[Pacesetter]

In the pursuit of finding a replacement for my (excellent) Jaguar I-Pace First Edition I think I had tried, or at least looked at, just about all the current <£60k new EV's out there and was rapidly coming to the conclusion that I was going to have to make some serious compromises.
Out of frustration the last roll of the dice was the BMW IX3. I hadn't considered it before because 1. it has only 1 motor, 2. it's not based on a dedicated EV platform, and 3. it starts at over £60k.
Also, only ever had bad impressions of BMW dealerships (several years ago).
However, barely out of the dealers site and we looked at each other and at simultaneously declared this was by far the best car we had test driven (total of 6 over the past couple of months).
Very smooth, surprisingly comfortable and adequate performance. We liked the "old school" interior with quite a few physical buttons, and the I-drive that means you don't need to rely on trying to stab an icon and negotiate sub-menus on the touch screen when driving.
Bottom line; after 20 minutes on the road we had found the I-Pace replacement, with very few compromises - off the top of my head these are; not as rapid (but plenty quick enough), no matrix headlights (not worth the £1500 upgrade), and not such a unique exterior (still love the look of the I-Pace from all angles).
On the plus side the IX3 drives every bit as well as the I-Pace in normal day to day circumstances, more interior space, better ride, premium quality interior, and (a deal breaker for me) the speed limiter worked flawlessly changing the max speed based on traffic sign recognition (didn't try ACC because I don't use it as a rule).
So, returned to the dealer and placed order for IX3 M-Sport Pro (had to cheat on the budget a bit, but didn't want to give up HUD) in Carbon Black/Black interior, due Q3 2022.
Really happy with the selection, and no longer dreading the day the I-Pace returns to the contract hire company.

 

[Crypto_Kid]

. We liked the "old school" interior with quite a few physical buttons, and the I-drive that means you don't need to rely on trying to stab an icon and negotiate sub-menus on the touch screen when driving.

Really happy with the selection, and no longer dreading the day the I-Pace returns to the contract hire company.

This explains why you never waited for the Tesla Model Y , I get some people cant cope with doing most stuff through a touchscreen. Horses for Courses. I have no issues.

But why not just get another I-Pace if you liked it so much? I'm pretty sure they have not discontinued it already.

 

[Pacesetter]

Wouldn't even consider Model Y, or any Tesla. Test drove Model X before I got the I-Pace and hated it, looked at M3 when they came out and thought it was very poor (and ugly).
To get an I-Pace equivalent to what I have is around £85k and couldn't justify it this time around, and didn't want to downgrade to the bottom spec of the I-Pace range (which would still be around £67k)

 

[Charlas]

Test drove the model S, fun to launch, and... Erm... Thats about it... Boring all other times no dynamic feel. Also absolutely despise the whole touchscreen for everything thing, what's wrong with buttons that you know where they are? Test drive the Merc and Audi

Ordered the iX3 and I love it. Its a BMW inside, and that's just perfectly fine.

 

[prabhu]

This explains why you never waited for the Tesla Model Y , I get some people cant cope with doing most stuff through a touchscreen. Horses for Courses. I have no issues.

But why not just get another I-Pace if you liked it so much? I'm pretty sure they have not discontinued it already.

This is where you should buy into Elon's philosophy that “all inputs are errors”. Distraction is a major cause of collisions. Operating any menus via dedicated buttons, or scroll wheels or even gesture is distraction and potentially dangerous. On a EV that is silent and can do 0-60 in 4 seconds, even the tiniest distraction would be life-threatening. By getting rid of all buttons and moving them to a touchscreen, people will learn to operate things only before the journey or when parked safely.
There are reasons for many other deliberate decisions in a tesla. For example,

• the glovebox is a personal locker to store the tablet, gaming controllers, charging cards, etc so cannot be opened by merely smashing the windows and entering the car. Boredom is a major deterrent for EV adoption that prevents people from switching from ICE for long journeys.
• operating windscreen washers while on the move confuses the Tesla vision cameras on the front and hence must be operated when the car is stopped safely

