The BMW iX3 Is One Of The Best EVs Ever, But It’s Not Perfect. Here Are Three Things I Didn’t Like

BMW may have just produced the best EV ever with the iX3, which not only looks like a sci-fi movie prop but also truly feels like a next-generation product. Even though it changes the formula quite radically, it really is hard to fault and delivers the kind of driving experience you would expect from a BMW.

That being said, no car is perfect, and even the iX3, with its advanced powertrain, battery, and ‘superbrains’ has some flaws. Here are three things I loved about the iX3 and three things I wasn’t so fond of.

+ The Way It Drives

Photo by: Andrei Nedelea

The iX3 is easily the best-handling BMW SUV ever. The iX carried that distinction until now, but the newer iX3 really loves attacking corners. It feels like an even more sorted dynamic package. Like any modern EV, the iX3’s battery pack takes up the entire floor of the car, but it’s also a structural component of the chassis, which lends remarkable stiffness that translates into handling precision.  

There’s a poise and a balance to the way the iX3 goes around corners that is only comparable to the Macan EV, although the BMW is not quite as focused as the Porsche. Disabling the traction control and punching it out of a corner, the back of the iX3 will come around as you would expect in a BMW, but it’s easier to “catch” the slide than in any of the manufacturer’s other EVs.

The Neue Klasse platform really delivers on driver engagement in a way I didn’t expect. There’s also an inherent smoothness about the powertrain thanks to the Heart of Joy supercomputer that handles how the car drives. My favorite thing about it is the limo stop function, which brings the car to a halt incredibly smoothly when you lift off, better than in any other car I’ve ever tried.

+ Efficiency And Charging

Photo by: Andrei Nedelea

BMW demonstrated that you can exceed the already impressive 505-mile (800 km) WLTP range claim, although you do have to drive it at lower speeds and keep the climate system turned off. Driving the iX3 around normally, I was able to maintain an average of around 3.7 miles/kWh (17 kWh/100 km), which is a very good real-world result for a big SUV.

This efficiency comes from the 800-volt architecture, paired with improved battery cells and drive units. This also allows the iX3 to charge at up to 400 kW, bringing its battery from 10% to 80% in 21 minutes. It’s capable of adding 217 miles of range in a 10-minute charging session, meaning it’s an excellent EV for long road trips.

+ The Screens

Photo by: Andrei Nedelea

The slanted parallelogram central screen and the panoramic display in the iX3 are both great. BMW resisted the temptation to add a third screen in front of the passenger (for now), and the current setup does not feel excessive, unlike the new Mercedes-Benz GLC EV.

The oddly shaped infotainment screen is actually easier to use than a traditional rectangle, and it looks and runs better than anything I’ve seen in a BMW. It runs OS X, the latest generation of iDrive, which may have ditched physical controls, but it somehow isn’t as annoying to use as other pure-touch systems.

But it’s the panoramic display projected under the lower edge of the windshield that’s my favorite. It’s a slim sliver of information that’s right in your line of sight, so you don’t need to look down, and it not only gives the driver all the essential information, but it also has six customizable slots where you can add from a wide selection of widgets.

– Some Interior Choices

Photo by: Andrei Nedelea

There’s a lot to like about the iX3’s interior, but it’s not perfect. I’m still not a fan of the knitted plastic material that BMW keeps trying to push. It feels like cost-cutting is being passed off as something premium, and it just doesn’t work. It’s fine in something like a Mini (where it debuted), but not befitting of a car that costs over €82,000 as tested.

The steering wheel is also just weird for the sake of being weird. Sure, I get it, you now have to look over the wheel to see the driver’s display, so it can have vertical spokes since they don’t block anything. But it’s still just awkward. Thankfully, you can get a slightly more conventional-looking helm—the M Sport steering wheel that my tester had—but it’s still odd to look at. It doesn’t impede usability, but I would have preferred a more traditional design.

– Ride And Steering

Photo by: Andrei Nedelea

BMW doesn’t currently offer adaptive dampers on the iX3. My M Sport tester riding on 21-inch wheels had a somewhat fidgety ride over some road imperfections. It’s mostly fine, and you can drive it for a while without feeling significant unpleasantness, but when it does get unsettled, the stiff chassis transmits all of that motion through the seat and up your spine.

Perhaps this will be somewhat alleviated once adaptive dampers become available, but there’s definitely a noticeable firm edge to the ride, not helped by the larger wheels.

You also have to apply a surprising amount of steering lock in the iX3, especially when maneuvering at lower speeds. It feels unexpectedly old-fashioned having to always do an impression of a 1990s minicab driver when you’re trying to do a three-point turn, especially in an age where steer-by-wire systems are becoming more common.

– The Design

Photo by: Andrei Nedelea

After living with the iX3 for a while, the design started to grow on me, and by the time I returned it, I had come to like it. The front and rear fascias are quite good-looking, once you get over the initial shock of seeing the vehicle in person, but I have a problem with the sides of the body, which are quite boring and lack visual interest. It’s still just not the best looking SUV.

I had the same problem with the iX, which also looks a bit slab-sided. The iX3 could have used an additional crease going down the side of the body to highlight its muscular haunches and its very sporty stance. You only really notice how far the wheels are pushed out when you look at the iX3 from a three-quarter angle; otherwise, it just looks a bit flat.

I could learn to live with it. After all, beauty is more than skin deep.