CarBrandLogos archive · BMW · 2021

BMWiX

A technology flagship that hid a carbon-fibre cage under a very argumentative grille.

Photo: Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in BMW history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the BMW iX, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

BMW's second run at a purpose-built electric car took a very different line from its first. Where the i3 was a small, upright city car, the iX launched in July 2021 as a mid-size luxury crossover — the shape the market actually wanted — built at Dingolfing on a dedicated electric architecture with dual motors and xDrive all-wheel drive as standard, driving through a single fixed ratio.

BMW Vision i NEXT IAA 2019 JM 0051 · Johannes Maximilian · CC BY-SA 4.0

Design and engineering

What carried over from the i3 was the construction. The iX uses an aluminium spaceframe wrapped in a carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic cage, a technique BMW had spent a decade learning to do at scale, which offsets some of the battery's weight and allows the pillarless-looking glasshouse. The interior was where the car made its case: a curved display, hexagonal steering wheel, and open-pored wood with integrated touch controls, styled by a team including Sawyer Li and Chris Lee.

BMW Vision i NEXT IAA 2019 JM 0166 · Johannes Maximilian · CC BY-SA 4.0

In production

The exterior did not go down as smoothly. The vertical kidney grille — sealed shut, since an electric car needs little cooling air, and doubling as a housing for sensors — became one of the most argued-about pieces of design BMW has produced. Sales were nonetheless solid, and the iX did the job of a flagship: proving out the software, the battery packaging and the charging performance that filtered down into cheaper models. In North America it is being succeeded by the iX5.

BMW i X IAA 2021 1X7A0037 · Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

2021–present

Designer

Sawyer Li (2019)

Body

5-door SUV

Technical specification

The iX, in detail.

Production: July 2021–present
Class: Mid-size luxury crossover SUV
Body style: 5-door SUV
Layout: Dual-motor, all-wheel drive (xDrive)
Transmission: Single-speed with fixed ratio
Designer: Sawyer Li (2019); Chris Lee (2019); Shuai Feng (Head of BMW Designworks)
Assembly: Germany: Dingolfing (Plant Dingolfing)
Manufacturer: BMW