With frustration over the wait for a new Model X and now the possibility of no 7 seater being available in the Plaid, there is a cancelled order BMW iX going very cheap at the moment.
So I went along to the local BMW dealer to have a look.
The interior design is very nice to look at but to me the base materials feel cheaper than the Model X. The fake leather is much rougher and harder, as are the plastics. There is no microfibre on the roof. Without the glass roof it feels very dark inside. I could not get my feet under the front row seats from the back row.
Don't get me wrong, it is nice enough inside, but just not 100k nice. It bears no comparison to the new Range Rover.
The boot is bizarrely small for the size of vehicle and clearly there is no 7 seat option.
Many things that are standard in the Y or X need the purchase of expensive packs. Heated rear seats mean purchasing the £4200 comfort plus pack.
All the reviews do say it is a lovely drive which I didn't test.
I think the real problem is the car is mispriced.
Considering the space available and the performance it should be priced more in line with an E-Tron or EQC. In fact it doesn't seem to offer much more than the Model Y.
Yet it is considerably more expensive than the EQC and Model Y.
The main reason seems to be the £24k premium for the 50 over the 40. It has a very large battery and is faster, but the premium is way too much.
Indeed to get the spec the same as a Model X would require adding multiple packs bringing the price to £109,000. Way more than a Model X LR.
Also the new iX M60 is needed to perform similarly to the LR Model X and this is another £14,000
I would note that the iX 50 is $83,200 vs the Model X LR $98,940 in the USA whereas in the UK the prices are £93,905 to £102,980 (before the price disappeared). A smaller difference.
The BMW iX is made in Europe so not subject to the 10% tariff that the Model X is.
Generally the GBP price of Teslas is modestly more than the US price - USD *1.2 VAT / 1.35 exchange rate *1.1 tariff plus around 5% EU/RHD premium.
The Mercedes EQS is slightly cheaper in GBP than USD, built in the EU so no tariffs. Basically *1.2/1.35 plus 5%
The Taycan is very good value in the UK, *1.2/1.35 - 10%. No wonder they sell so well.
If you take the US price of the iX50 * 1.2 / 1.35 and add maybe 5% for UK/RHD premium you get £78,000. Even if BMW said they could add 10% as the competition has a tariff being made in the USA you would get £85,000. The pricing is way out of line.
I also checked. The iX is E100,000 in Germany which is equivalent to £83,000. If you compare the X5 45e German and UK prices are almost the same.
Everything points to the UK price being around £10,000 higher than it should be. They won't sell many at that price. There are cars available for immediate delivery at list price on the BMW website. You can't say that about many TVs at the moment.
So I went along to the local BMW dealer to have a look.
The interior design is very nice to look at but to me the base materials feel cheaper than the Model X. The fake leather is much rougher and harder, as are the plastics. There is no microfibre on the roof. Without the glass roof it feels very dark inside. I could not get my feet under the front row seats from the back row.
Don't get me wrong, it is nice enough inside, but just not 100k nice. It bears no comparison to the new Range Rover.
The boot is bizarrely small for the size of vehicle and clearly there is no 7 seat option.
Many things that are standard in the Y or X need the purchase of expensive packs. Heated rear seats mean purchasing the £4200 comfort plus pack.
All the reviews do say it is a lovely drive which I didn't test.
I think the real problem is the car is mispriced.
Considering the space available and the performance it should be priced more in line with an E-Tron or EQC. In fact it doesn't seem to offer much more than the Model Y.
Yet it is considerably more expensive than the EQC and Model Y.
The main reason seems to be the £24k premium for the 50 over the 40. It has a very large battery and is faster, but the premium is way too much.
Indeed to get the spec the same as a Model X would require adding multiple packs bringing the price to £109,000. Way more than a Model X LR.
Also the new iX M60 is needed to perform similarly to the LR Model X and this is another £14,000
I would note that the iX 50 is $83,200 vs the Model X LR $98,940 in the USA whereas in the UK the prices are £93,905 to £102,980 (before the price disappeared). A smaller difference.
The BMW iX is made in Europe so not subject to the 10% tariff that the Model X is.
Generally the GBP price of Teslas is modestly more than the US price - USD *1.2 VAT / 1.35 exchange rate *1.1 tariff plus around 5% EU/RHD premium.
The Mercedes EQS is slightly cheaper in GBP than USD, built in the EU so no tariffs. Basically *1.2/1.35 plus 5%
The Taycan is very good value in the UK, *1.2/1.35 - 10%. No wonder they sell so well.
If you take the US price of the iX50 * 1.2 / 1.35 and add maybe 5% for UK/RHD premium you get £78,000. Even if BMW said they could add 10% as the competition has a tariff being made in the USA you would get £85,000. The pricing is way out of line.
I also checked. The iX is E100,000 in Germany which is equivalent to £83,000. If you compare the X5 45e German and UK prices are almost the same.
Everything points to the UK price being around £10,000 higher than it should be. They won't sell many at that price. There are cars available for immediate delivery at list price on the BMW website. You can't say that about many TVs at the moment.
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