The rest of the cockpit ergonomics are fine. The materials feel pleasant to the touch, with an interesting contrast between the textured fabric on the dash and the padded plastics. There are plenty of physical buttons and a trapezoidal infotainment screen that keeps controls near the driver’s right hand.
A closer look at that wheel we don’t like.
BMW
A closer look at that wheel we don’t like.
BMW
A closer look at that wheel we don’t like.
BMW
However, there’s no more physical dial controller for the infotainment system, and Alexa has replaced Cerence in supplying the natural language processing and conversational AI. In practice, this feels like a bit of a downgrade, and not only did the AI assistant—that little Ninja-looking face in the middle of the Panoramic Vision display—repeatedly think someone used its trigger word when we hadn’t, but a lot of my requests were met with some variation of “I can’t help you with that.”
The drive impression
The calibration of the one-pedal driving mode—which you toggle on or off with the drive selector on the center console—is very well-judged, and the friction brakes shouldn’t take over unless you’re asking to slow by more than half a G, which means 98 percent of all deceleration events should return energy to the battery pack. It’s a quiet ride, too, as long as you keep it out of sport mode, although the suspension is relatively firm and you’ll feel some road imperfections.
On the road, I found the Efficiency mode plenty, despite this being the most throttled back. When not in one-pedal (D versus B on the drive selector), the iX3 coasts well, and one of the driver assists onboard will read speed limit signs and regeneratively brake you to meet them, if you’re coasting along and the limit decreases. (That’s among the assists you can disable, should you wish.)
It’s nimble enough at changing directions.
BMW
It’s nimble enough at changing directions.
BMW
Practicing an emergency lane change. The brakes are very effective.
BMW
Practicing an emergency lane change. The brakes are very effective.
BMW
It’s fun to drive, but don’t push too hard.
BMW
It’s fun to drive, but don’t push too hard.
BMW
Practicing an emergency lane change. The brakes are very effective.
BMW
It’s fun to drive, but don’t push too hard.
BMW
The suite of advanced driver assistance systems now runs on its own domain controller, one of four powerful computers that replace the dozens and dozens of black box ECUs that each used to handle a single discrete function. Among the improvements are a new remote parking ability that uses the My BMW App on a smartphone to even better effect than James Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies, and an adaptive cruise control that can tell the difference between a heavy application of brakes—at which point it deactivates—or a light brush, returning to speed after slowing.
