BMW has just unveiled the new iX, and it’s coming to South Africa.
The German carmaker confirmed that the electric vehicle (EV) will reach our shores in the third quarter of 2025 with three new derivatives – the xDrive45, xDrive60, and M70 xDrive.
Design
The iX has seen numerous changes to its design, starting with a new kidney grille with vertical and diagonal lines, which is surrounded by the Iconic Glow lighting signature.
Adaptive LED headlights are now included as standard, and the M70 comes with the M Sport and M Sport Pro packages, which adds a model-specific grille with M badges, black mirror caps, and 22-inch light-alloy wheels.
Both M Sport packages are an optional extra on the other units.
There’s also a new range of metallic colours to choose from, comprising Arctic Race Blue, Dune Grey, Carbon Black, BMW Individual Frozen Deep Grey, BMW Individual Frozen Pure Grey, Tanzanite Blue, and Space Silver.
Shifting to the interior, you’ll find a set of M seats wrapped in perforated microfibre and Sensatec upholstery, though this can be swapped out for natural leather on request.
Equipment found across all models now includes heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a Harman Kardon stereo, dual-zone climate control, and keyless entry and start with the option to set up your phone as a digital key using the My BMW app.
The iX family also comes with the brand’s Live Cockpit Professional consisting of a dual curved screen for the driver and infotainment displays, running on the latest operating system 8.5 with an intelligent voice assistant and smartphone connectivity.
The M70 (as well as units with the M Sport package) can additionally look forward to an M Leather sport steering wheel, a two-tone instrument panel with M badges, dark silver accents, anthracite headlining, M sports pedals, a high-gloss black centre console, and a 22kW wireless phone charger.
Optional extras on the BMW then include a Sky Lounge panoramic sunroof, ventilated seats, a Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System, and an electronically extendable tow hitch.
Performance
Every iteration of the iX is fitted with two electric motors to enable all-wheel drive.
On the base xDrive45, the two motors are tuned to generate a combined output of 300kW and 700Nm – 60kW and 70Nm more than the xDrive40 it is replacing.
Consequently, the SUV’s 0-100km/h time has been reduced by 1.0 second to just 5.1 seconds, and it can also achieve a top speed of 200km/h.
This version is fitted with a 94.8kWh battery good for up to 602km of driving, which has 30% more usable energy than the previous models and supports three different charging cables, as listed below:
- 11kW AC – nine hours for 100%
- 22kW AC – five hours for 100%
- 175kW DC – 34 minutes for 80%
Next up is the xDrive60, which produces 400kW and 765Nm – 15kW more than the old xDrive50.
This is enough to let the EV race to 100km/h in 4.6 seconds, before hitting the same 200km/h speed cap.
It also gets a larger 109.1kWh battery with a max range of 701km, which uses the following chargers:
- 11kW AC – 11 hours for 100%
- 22kW AC – five hours, 45 minutes for 100%
- 195kW DC – 35 minutes for 80%
Lastly, there’s the M70, which improves on the M60 with an additional 30kW for a new total of 485kW, giving it a higher top speed of 250km/h.
It can also tap into a staggering 1,100Nm when launch control is activated, giving it a blistering 0-100km/h time of 3.5 seconds.
The M70 uses the same size battery as the xDrive60, but has a lower WLTP range of 600km.
More information on the new BMW iX, such as its pricing, will be revealed closer to its launch window in the third quarter of 2025.
BMW iX xDrive45
BMW iX xDrive60
BMW iX M70 xDrive
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