Hi. I’m Adrian from EV Quest. And today I‘m ticking of something new on my EV journey. It’s my first drive of an electric BMW. I’m checking out the BMW iX1 xDrive30.
I’m expecting luxury, quality and performance. It’s priced from $96,990 + ORC. WLPT range 440km.
The BMW iX1 xDrive30 is rated at 230kW and 494Nm. 0-100km/h in 5.6 seconds.
CAR SUPPLIED BY COOMBES JOHNSTON BMW TAURANGA https://www.coombesjohnstonbmwtauranga.co.nz/
TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, I’m Adrian, EV Quest, and today I’m kicking off something new on my EV journey. It’s my first drive of an electric BMW. I’m expecting quality, performance, luxury, and I’m hoping to find it all in this. The BMW iX1. BMW’s smallest electric SUV. Off we go.
EXTERIOR
The BMWiX1 one xDrive 30 is rated at 230 kilowatts and 494 millimeters. 0 to 100 in 5.6 seconds. A 64.7 kilowatt hour battery with a range of up to 440 kilometers on the WLDP system priced. 96 990 and it comes in an M sport trim for the front. You’ve got the classic kidney shaped grill. I don’t find this too overpowering.
You know, some models really dominates, but on this car, I think it’s a, it works quite well. You’ve got the blue accent around the BMW to prove it’s electric. Blue there. This of course is blocked in because it’s electric. Doesn’t need the air. Adaptive LED lights. And I like the little indent on the bonnet.
You’ve got your camera and radar sensor there. Grille. Airflow can come through here, and then some nice… That’s, nothing’s… That’s all blocked off. That’s open, that’s blocked. And there’s a little gap through there. Tucked your hands. For the side view, probably my favourite feature is just the M.
I’ve always wanted a car with an M on it, so that’s pretty good. Probably just a classic SUV look. Pretty much the same as the iX1, which it’s based on. And it’s a lot more conservative compared to the classic original i3. But, you know, a nice look. Size wise, it’s actually not too far off the next model up, the iX3.
So there’s smooth lined handles for improved aerodynamics. Two toned side mirrors on the, on the right hand side. Three charging points.
INTERIOR
So, in the BMW iX1, it’s got a pretty fairly impressed straight away with the car. This feels nice and soft. Feels nice and soft. Airbags, you’ve got a decent sized glovebox there. You get the wow factor from this lovely curved… Double screen. There’s your boost button for acceleration. I like this big handle here for in and out.
Harman Kardon, the Harman Kardon speakers, they sound pretty good. Had a listen to those before. You can open your boot there, got some light buttons here good size storage, drink bottle storage in there, but feels premium, as you’d expect, feels premium, nice stitching, and your phone actually stands up, so there’s clips in there, two drink bottle holders, but there’s no little clippy bits, they could move around a little bit, two USB points, volume control.
The music, hazard, this button here turns your cameras on, look at that, which I quite like, there’s a lot of functionality in a screen, but you’ve got some nice shortcuts here, there’s the mode button, floating armrest, and then you’ve got some storage underneath that as well, so storage is good. When you’re doing a hey BMW there’s a little microphone there on my side.
There’s also one on the front passenger side. Say hi BMW how are you? There’s the light right there. The SOS button which can also be off the screen. Two lights. And then I’ve got my lovely, my lovely, I didn’t quite understand you again, I’ve got my lovely, you’ve still there a command you used in this help menu stop. You find several command. And you’ve got your lovely sunroof there.
DRIVING
So headroom. Headroom is really good. This car’s packed with safety features. It’s got the, the heads up display, which is great.
I like the big steering wheel. The M steering wheel. I’m not sure if that’s leather, but I like whatever that is. So that’s there. I feel comfortable. The visibility is good out the front, out the sides. Rear side side mirrors. Nice and big. I can easily see way down the back there. And out the back, I can see reasonable visibility out the back.
The camera’s top notch, I think. I don’t know about the camera, sir. Mode wise, there’s six driving modes available. You’ve got your standard, sort of, your personal, sport, inefficient, and then they’ve got these, like, relaxed. I don’t really know what happens on relaxed. Oh. Oh, hang on. My lumbar support started working.
Ooh, I can feel that, I can feel that in my back. The lumbar support, that’s what relaxed does. It’s actually a little bit annoying. I want to turn that off. Switch modes I want to express myself with expressive.