 

[farmergiles]

This is where you should buy into Elon's philosophy that “all inputs are errors”. Distraction is a major cause of collisions. Operating any menus via dedicated buttons, or scroll wheels or even gesture is distraction and potentially dangerous. On a EV that is silent and can do 0-60 in 4 seconds, even the tiniest distraction would be life-threatening. By getting rid of all buttons and moving them to a touchscreen, people will learn to operate things only before the journey or when parked safely.
There are reasons for many other deliberate decisions in a tesla. For example,

• the glovebox is a personal locker to store the tablet, gaming controllers, charging cards, etc so cannot be opened by merely smashing the windows and entering the car. Boredom is a major deterrent for EV adoption that prevents people from switching from ICE for long journeys.
• operating windscreen washers while on the move confuses the Tesla vision cameras on the front and hence must be operated when the car is stopped safely

You've just summed up why I will never drive a Tesla. The arrogance of the man.

 

[Charlas]

You've just summed up why I will never drive a Tesla. The arrogance of the man.

Without a brain to car interface, the car is always going to be doing the wrong thing more than the right thing.

Tesla have some clever tech, just their marketing team / Elon go about it wrong. Auto pilot.. Its not and never will be, level 2+ at best and only then in California, FSD won't ever be able to fully self drive.. Sure later iterations will be better, but none of the current cars, tesla included are anywhere near breaking out of level 3.... Even the extremely clever trucks they are testing with hundreds of thousands of dollars of lidar etc aren't there yet.. We will get there, but a fully self driving car won't exist, till all the other traffic on the road is likewise... Humans are just too unpredictable

 

[Mini]

In the pursuit of finding a replacement for my (excellent) Jaguar I-Pace First Edition I think I had tried, or at least looked at, just about all the current <£60k new EV's out there and was rapidly coming to the conclusion that I was going to have to make some serious compromises.
Out of frustration the last roll of the dice was the BMW IX3. I hadn't considered it before because 1. it has only 1 motor, 2. it's not based on a dedicated EV platform, and 3. it starts at over £60k.
Also, only ever had bad impressions of BMW dealerships (several years ago).
However, barely out of the dealers site and we looked at each other and at simultaneously declared this was by far the best car we had test driven (total of 6 over the past couple of months).
Very smooth, surprisingly comfortable and adequate performance. We liked the "old school" interior with quite a few physical buttons, and the I-drive that means you don't need to rely on trying to stab an icon and negotiate sub-menus on the touch screen when driving.
Bottom line; after 20 minutes on the road we had found the I-Pace replacement, with very few compromises - off the top of my head these are; not as rapid (but plenty quick enough), no matrix headlights (not worth the £1500 upgrade), and not such a unique exterior (still love the look of the I-Pace from all angles).
On the plus side the IX3 drives every bit as well as the I-Pace in normal day to day circumstances, more interior space, better ride, premium quality interior, and (a deal breaker for me) the speed limiter worked flawlessly changing the max speed based on traffic sign recognition (didn't try ACC because I don't use it as a rule).
So, returned to the dealer and placed order for IX3 M-Sport Pro (had to cheat on the budget a bit, but didn't want to give up HUD) in Carbon Black/Black interior, due Q3 2022.
Really happy with the selection, and no longer dreading the day the I-Pace returns to the contract hire company.

We made exactly the same decisions as you and ordered one seven weeks ago after a two hour afternoon test drive.
We sold our F15 X5 in October after we were offered a price for it we couldn't refuse and then got them up another £150! We never really liked the X5 it was a lovely car but the ride was too hard, vague steering and the headlights weren't great! The iX3 was so much better to drive and my wife could get out of it without having to slide down the seat! We had an email last week from the dealer saying that it was built but no mention of when it would be here, Probably Q3 with yours.
I've tried to like Teslas, battery and charging great but the minimalist interior and dependance on software is not for me. I think they are a bit Marmite, I have friends who love them but they don't float my boat!

