BMW’s electric portfolio racked up another stellar sales performance last year, with the brand’s EV registrations growing by 92 percent worldwide. And to help drive that last percentage even higher, the iX SUV will get a mid-life makeover that won’t improve its gawky looks much, but will boost its power and range. The huge kidney grille isn’t going anywhere, but our spies tell us it will be subtly tweaked and that the facelifted iX’s snout will feature BMW’s Iconic Glow illumination package. Unlike other high-end BMW luxury cars, including the 7-Series and X7, the iX won’t switch to a double-deck headlight arrangement, instead settling for a new DRL pattern to bring it in line with other recently facelifted BMWs.
There are new air intakes in a reprofiled
bumper that gives the new iX a stronger chin, and we hear that the door mirrors
have been updated, though it’s hard to see anything different looking at these
spy shots of different black and white iX prototypes. Many of the most
important changes take place under the skin – though the final production cars
will point to them through their new badges. The BMW iX xDrive45 will replace
the xDrive40, the xDrive60 will replace the xDrive50 and the range will be
headed by the iX M70, which takes the place of today’s iX M60.
Each of those models will do the same job
as the iX grade they replace, but they’ll do it better due to some important
electrical and mechanical changes. Every trim should make more power than the
one that went before it – the iX currently starts at 322 hp and tops out at 610 hp, but is likely to get the i7’s 650 hp setup – and BMW will also improve the driving range.
That improvement can’t come soon enough
for Europe’s entry-level iX xDrive40, which is rated at an unimpressive 425 km. Last year BMW teamed up with Michigan-based battery company Our
Next Energy (ONE) to fit an iX with a Gemini dual-chemistry battery capable of
taking the SUV 979 km before it needed charging, but it’s not
confirmed that the updated iX will be quite so long-legged.
