[XplusYplusZ]

So, the company car policy has migrated to Hybrids and EV only. The 430i's days are numbered, and I'm looking for a dog wagon with internal child storage (roofracks are frowned upon).

Until now the EVs on the list were the Etron (AWD but lots of peculiar styling decisions which I am not on board with - especially that grey grille), and the EQC, which looks ok to me, but is flawed in it's off road capability to the point where not a single youtuber has braved a grassy lane to review it.

In dropped the iX3 to the company car list! Finally something which looks ok, can pack in a dog, and can handle a green lane or tw- wait... it's RWD only!?

Weird decision BMW. Disappointing to say the least. Guess I'm not the market these are targetted at.

What're your thoughts?

[Thanis34]

Supposedly the RWD has some fancy ABS onboard (Same as the i3) that should make it handle better than normal RWD in situations where you would otherwise need AWD. At least I saw a video of an iX3 test in the snow. Then again, you can never trust the marketing people, so I guess it depends on wether you really need AWD or not ... do you ?!

[XplusYplusZ]

Originally Posted by Thanis34

Supposedly the RWD has some fancy ABS onboard (Same as the i3) that should make it handle better than normal RWD in situations where you would otherwise need AWD. At least I saw a video of an iX3 test in the snow. Then again, you can never trust the marketing people, so I guess it depends on wether you really need AWD or not ... do you ?!

I didn't know that claim, thanks.

I would like to know it could handle a wet grassy slope or a muddy lane better than a 3 series xdrive.. I guess the only benefit would be the ground clearance.

[Thanis34]

If you are looking at the handling or performance of an equally powered 3-series then you are comparing apples to oranges.

Also keep in mind that this will be a totally different type of driving due to the full torque being available at all times, a much higher weight and much stabler position due to weight distribution and lower Center of gravity.

In short, I guess it should handle bad weather or wet scenario.s well enough, but comparing to a 3 series X-drive .. I do not know. Test drive sounds to be needed :-)

[iX3 rijder]

Originally Posted by XplusYplusZ

So, the company car policy has migrated to Hybrids and EV only. The 430i's days are numbered, and I'm looking for a dog wagon with internal child storage (roofracks are frowned upon).

Until now the EVs on the list were the Etron (AWD but lots of peculiar styling decisions which I am not on board with - especially that grey grille), and the EQC, which looks ok to me, but is flawed in it's off road capability to the point where not a single youtuber has braved a grassy lane to review it.

In dropped the iX3 to the company car list! Finally something which looks ok, can pack in a dog, and can handle a green lane or tw- wait... it's RWD only!?

Weird decision BMW. Disappointing to say the least. Guess I'm not the market these are targetted at.

What're your thoughts?

Driving the car for three months now in Holland (with snow, heavy rain) and admitting I am not the rally-driver type, there is nothing wrong with the driving conditions of this car. The torque available from first turn of the electrical drive is a good thing. Acceleration in emergency situations ( already happened once to me) makes up for other “missing options”. The weight of the car and low CoG compensates the rear-drive only for me. I haven’t experienced neither under- nor oversteer (yet), but again I am not related to the Verstappen family.

The silence inside is something I got used to so quickly. The other day I set in an ICE car and was struck by the noise inside. For those who can’t do without there is the Sport Sound On option

[Iorix3]

Originally Posted by iX3 rijder

Driving the car for three months now in Holland (with snow, heavy rain) and admitting I am not the rally-driver type, there is nothing wrong with the driving conditions of this car. The torque available from first turn of the electrical drive is a good thing. Acceleration in emergency situations ( already happened once to me) makes up for other “missing options”. The weight of the car and low CoG compensates the rear-drive only for me. I haven’t experienced neither under- nor oversteer (yet), but again I am not related to the Verstappen family.

The silence inside is something I got used to so quickly. The other day I set in an ICE car and was struck by the noise inside. For those who can’t do without there is the Sport Sound On option

I know it’s been a while since this message but I would be interested in people’s experiences in icy and snow conditions, since you last posted? Still positive experiences? And what tyres were you using in these conditions? I’m considering going for the iX3 as a company car but wouldn’t be able to change the tyres form the standard summer tyres. Thanks in advance!