 

[Mini]

In the pursuit of finding a replacement for my (excellent) Jaguar I-Pace First Edition I think I had tried, or at least looked at, just about all the current <£60k new EV's out there and was rapidly coming to the conclusion that I was going to have to make some serious compromises.
Out of frustration the last roll of the dice was the BMW IX3. I hadn't considered it before because 1. it has only 1 motor, 2. it's not based on a dedicated EV platform, and 3. it starts at over £60k.
Also, only ever had bad impressions of BMW dealerships (several years ago).
However, barely out of the dealers site and we looked at each other and at simultaneously declared this was by far the best car we had test driven (total of 6 over the past couple of months).
Very smooth, surprisingly comfortable and adequate performance. We liked the "old school" interior with quite a few physical buttons, and the I-drive that means you don't need to rely on trying to stab an icon and negotiate sub-menus on the touch screen when driving.
Bottom line; after 20 minutes on the road we had found the I-Pace replacement, with very few compromises - off the top of my head these are; not as rapid (but plenty quick enough), no matrix headlights (not worth the £1500 upgrade), and not such a unique exterior (still love the look of the I-Pace from all angles).
On the plus side the IX3 drives every bit as well as the I-Pace in normal day to day circumstances, more interior space, better ride, premium quality interior, and (a deal breaker for me) the speed limiter worked flawlessly changing the max speed based on traffic sign recognition (didn't try ACC because I don't use it as a rule).
So, returned to the dealer and placed order for IX3 M-Sport Pro (had to cheat on the budget a bit, but didn't want to give up HUD) in Carbon Black/Black interior, due Q3 2022.
Really happy with the selection, and no longer dreading the day the I-Pace returns to the contract hire company.

@Pacesetter. Have you had any update on your car delivery yet?

 

[Pacesetter]

@Pacesetter. Have you had any update on your car delivery yet?

Not yet.
Car was due to be built in March but I don't know when, or if, it was built, although I've got a VIN so I guess it must at least have been prepared for build (but not sure if the factory in China shut down for Covid during March or not).
I'm hoping I will get some information in the next week or so.

 

[Mini]

Not yet.
Car was due to be built in March but I don't know when, or if, it was built, although I've got a VIN so I guess it must at least have been prepared for build (but not sure if the factory in China shut down for Covid during March or not).
I'm hoping I will get some information in the next week or so.

I've been told sometime in August this morning. No VIN yet so you look further on than me.

 

[Mini]

@Pacesetter
Have you had any news on your car build recently?
I can still only get it's looking like August out of them! However they have said that it should have no bits missing!

 

[Pacesetter]

@Pacesetter
Have you had any news on your car build recently?
I can still only get it's looking like August out of them! However they have said that it should have no bits missing!

Last time I checked with BMW expert it was "at sea" and expected to arrive at my dealer 10th July, but that was a couple of weeks ago so may have changed since then.

 

[Mini]

Last time I checked with BMW expert it was "at sea" and expected to arrive at my dealer 10th July, but that was a couple of weeks ago so may have changed since then.

What's the procedure for getting in touch with BMW expert?

 

[Pacesetter]

What's the procedure for getting in touch with BMW expert?

Go on to the BMW website and click on "Ask our Online Genius"

 

[Pacesetter]

Go on to the BMW website and click on "Ask our Online Genius"

Hmm, maybe not. I've just tried and can't find the online chat any more. But it does goes missing sometimes so maybe try again later.

 

[Charlas]

BMW Online Genius

Award winning new cars designed for your driving pleasure. Request a brochure online to discover the whole range of BMW models and book a test drive.

discover.bmw.co.uk

There's a chat button there

 

[Pacesetter]

Yes, there used to be, but it's not there today (that I can see anyway)

 

[Charlas]

Yes, there used to be, but it's not there today (that I can see anyway)

Oh odd, showed up for me when I tried earlier... Wierd.... Always try [email protected]

 

[Mini]

Hmm, maybe not. I've just tried and can't find the online chat any more. But it does goes missing sometimes so maybe try again later.

Can't do any good with that, however I have now got a VIN and an order number now from my dealer!