2026 BMW iX First Drive: You Can’t Always Judge A Book By Its Cover

It’s been about four years since BMW launched its second-ever mass-produced battery electric vehicle, the iX. It followed in the footsteps of the iconic i3 as the Bavarian automaker continued expanding on its all-electric aspirations.

Although it arrived to mixed reception, mainly regarding its appearances, its polarizing style and design couldn’t hide the fact that the iX is a damn good car and electric vehicle at that. Despite being hard on the eyes, the iX rewarded with an excellent driving experience, futuristic technology, and outstanding performance both as a driver’s car and an EV. It’s one of the few automotive examples where you just can’t judge a vehicle based on its looks.

Because it turned about three years old by production model year in 2025, it was due for BMW’s traditional Life Cycle Impulse, or the automaker’s fancy term for a mid-cycle refresh. So, what’s new for 2026?

2026 BMW iX First Impressions

Because the 2026 BMW iX is basically a facelifted model, its love-it-or-hate-it looks largely remain. The differences add up in the form of various exterior appointments such as new front and rear bumpers with redesigned lower fascias, new headlight designs, a new front grille, wheel designs, et al.

The big, double kidney grilles and gunslit headlights also remain. But the daytime-running elements in the lighting assemblies and the grilles’ slotting design gets a rehash to further distinguish it from the older model. The iX’s lower black plastic body cladding disappears in favor of body color-matching bits for a more uniform appearance. And for those who want a bit of BMW M flair added in, a new M Sport Package is now available. There’s also a new base xDrive45 model in town.

Exterior Dimensions

Driving Impressions And Performance

There are things in life you can always expect reliably, such as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. Or, getting hungry for breakfast. With BMW, you can always count on the Bavarian automaker serving up excellent driving dynamics and on-road performance. Coming from the brand that built its entire repertoire around these pillars, the iX defies its cumbersome weight to drive like something half its size.

Most, if not all, electric vehicles suffer from a major weight problem — so much, in fact, they’ve developed a reputation for being the auto world’s worst offenders. The iX is no featherweight itself. But any considerable time behind the wheel and on all sorts of roads will make you wonder how the iX seems to make its heft just disappear. Even if you do look at the spec sheet, you’d never guess all iX models tip the scales at two-and-a-half to three tons.

With accurate steering, fluid yet buttoned-down body motions, and balanced handling with sports-car-like high limits, the iX helps prove why BMW remains one of the few masters when it comes to vehicle dynamics.

Braking And Acceleration

Being an electric vehicle, the iX’s acceleration and speed have always been, well, electrifying. The first renditions were never slow, with the previous base xDrive50 punching out more power than an M3 and M4 Competition. The story remains true, if not truer, with the new iX’s trim shakeup.

The new base xDrive45 model delivers plenty of go, taking less than five seconds to hit 60 MPH, which is faster than a six-cylinder X5 or X6. The updated xDrive60 replaces the former xDrive50, drops its 60 MPH sprint to just 4.4 seconds, or about as quick as it takes an M340i. And the new M70 xDrive, which replaces the M60 xDrive, will leave them all in the dust, taking just 3.6 seconds to hit 60 MPH.

All thankfully have great stoppers to match with easily managable regenerative braking.

Performance Specifications

2026 BMW iX Driving Range And Charging Information

We only drove the iX in its three forms over the course of around 180 miles for an entire day, thus, we weren’t able to test their maximum driving ranges and charging times. But with all models offering up to at least 300 miles of range, it’s comparable to a gas V-8-powered X5’s range on a full tank of gas.

Interior Design And Comfort

Although the latest ’26 iX gets BMW’s LCI update, revisions for the interior remain light, as the insides of the iX have always been up-to-date and even on the futuristic side. The dashboard remains simple and minimalistic, with clean panels and shapes, and modern motifs.

The iX’s interior also houses some of the most comfortable seats I’ve ever experienced in an automobile, both fore and aft. And since it’s roughly the same size as an X5, there’s plenty of space for up to five adults. Noise, vibration, and harshness levels are all luxury-level low, and unlike other heavyweight EVs, the iX’s ride is impeccably smooth and well-controlled.

But more so, it’s unbelievable how well the iX resists slapping its heavy curb and unsprung weight hard on the pavement. Unlike some other EVs, which ride like they utilize solid blocks of granite for wheels or suspension components.

Interior Dimensions

Technology And Ease Of Use

By now, we’ve become used to BMW’s latest iDrive infotainment system with its ultra-wide Curved Display interface. It first debuted in the iX and has since made its way into other BMW models. Although the screens are beautiful with rich colors and sharp visuals, we’re still not a fan of the whole “smartphone app-like” menu and experience.

BMW’s software and interior designers claim the menu system and hierarchy are supposed to mimic the same experience as a tablet or mobile OS. But while it works for those personal electronic devices, it doesn’t quite work as well for in-car infotainment systems. It still requires a lot of taking your eyes off of the road and menu hunting to find simple functions.

For instance, in order to change the following distance for the radar-guided cruise control, instead of having a simple steering wheel-mounted button for adjustment, one has to dig into the “Driver Assistance app” and several sub-menus to make such an adjustment.

And there’s no physical button on the power seat controls to adjust lumbar protrusion. It, too, requires digging into the screen apps. It’s just way too unnecessarily complicated.

Cargo And Storage Space

Because the iX is roughly the size of an X5, interior space is plentiful for up to five adults and their things. And because it lacks the complex drivetrain of an internal combustion vehicle, storage space is also plentiful. The iX’s rear offers up to 35.5 cubic feet, doubling to 77.9 with the rear seats down, which is more than the X5’s 33.9 and 72.3 cubes.

2026 BMW iX Vs. Its Competitors

As a battery-electric midsize luxury SUV, with a starting price of around $75,100 that goes as high as nearly $123,000 when fully loaded, the BMW iX directly competes against the Tesla Model X, Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV, Audi Q8 e-tron, and even the Rivian R1S.

The Tesla Model X more closely competes with the mid-range iX xDrive60, but outguns the BMW with the 1,000-horsepower-plus Plaid model, which is also cheaper than the top-spec M70 xDrive. The base Mercedes EQE 350 SUV is slightly more expensive and slightly slower than the iX xDrive45. But Benz also has the mid-range EQE 500 for the iX xDrive60 equivalent, and the AMG EQE SUV to compete against the iX M70 xDrive at a similar price point.

The Audi Q8 e-tron only has the base and S-Line models to compete against the xDrive45 and xDrive60 models, but the BMW outpaces both. And the Rivian is for those who plan to do more utiliarian things.

The Question Is, How Much Power Do You Want, And Are You Willing To Pay For It?

There now may be a total of three different trim model options for the iX, but it all really boils down to how much power and driving range one wants. They all largely look and drive the same, with the only major differentiator being total output.

That said, we think most people would be happy with the new base model xDrive45 as it offers plenty of performance for both the straight and curvy bits. If you really want to show up your neighbor’s base Porsche 911 Carrera, the M70 xDrive will certainly do so. That is, until the road stops being straight, as nothing can hide the laws of physics at that point.

Either way, the iX continues delivering an exceptionally well-rounded BEV SUV experience in a familiar package and flavor that many have come to love and appreciate. Just don’t judge this book by its cover.