“Lucky you, BMW have come along and made something that’s an abomination to look at.”

– review of the BMW iX in 2022

James Englesman of Throttle House and the new Grand Tour

Five years ago I wrote about my first foray into the electric car world. You can read about it here: https://bmw-club-psr.org/zundfolge/2021/09/lectric-road-trippin-across-wa/

I really enjoyed that i3S but recently sold it to my son as an inexpensive commuter. So rather than just leave a gap in the roster (I have 5 BMW’s – it’s a personal problem), I decided to consider some newer electric options. I always like having a low mileage car in the stable and all our cars were approaching or were above 100K, save the M3, which doesn’t count since it’s the “garage queen” (as my wife refers to it. She also calls it “Gonzo” because of the hood bump. I’m OK with that). You can read about that car here: https://bmw-club-psr.org/zundfolge/2022/07/the-reason-we-drive/

I actually considered a Cybertruck for a bit, but decided against it (and not for the polarizing political reasons – it is a cool vehicle). It was just too expensive for what it was, even used.

I ended up getting an iX as a loaner when my wife’s X5 was being serviced and I was immediately impressed. This vehicle was in a different class than the i3. High end luxury, long range, lots of room, polarizing looks (wait, that was also true for the i3). Having 300 miles of electric range is truly as game changer. We really liked the Range Extender (REX) on the i3S – it made range anxiety not a thing. But other things had changed also since I wrote my missive on my i3S road trip and lamented how balkanized the charging infrastructure was ( it kinda still is, honestly). But now, BMW has access to all of the Tesla Supercharger infrastructure so it really is a brave new world out there.

In any case, I began looking in earnest for a lease return iX (they are WAY too expensive new) with the Dynamic Handling package, which I had researched was key to maximizing enjoyment with the iX – all around air suspension and rear steering. I ultimately found a 2023 M60 model (comes standard with the Dynamic Handling Package) at BMW Seattle for a great deal so took the plunge into my second ever EV. And man, is it an upgrade. My friend David Lightfoot said that the iX is a vehicle that BMW forgot to fully name, and he is correct. If you were to place it in the line up it would be equivalent in luxury to a 7 series. And it’s also priced in that range. So it should have been an iX7. Seats are leather, heated and ventilated and comfy, but very different from traditional BMW seats (I think our X5 seats still may have a slight edge here – I go back and forth). The electronics and software features of iDrive 8.5 are nice and the Bowers and Wilkins sound system is amazing. But I do miss real buttons. It at least has control stalks (looking at you Tesla!) The interior styling really appeals to me. It’s just a nice place to be. And unlike many others, I actually like the external styling, and I think it has aged well. Just look at how other manufacturers have come out with similarly proportioned and styled vehicles (Cadillac Lyriq anyone? Or the Honda Prologue? – come on...) In any case, we have enjoyed the iX and recently did a road trip to the Vancouver, WA area. So how did that experience compare to my intrepid state-crossing trek in 2021 in the i3S? Much more comfortable, much more relaxing, much faster charging. Just “much more”. This model has ~280 miles of range so you need to stop about every 3ish hours or so to charge for 45 min to an hour. So would I recommend it for road trips? We decided that for 1-2 days trips, Yes. But for a cross state, cross country multi-day jaunt, stopping every three hours for an hour would become annoying. So, the X5 still keeps the long road trip duties for us (600 miles on a tank, no less!). But I do like where the electric car world is going (the new M3 is looking particularly attractive to me). And I think the iX didn’t get the attention or appreciation it deserved in its few short years (sadly production has ceased in 2026 as the Neue Klasse models start to roll out - https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/company/neue-klasse.html ). Plus, the 600HP/800TQ is pretty cool also (did I forget to mention that?) Zoomen Zoomen! (With all due respect to Mazda, of course)