The BMW Thread

[Eric]

Well, I’ve seen my car, and am waiting for a final answer on the trade-in (the range they’ve cited is good enough for me). Slow process. I’d like to go sit in the car and program my apple wallet key and all that, but for now I’ve just got to sit around and wait for the finance checks, etc.

Congrats, I would be excited to get to it too but sounds like you're almost there.

 

[Cmaier]

Congrats, I would be excited to get to it too but sounds like you're almost there.

yep. Now they are doing finance checks. They gave me in the upper range of the blue book on the trade in.

 

[DT]

Excellent! Stoked for pics

Did you decide to go with a longer lease?

 

[Cmaier]

Excellent! Stoked for pics

Did you decide to go with a longer lease?

Nah, stuck with 36.

 

[Cmaier]

got it home uneventfully - i still have a lot to learn about the functions and controls. I did use the driver-assist functionality and it seemed fine. I didn’t use the super-fancy self-drive feature since that only works on highways.

 

[DT]

 

[Altaic]

Massive post covering the launch!

2026 BMW iX3 (NA5) Neue Klasse Debut: Specs, Wallpapers, Videos, Photos, Info

2026 BMW iX3 (NA5) Neue Klasse Debut: Specs, Wallpapers, Videos, Photos, Info

g45.bimmerpost.com

• Dawn of a new era: the first Neue Klasse model heralds the future of BMW design and tech.
• Gen6 eDrive technology with cylindrical-cell high voltage battery and new electric motors.
• 800V architecture, 400 kW peak charging can add ~230 miles of range in just 10 minutes.
• Four superbrains provide world class handling and intelligent, symbiotic driver support.
• BMW iX3 50 xDrive to start around $60,000, offer up to an estimated 400 miles of range.
• US production begins at BMW Group Plant Debrecen in Q1 2026, US deliveries mid-2026.

50xDrive the initial trim, excited about an M60/70 flavor

So, the official bmw-usa site says 400 mi range, but the specs listed there say 679-805 km (420-500 mi). Any idea what the discrepancy is, like different motors and battery for Germany or just different test methodology? That 10 minute charge for 230 mi of range is nuts, and it looks like there are quite a few 350-400 kW chargers in the US, too. So long range anxiety!

 

[Cmaier]

So, the official bmw-usa site says 400 mi range, but the specs listed there say 679-805 km (420-500 mi). Any idea what the discrepancy is, like different motors and battery for Germany or just different test methodology? That 10 minute charge for 230 mi of range is nuts, and it looks like there are quite a few 350-400 kW chargers in the US, too. So long range anxiety!

Read somewhere that the US test is harder than the EU test, so the US numbers are always less.

 

[Cmaier]

Took a drive to san jose and tested out the “advanced” version of driver assistance on 3 different highways. Worked great, though I had to intervene twice because I wasn’t sure it was going to allow cars to merge in front of me without me rear-ending them. The way it changes lanes when you signal and check the mirror is also great, as is the fact that you have to take your hands off the wheel to engage it.

Also loving the use of apple wallet instead of a fob or keycard. And the cute way the edge of the “grill” lights up to say hi.

 

[Cmaier]

Fun postscript: after they agreed to an amount for the tesla, i did a “factory reset” from the center screen, and walked away and handed him the 2nd key.

I got a call from the dealer an hour ago - now neither screen will turn on and the tesla is undriveable. He was laughing, but I felt bad. I told him how to reset the screens, but haven’t heard anything.

 

[DT]

Nah, stuck with 36.

Yeah, 48 is a L O N G lease, heck, we did 36 on the iX but only 24 on the Wrangler, figured things might change next year, didn't want to commit too far into the future on the 2nd vehicle.

(and things did, in fact, change, so we'll probably even get rid of it sooner than the scheduled end-of-lease)

 

[DT]

Took a drive to san jose and tested out the “advanced” version of driver assistance on 3 different highways. Worked great, though I had to intervene twice because I wasn’t sure it was going to allow cars to merge in front of me without me rear-ending them. The way it changes lanes when you signal and check the mirror is also great, as is the fact that you have to take your hands off the wheel to engage it.

Also loving the use of apple wallet instead of a fob or keycard. And the cute way the edge of the “grill” lights up to say hi.

The "light show" is great on approach, the M-sport path lights are very cool. Also, the interior lights are color coded to function, so they'll pulse blue during a charge for example.

