► New electric SUV now has hot M version
► iX debuts new EV tech and iDrive infotainment
► On sale now, M60 arrives in summer 2022
You’re looking at the BMW iX – Munich’s new electric SUV that recently launched around the world. The new iX is the most important new EV for BMW since the radical i3 arrived and, now, there’s a properly potent M version that tops off the new EV’s line-up.
It’s called the iX M60, bringing with it mad power outputs and a longer range, with some subtle sporty M details.
Before its debut, the iX was called ‘the enabler’ in the corridors and boardrooms of BMW, with its clever new electric motor and battery technology, as well as the iX debuting a new version of BMW’s iDrive operating system. Keep reading for all the details on BMW’s new iX.
Just look at it!
We thought the BMW 4-series was challenging to look at when that first arrived, but Munich took things to a new level with the iX. Like the 4-series, the iX wears a pair of larger-than-life kidney grilles; but while the Four’s upturned nose is filled with slats, the iX’s snout is blanked out with geometric patterns.
Inside, the cockpit is just as show-stopping as the exterior looks. There are materials aplenty, with loads of dramatic shutlines and glitzy details. Naturally, there’s a huge amount of technology standard or optional, but BMW didn’t want to shout about it – hiding a lot of it behind the infotainment.
Speaking of infotainment, the eighth instalment of iDrive makes its debut in the iX, accessed via a very traditional control wheel (as well as touch, voice and gesture controls) and an enormous, curved display that incorporates a 12.3-inch instrument cluster and a 14.9-inch central display in one unit. At the reveal of the iX, Frank Weber, head of development at BMW, said the new iDrive 8 has five ‘super-brains’ controlling the software, which allows between 20 and 30 times the processing power of iDrive 7.
You can read more about iDrive 8.0 here
What about the specs?
BMW has been boasting about its new ‘fifth-generation’ electric powertrain since the iX3 was announced (as it was the first car to use the tech), and it’s in the iX, too. Munich’s fifth-gen battery tech is 20 per cent more energy-dense than before.
After the initial two versions launched in late 2021, BMW announced a range-topping M-badged spec for the iX at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show. All versions of the iX are badged as xDrive, meaning an electric motor for each axle. Keep reading for specs for each of the three iX versions:
iX xDrive40
71kWh battery (net)
322bhp, 465lb ft
6.1sec 0-62mph, 124mph top speed
257-mile range (WLTP)
iX xDrive50
105kWh battery (net)
516bhp, 564lb ft
4.6sec 0-62mph, 124mph top speed
380-mile range (WLTP)
iX M60
105kWh battery (net)
532bhp (611bhp in Sport Boost for 10 seconds), 811lb ft
3.8sec 0-62mph, 155mph top speed
357-mile range (WLTP)
When the batteries eventually give up, the M60 and xDrive50 is capable of 195kW fast-charging, while the xDrive40 can top-up at 150kW. That also translates to 10 minutes of charge resulting in 75 and 56 miles of range respectively. Both models can rise from 10% to 80% charge in just 40 minutes.
BMW iX: prices and specs
The iX is already on sale in the UK in xDrive40 and xDrive50 format, with the M60 version arriving in the UK in the summer of 2022. Prices for the iX start at £69,905 for an iX xDrive 40 Sport, rising to £91,905 for an iX xDrive50 Sport. The hotter M60 version will set you back £111,905 when it arrives later in 2022.