BMW iX 40 test drive

[Nugatti]

Just got home from test driving a BMW iX 40. There was an event ahead of the official launch of the iX, wich will be 12th of November or so. They didn't have any iX 50 on site, just 40. The difference is the 50 has air suspension and rear wheel steer, plus more power and bigger battery, thus weight. The iX 40 weighs around 2350 kg. Compared to the Mach E AWD LR 2218 kg. The 40 has 300 something horsepower, 0-100 kmh in 6 something. Quite capable, not quite as quick as AWD LR.
After a corporate presentation we got to test drive. I drove it in total maybe 45 minutes, plus some passenger time.
The 50 is in high demand, with new orders delivered in Q3-Q4 '22. The 40 supply is obviously better, being the less popular choice, with new orders deliverable before year end.

1. It's quieter, but I think not very much so, than the Mach E, which is already quite quiet. It's marketed as being as quiet as a Rolls Royce.
2. The classic steel suspension was nice, but air suspension would be better. A fellow ride-along had the last gen X5 with air suspension, and said this was a downgrade. Of course, air suspension would always be better. Still better than the Mach E.
3. The self driving was exactly as capable as ours. Same 10-15 second hands free time before warning, then alerts and applies breaks.
4. The "D" mode adaptive/smart breaking was really nice. The B-mode is classic 1-pedal drive, same as ours.
5. High speed (140 kmh+) stability was very nice. Typical for big German SUVs. Better than the Mach E.
6. The motors had a nice response. A nice "thud" when flooring it.
7. Brake pedal feel was nicer than Mach E. I think ours is very abrupt from first touch of the pedal, and thus hard to roll-on smoothly.
8. The i drive 8 or whatever it's called, is more complicated, with a deep menu system. Not as intuitive as Sync4A. Does not have ELECTRINIC WHINE as ours do.
9. The optional propulsion sound was funny and made me laugh. Kinda ridiculous. Ours is better. Hans Zimmer, maybe stick with movies?
10. Luggage room is worse than Mach E. The rear hatch doesn't seem very optimized, with extremely thick side walls. Can't store the cover piece? In addition it doesn't have a frunk.
11. Rear seat room is better. More leg and head room. I'm 186 cm and can't quite sit straight in the back of the Mach E. I could in the iX.
12. After some spirited driving, the range showed as 200 km with 60 %, calculates to 330 km range.
13. The Mach E is more "lively" and the iX more planted and sorted on the road. Some might say the liveliness is actually lack of control, and say the Mach E GT adaptive suspension fixes it. Some other might say it's quite fun as it is.
14. Electric automatic tow hook with 2500 kg capability is of course better on the iX, than whatever manual afterthought the Mach E can be fitted with.

Over all, when I got back into my Mach E, my immediate though was "Nope, I actually like this one better". Ours has a bit better range than the 40, and the 50 would be too rich for me anyways. If I could afford the 50 with maxed out sound system and everything I would pick that, of course.

Side note. When I got back into my Mach E at the BMW parking lot, the PAAK system failed very hard, had to enter backup code several times, the app was in a boot-loop of accepting terms over and over again, which ended up in the alarm actually triggering, with myself standing outside it while fighting with the app. Very embarrassing hah!

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[Scrannel]

Great revue, thanks!

 

[Progress]

Very interesting and timely review! Thanks!!

 

[Mach1E]

I was with until the part about cm, kg and kilometers.

I don’t know how many cubic decimeters are in a decagram.

But good review overall!

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