The Car Key is terrific. Phone, Watch, either will let you in and drive, plus there's the little NFC reader on the handle if the BT based connection doesn't work (or if your phone runs out of juice, it has that no power emergency mode). It was worked mostly pretty perfect for us, but that being said, I still keep a key card in my wallet (since I carry it always, anyway, it's a nice backup).

Honestly, if I had to commit to another vehicle today, to take delivery in April '27 (when this iX lease ends), like I sign a doc, get a price, have to take it, I would easily get another iX based on our ~17 months of ownership.

Hahaha, I'll revisit this post in about a year-and-a-half

 

[Roller]

My HUD is doubly the suck. I switched it off as soon as I found out how.

I do not need to have my speed right in the center of my line of sight all the time (especially being displayed as a number – I much prefer a gauge). The HUD floats in the air, right on the trunk of the car in front of me. (I have even developed a serious dislike for the field graphics in TV sportsball.) It can be nice to know, but I do not need to know it constantly and am happier to know that it is about what it should be more or less.

The other sucky thing about it is the dash frame, which reflects in my windshield on bright days. Yeah, I am finicky: do not toss your papers on my dash, I hate seeing stuff reflected in the space where I need to see actual stuff.

HUD could be ok if it was not directly in my line of sight all the time, where I could glance over or up at it now and then. And it could be useful for important info that is there for a moment. The way mine is I hate it.

Since we have the same car, after reading your comment I paid closer attention to the HUD while driving. I have it set to the lowest position, and I didn’t find it obtrusive or different from the HUDs in my previous two cars.

I like that it helps me keep an eye on my speed and shows the current limit. I tend to drive faster in this car because of the acceleration. Or at least that’s my excuse.

I also like the HUD when I’m using ProPilot 2 “hands off” or adaptive “hands on” cruise on the freeway.

 

[Cmaier]

Some more observations:

Tint on the back windows is outrageously dark. Like, darker than my Model S which I had after-market tinted. *shrug*

Figured out how to show maps behind the steering wheel, so that’s nice. But I can’t set it to “travel direction is up” on both screens - if forward is up on one, then the other has north is up. That’s with carplay maps. I haven’t used the BMW maps.

Found out there are like a zillion more seat options that were hidden behind a center screen menu - controlling tilts, widths, lumbar, etc. Still haven’t gotten the seat to where I like it, mostly because there are too many degrees of freedom to mess around with!

Kick to open the back hatch works fine - wasn’t sure it would be supported because that’s where the trailer hitch is. Anyway, my wife’s i4 has that feature too and it never works, but it works reliably on the iX.

The LED lighting around the windows and stuff changes colors to tell me things, which is cute, but I haven’t yet memorized what the different colors mean. Blue means charging, I think.

There is an arcade app and a youtube app, but any time I try to use it it tells me that it’s still downloading (for more than 24 hours now), except one time when it told me i need to be parked to use it.

 

[Altaic]

The iX3 is really appealing to me, but that animated “intelligent personal assistant” emoji thing looks awful. I hope it can be disabled. I’d only want that to appear if a valet was being dickheaded or if someone broke into my car, and then I’d want it to have bright red angry eyes.

Anyway, do you all know if the iX has pre-entry climate control, i.e. can you tell it to cool off or warm up before you get in the car?

 

[Cmaier]

The iX3 is really appealing to me, but that animated “intelligent personal assistant” emoji thing looks awful. I hope it can be disabled. I’d only want that to appear if a valet was being dickheaded or if someone broke into my car, and then I’d want it to have bright red angry eyes.

Anyway, do you all know if the iX has pre-entry climate control, i.e. can you tell it to cool off or warm up before you get in the car?

Yes you can pre-climatize

 

[Yoused]

Since we have the same car

Well, almost the same car. I have a FWD Evolve+, which does not have ProPilot 2, but it does have active cruise with lane-keeping. Quite a bit better than an Engage, but certainly no Platinum+. Which is fine with me: I can handle parallel parking myself. Though, her nagging me to keep my hands on the wheel makes cruise with lane-keeping barely better than without lane-keeping.

 

[Altaic]

Yes you can pre-climatize

Nice. Do you have to pay for subscriptions for everything? I’m trying to escape subscription hell, though I’m not sure there’s a way out these days.