BMW iX1 LWB First Drive Review: A Family-friendly BMW

The iX1 LWB at its price point gives you the bragging rights of owning a BMW, but it takes away a few important things from the experience

How much are you willing to pay for a badge? Rs 1 crore? 2 or maybe 3? Well, you don’t have to empty your pockets now as BMW has launched the iX1 LWB (Long Wheelbase), at a price of Rs 49 lakh (ex-showroom). This makes it the most affordable SUV from the brand and for this price you get all the niceties of a BMW, but there is a trade off, which you might not like.

Design

The iX1 LWB looks BIG, thanks to the added wheelbase, which does more than just give extra legroom in the cabin. Its size makes it more noticeable, and provides a sense of power that you expect from the brand.

From a distance, you might not even notice that it’s an EV, and that’s because of the subtle design treatment. But once you get closer, you see the huge closed-off kidney grille, which screams - EV! This is the signature grille of all electric BMW models, and its size goes well with the stance of the SUV.

One thing in particular we liked was the lighting setup. It is on point. The headlamps are surrounded by sleek curved DRLs, which double as indicators, and the tail lamps have small triangle detailing which makes the car stand out.

Boot Space

The powered tailgate opens with the touch of a button, that too very quickly. Once it’s open, you’ll see that the boot floor is raised due to the battery pack, and your space is somewhat limited.

Still, you can keep 2-3 cabin sized trolley bags here, along with a few small bags. If you lift the floor mat, you get a little more storage, enough to keep your shopping bags, but nothing more. The overall boot space is enough for your commutes, given that you pack using smaller bags to maximize its usability.

For your airport runs, it can fit 2 large suitcases, but since the floor is raised, you won’t have enough room to stack suitcases on top of each other. At 490-litres, this boot is deep, which allows you to keep a lot of stuff, but only if you’re careful how you keep it.

A BMW Cabin

As you enter the iX1 LWB, you see that the cabin is of a typical BMW, which is beautiful. There is soft touch padding on all corners, the material quality is impeccable, and it makes you fall in love with the car.

The screens take half the dashboard, but the remaining half grabs your attention with its neatly placed ambient lighting, and slim AC vents. The iX1 LWB comes with BMW’s M Sport package as standard which takes the look and feel of this cabin up a notch.

There’s a floating centre console, which has most of your controls, including the drive selector, drive mode button, and volume control. This cabin has been designed for a driver, even if it is in a family SUV.

The front seats are 8-way power adjustable and the driver seat gets a memory function as well. Combined with the tilt and telescopic steering wheel, finding your driving position becomes very easy.

Features & Safety

This is where you think to yourself – is this really a BMW? Being the most affordable SUV from the German brand, the iX1 LWB has to make a lot of compromises on its equipment list, and that is something you don’t expect in a car at this price point.

Before we discuss what you do get, let’s see what the brand does not offer. There are no ventilated front seats, no 360-degree camera, limited ADAS functionality (no adaptive cruise control), and despite being an EV, it misses out on vehicle-to-load (V2L).These features are offered in much more affordable cars, which is bound to pinch. 

What you do get is a curved screen setup which has a 10.7-inch touchscreen and a 10.25-inch digital driver’s display. Other features include dual-zone climate control, a panoramic glass roof, and a 12-speaker Harman Kardon sound system.

There’s also a wireless phone charger, placed vertically with a clip to keep your phone in place. It also offers parking assist, which controls the steering wheel when you need to park your car. But, in our use, we realized that it needs clear markings to work properly.

In terms of safety, the iX1 LWB comes with 8 airbags, dynamic stability control, a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS), ISOFIX child seat anchors, a rear parking camera with guidelines, and Level 1 ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) features like lane departure warning, autonomous emergency braking, and blind spot alert.

This is a good feature list, but if this is going to be your first luxury car, you will find that similarly priced or even more affordable cars will give you more equipment for the price.

Need More Buttons

More and more brands are now removing buttons from the centre console to make the cabin look more “minimalistic”. This does give the dashboard a cleaner look, but some features should have their physical controls.

