relation. And I have to think about what else is already standard equipment in this vehicle, actually. So that’s actually pretty good. And then, if you put some specs in the vehicle, you can get a well-specced iX3 for around 80,000 euros. And that is almost the same, basically, as an X3 fully specced plug-in hybrid. And in some configurations, this is even a little bit cheaper. But then again, the X3 plug-in hybrid you can, for example, also get with cool seats and adaptive suspension already. So yeah, you have to check the equipment. But the main message is: it is not more expensive. In some cases, maybe even a little advantage. Plus, in a lot of countries, also tax benefits. You can also make it a little more expensive — maybe to 87 or something. And then the cars, as they stand here, are both very well equipped. They are both almost the same price, both at 85,000 euros. So yeah, I think once again, it is still a premium segment. It’s not a cheap car at all. You know, it’s a BMW. But considering what you get, I think it is very well priced. And so far, does it work? Yes. From the first orders and so on, BMW has already received more orders than they expected themselves. So, so far, the strategy actually is correct. And we’ll, of course, keep you updated with that. What a super interesting review. And what an interesting ride here for you today. I think, from the exterior, I personally think it works very well. I could live without these wide lines here. That’s maybe my only design criticism. I think the new retro front double kidney looks cool. I think even better in the non-Pro package, so that it’s not darkened out right here. Interior works very well. Spacious enough, high quality inside. They learned from some mistakes they recently made with the X3 combustion engine. The X3 ICE is also a very good car, but there were some shortcomings in the interior build quality. They did that better here now. They have extremely comfortable seats, segment- — if not industry-leading, and also leading in the quality of animal-free materials, where they even convinced critical voices. Just test it out. They will convince you, indeed, with the material quality of these animal-free materials. They’re really good. And both the normal comfort seat and also the M Sport seats are really very good. Driving — a lot of surprises. What are the pros and what are the cons? Really unique is the suspension. Never before did we drive a base suspension that was this good. It’s comfortable and sporty at the same time. And it’s incredible how they can keep the car in balance without any elaborate adaptive suspension technology. That is one of the most crucial things. I could almost not believe it when we were driving over a wave and suddenly the car was straight again. That was really astonishing. They achieved that with these hydraulic cushions and with the engineering experience of the suspension guys. Also remarkable — the assistance systems, how they are integrated and how everything is so smooth. The automated parking and the highway pilot, where you can drive up to 130 km/h now hands-free — still responsible yourself, but so smooth. And you know, I’m just doing the lane changes by looking in the mirror, and the braking and acceleration and so on — everything is so smooth. You can really trust the system and you’re not getting sick from it and so on. It is really the smoothest application of assistance systems I’ve ever seen. So indeed, you can say: yes, Germany — the German automotive industry, here in the form of BMW, is leading the way again in a lot of different aspects. This is one of the best EVs out there, no doubt. What should be better, or where? In which field would I have hoped for even more? Efficiency — the consumption. Yes, it was quite rainy here today, but I also had some tests where the motorway was a little drier and there was not much difference, so to speak. So the consumption on the motorway — it will still be fine for most purposes, and it’s still an SUV, you know? So for an SUV, it’s still a good result overall, but I would have hoped it was even more efficient. So you can calculate with a motorway range of a little over 500 km or 300 miles. There won’t be many competitors in this segment as an SUV that do it better. But still, I would have hoped this one might be another breakthrough — but in that case, efficiency, it’s not the breakthrough I hoped for. But overall, as I said, definitely one of the best EV or SUV or overall SUV picks on the market right now, and it will be very exciting to also soon drive the Mercedes GLC EQ. We already checked it out statically, and of course there are even more electric vehicles you might also consider.
This is our in-depth review of the BMW iX3 with the first driving test. We’re taking a look at Exterior, Interior and technology.
00:00 BMW iX3 game-changer?
01:25 M Sport vs M Sport Pro
04:29 Wheels and rear design
06:54 Suspension
08:01 Power figures
08:35 Battery and BMW i3
10:33 Charging
11:28 Frunk
11:56 Interior quality
15:18 Seats and comfort
18:14 Interior comparison
21:30 Cockpit and steering wheel
23:16 BMW Panoramic vision
23:57 Infotainment and software
27:38 Drive modes and one pedal
29:12 Carplay vs internal GPS
29:36 Automated Parking
31:10 Storage
32:28 M Sport seat adjustment
33:19 Cockpit comparison
33:57 Rear seats
35:34 Rear seat comparison
33:55 Trunk / boot
37:44 Driving and suspension iX3 50
41:17 Acceleration and motorway
45:20 Motorway Assistant hands-free driving
47:59 Mixed consumption and range
48:56 Best suspension ever?
50:57 Agile driving M Sport seat
53:46 Motorway real-world range
54:30 Price
56:12 Best EV SUV to buy?
Data & facts:
BMW iX3 Neue Klasse
Produced in Hungary without fossil fuels, energy from 100 % renewables
Optional illuminated kidney including Matrix LED
Length 4,78 m 188“
20“ standard up to 22“ wheels, with 70 % secondary aluminum share
20“ aero wheels lead to +12 km range
20“ rear same small tyres 255 mm like in the front, 21“ wheels rear either same size or wider possible 275 mm, 22“ wheels always wider rear
Front tyres always same width
cD value 0,24 (comparison normal X3: 0,27) with larger rearwheels 0,25; M Sport styling no influence exterior
Optional panoramic roof with „clima comfort glass“, 100 % UV protection and heat reduction like electrochrome roof, optional additional manual sun cover available
Exterior lines: Base, M Sport, M Sport Pro with black elements
Base suspension with hydraulic cushions, later optional adaptive dampers
Interior
43“ BMW Panoramic Vision dash, can be individualized
Optional HUD
18“ central infotainment
Seats:
Base seat form in these choices:
Essential – Grey Econeer fabric 100 % recycled
Contemporary – Veganza leatherette in 3 colors black, white, brown
M Sport – black Veganza/M Performtex (microfibre) in top area
Optional M Sport seat with different form with Performtex in hip parts (Standard for M Sport Pack Pro)
Optional Animal skin for base or sport seat
Steering wheels base flat top and bottom animal free, Sport same form but with perforation or optional without perforation in white, M Sport rounder with 2 spokes, black with perforation at side
BMW ID connection for custom user settings
Trunk / boot 520 l – 1.750
Frunk 60 l
Towing max. 2 t
Battery cells with 20 percent higher density
Range, charging etc. all 30 % better than before
Battery 108,7 kWh net (rounded to 109 kWh)
Estimated EPA cycle 400 miles (640 km) WLTP 805 km
Automatic charging flap
11 or optional 22 kW AC charging
800V tech, 400 kW charging peak, 400V charging possible
10-80 % in 21 min
370 km 230 miles of range in 10 Min
New BMW Wallbox with 11 (EU) / 19 kW DC (US) both ways or 22 kW AC charging available
V2L, V2G, V2H possible
Small battery later RWD or AWD
iX3 50 xDrive 470 hp 4,9 s 0-100 km/h
322 hp rear 165 hp front
645 Nm
and Vmax 210 km/h 130 mph
RWD entry model later
Heart of Joy central ECU to control drivetrain, brakes, recuperation, suspension and steering, 10x faster
98 % of braking with recuperation to standstill
Assistance system ECU 20x faster
2 more ECUs: One for the UX, one for the base systems like wipers
Entry RWD small battery 60.000 Euro
xDrive50 big battery 69.000 Euro
Well specced 80.000 Euro, full spec 87.000 Euro
Test vehicles: space silver M Sport 85.000 Euro
Polarized Grey M Sport Pro 85.000 Euro
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