Now, you might have heard that the music in this car… is designed, or the music, the sounds, is designed by Han Zimmer, Academy Award winner Han Zimmer. Bonus points if you can name the two films he won his Academy Awards for. Let me know in the comments below what they are. This being the smaller car, you know, it’s, it’s very responsive just around town.
I’ve been driving it through the suburbs and it has been, it’s been nippy, it’s been nimble. It’s been quick.
CAMERA
So now I just thought I’d just drive in a car park because that’s probably a pretty common place You’re gonna drive your car and just test out the cameras 360 degree cameras. I found the picture to be crisp and clear.
Do pick up a little bit of noise from the lumbar support.
You get a bit of it. Can you hear that? That’s the lumbar support, which massage the massage. Yeah, that’s the massage
So what we’re gonna do now, we’re gonna stop the man I find that actually a little bit annoying so pretty agile in the shopping suburbs and the cameras are very helpful clear picture and Takes a bit of stress out of being around a lot of cars in the shopping mall
Nice soaping spoiler you got your ix1 X Drive 30 LED lights. So I think it’s a quite clean look. BMW logo of course, and then the blue outline to show you’re an electric.
BOOT
So, boot space, plenty of boot space, 490 litres. Nice and flat surface there, just a very small lip. Underneath, you’ve got your plugs, all nicely boxed up there. It’s smooth, you’ve got a bit of a netting on that side. Bit of a storage there. A light, boost base is good, but slightly smaller than some models such as the Volvo XC40 Recharge.
Right, so I’m going to put it into sports mode now because we’re coming up to some windy roads. So I’m going to try, oh, sports mode, that just gave me a little boost. Dynamic setting for pure, I’m pure driving pleasure now in sports mode, so I’m just going to see how it handles. It’s got the Dynamic Suspension, which not all cars have at this price point, so I’m just going to see how it handles on a bit of a muddy road.
WINDY ROADS
New Zealand roads are renowned for windiness, potholes, bumpiness, so this is a good test. It’s hugging the road well.
You do notice that some other SUVs, I’m not getting any sort of roll, like some bigger sized cars. It’s nicely settled in.
So, windy roads, pretty good.
So the back seat is in my driving spot. So that’s a bit tight. It’s a bit tight for USBs.
Bit of netting and the professional feel comes through a little bit harder there, but that’s nice and soft. Speakers still. Love this finish. Love this finish. Seatbelts, and there’s anchor points also available and some, there’s some storage for your drink bottles down there as well, storage for your drink bottles.
Headroom is good. Just got to adjust myself there with that big handle. Does come into my leg, but that’s just me. I’m not the smallest guy, am I? So the, so the only thing I found a little bit annoying at the moment has been setting the air climate menu. That’s a little bit fluffed around with.
I’ve just turned that off. So that’s a little bit fiddly would be the word I’m looking for. A little bit fiddly to handle. That’s where we are. Turn it off for the noise. But on the plus side, but on the plus side, you do have these climate controls that stay down the bottom, whatever. Control whatever different feature you’re using on the screen, so it’s not a complete train wreck.
Also, one other little thing, I just, maybe it’s me, but, like, my seat’s comfortable, but I’m just, it’s a little bit, I’m just out of the reach of the screen. I thought I had log arms, but look at that big truck. I’m just a little fractionally… I have to lean in, but maybe I just need to, maybe I just need to refine my setting a little bit more, but I just find I’m just a little bit out there.
Everything else though has been smooth as. Another feature which I haven’t really gone over is quite helpful is the app. The BMW app has a lot of functionality. So summing up on the BMW ix1, I think it’s a great car actually. So going back to my original, I’m looking for a bit of luxury, a bit of styling before I started this review.
CONCLUSION
I think this car achieves that. It’s well worth the test. Drive. Price wise, 96, 900 plus on road costs. I mean, that is a lot of money. However, I think this car is value for money is the key point. It’s got a lot of features other cars you’ve got to pay more for. So value for money wise, this car is hard to beat.
I’ve got to turn that sat nav off though. So I recommend you definitely give it a test drive. So thanks for sticking around to the end to watch this video. I’ve got another car review here for you to check out, and a subscribe to the channel would be great. Oh my gosh, turn left, please subscribe as it helps me get more cars, the test drive.
Such as this beautiful BMW.