First is AC. There are no physical controls for the AC, so to adjust the temperature or the fan speed, you have to fiddle around with the touchscreen. This can be very hard to do while you’re driving, and having physical climate control buttons won’t hurt. At least there is a shortcut at the bottom of the touchscreen which lets you access the AC controls.

But there is no shortcut for other features. Most EVs have paddle shifters for regenerative braking so you can adjust the levels on the go, but the iX1 LWB doesn’t. To change the level of recuperation, you have to go into driving settings, find regenerative braking, and select the level you want.

This means that if you want to change the regen settings, you should stop the car and then do it. Because doing it while driving will not only be hard, but will also be dangerous. Physical controls would have been appreciated.

Practicality & Charging Options

There is no shortage of space here. Two cupholders in the front, a cooled glovebox, bottle holders in all four doors, and a huge tray under the floating centre console. But, the front armrest storage is negligible. You can keep the key here, or some change, but that’s it.

The rear passengers get seat back pockets, cupholders in the centre armrest, and that's it.

In terms of charging options, there is a wireless phone charger, a 12V socket, and two Type-C ports in the front. The rear passengers also get two type-C ports placed under the rear AC vents.

Rear Seat Experience

The best part of the iX1 LWB are its rear seats. Due to the longer wheelbase, there is more than enough space in the back. You can sit with your legs stretched as far as they can, and still have space left.

Its rear seats have just the right amount of underthigh support, and the cushions along with the angle of the recline makes your long drives very comfortable. If you are chauffeur-driven, this car will be a great option for you, and if you have a big family, the rear seats will easily accommodate them.

Performance

A 66.4 kWh battery pack paired with an electric motor that makes 204 PS in a front wheel drive setup sounds like an exciting and sporty drive experience awaits you. But in this case, it’s not. The power is enough to make quick overtakes, and have a little fun, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary.

The iX1 LWB is a family-oriented car, and for that use case, it has enough power to get you around. Overtakes are easy and so is getting to triple digits. You won’t feel that there is any lack of performance, especially considering that this sub 50 lakh BMW is designed to drive you and your family around.

A little more power and a little more excitement would have certainly made it more exciting, but this is not a driver’s car. Most of the time you’ll be using it for being chauffeur driven, and for that use, the performance of the iX1 LBW is enough. Importantly, the power delivery is smooth and calm which makes both driving and being driven a relaxed affair.

But the one thing that differentiates its drive experience from other cars in this price range, is the artificial sound. BMW offers something called Iconic Sounds, which is paired with the acceleration. So whenever you floor the accelerator pedal, it sounds like an orchestra inside the cabin, which is quite amusing.

Ride Quality

No complaints here. The cabin’s movement is controlled well and you don’t experience a lot of side-to-side movement. Smaller potholes are absorbed with ease and it can also handle bigger potholes and speedbreakers without breaking a sweat.

At higher speeds, the iX1 LWB remains planted, which also gives it good handling while taking corners. This is where you can actually have fun with a car and not feel that something is missing. 

But, one thing could have been better, and that’s the suspension sound. You hear that thud even on smaller bumps and can be very annoying if you’re driving on a broken patch of road (which is not really hard to find). 

Overall, the iX1 LWB is comfortable, handles well, and in most conditions, it will provide you with an excellent ride quality. All passengers in the car will be comfortable, and you won’t be left with wanting for more.

Verdict

It is a sensible car to own. Especially if you are looking for a lot of space and good driving dynamics, along with BMW’s quality. The (relatively) accessible price of Rs 49 lakh (ex-showroom) makes the iX1 all the more tempting. 

But the trade off is lack of features and mild mannered performance, which is something you don’t expect when you’re considering buying a BMW. The feature set it offers also focuses more on functionality than flash value. The biggest ‘feature’ you get with a BMW iX1 LWB, is possibly the bragging rights of owning a BMW.

You could get better performance and better features for a lower price. The question is, would you give up the badge for it?