[Gnillab]

You don't want to drive a 2500 kg RWD car on summer tyres in winter.

Below 8C road temperature, the summers will start losing grip.

[stefan9107]

Originally Posted by Gnillab

You don't want to drive a 2500 kg RWD car on summer tyres in winter.

Below 8C road temperature, the summers will start losing grip.

Winters tyres would be the ideal solution sure, but us Brits are notorious for having a bad time in the snow and just suffering through. As the snow
normally only accounts for about 2-3 weeks out of the year winter tyres aren't usually a good investment.

As you've stated, there obviously will be less grip in the colder conditions and snow and ice, but I wouldn't worry so much provided you drive accordingly in the conditions.

The big thing to remember is that all wheel drive for snow and ice is a load of crap really. Sure it will help you pull away, but when it comes to the important bit, braking, it makes zero difference. In most tests I've seen a two wheel drive car with winter tyres smashes an all wheel drive car in summer/all season tyres in testing.

If you have concerns because of ye olde days of seeing all the rear wheel drive BMW's spinning up their tyres in the snow whilst the front wheel drive guys just drive around them, you won't have that problem here. All the weight used to be over the front where the engine was so the rear never had any grip, but I believe the iX3 has something like 58% of the weight over the rear wheels meaning it is significantly less of an issue.

Now it will depend a lot on what the manufacturer has/hasn't programmed in and I can't speak for how good BMW have done it, but in theory electric motors should have significantly better traction control than ICE cars and thus perform better pulling away on snow and ice.


TL;DR - Xdrive doesn't help with braking which is what really matters in ice and snow. Winter tyres are ideal but in the UK we probably don't get enough snow to warrant them. The iX3 has much better weight distribution and electric motors have better traction control. Only if you live in a very rural and hilly area would I worry about it.

[keninuk]

Originally Posted by Gnillab

You don't want to drive a 2500 kg RWD car on summer tyres in winter.

Below 8C road temperature, the summers will start losing grip.

I would certainly agree with this statement and after a terrible experience in a 4WD Audi in the snow on summer tyres I switched to winters (Nov-Mar) on the two RWD Jaguars I have had since.

In snow/ice I try to avoid going out where possible and indeed if you take more care then you should be OK but you are always driving on tyres that are not designed for the ambient temperature when 7 degrees centigrade or below and there is always the unexpected.

I swear blind that without winter tyres on in cold weather I would have failed to stop behind a car who on reflection I think was trying to force me to run into the back of them. They went into a right filter and then sped back in front of me as I was just about to go past and then they slammed the anchors on while cutting back in front of me. They then just sped off. Shame I hadn't got a drive recorder in the Jag as I would certainly have reported it.

There is the initial outlay for the winter tyres and the fee to swap them if they don't need replacing at that point but depending on how long you keep the car you may not actually spend that much more than just replacing summer tyres. I was lucky with the Jags as I carried the winters over between the two cars as they had the same size wheels all round and between the vehicles. I probably won't be so lucky with the iX3 but it won't stop me buying them even for the limited amount of driving I do.

[SpaceRock]

I've never had issues driving around in the ix3 on wet/dry roads, even with fast cornering I've never drifted or lost control (using summer tyres) so it's not as bad. I did try mild off roading on grass and mostly flat surface - it did OK but on mud (off road) and wet grass on a hill.., hmm not so well so for proper off roading you'll find it unsuitable.

[Iorix3]

Thanks all for the quick responses and for sharing your experience, very helpful. Stefan9107 has hit the nail on the head, in that winter tyres are difficult to justify as an investment in Britain. It makes it even more difficult when trying to order a company car where you are bound by the contract.

I’ve been told that if I was to place an order, the car would arrive with summer tyres as standard and there is no option to replace on arrival. But, apparently, I could swap to all season tyres when the original tyres wear down to 2mm of tread. Delivery ETA is Q2-23 according to the fleet company so the summer tyres shouldn’t be an immediate problem upon delivery. I might go ahead with the order, get a better feel for how the car performs over the summer, and then decide what to do for the winter.