[CnSky]

So I drove an IX3 premier pro edition last week on 20 inch black aero rims and was very impressed with it but a deal breaker was the harsh ride. Even on comfort setting the rear felt like it was on super hard shocks.

I experience this but only a little in my current 530e on 20s.

Stating to wonder if all that weight on the rear axle is the issue when paired with 20 inch wheels. The car was running on Yokohama star marked tyres (new to me as I have never seen Yokohama BMW approved tyres before)

Anyone else find the rear feels harsh and sounds harsh, you can hear the road back there and the tyres reverb.

Apart from that I would buy one in a heart beat.

[DaveCV]

I might not be the best person to respond as I have spent the past 6 years driving around on the narrow tyres of an i3 on patched and potholed roads that we lovingly call our 'A' roads. Compared to the i3, the iX3 is blissfully smooth.

The reason that you can hear tyre noise is because the car itself is so incredibly quiet. I suspect if you turned the engine off on your 530 and coasted for a while you would get much of the same. Nearly 7 years of EV driving on, I still get 'startled' by the engine noise of a nearby diesel truck.

[Lazy Lee]

How you perceive comfort is a very personal thing of course, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised during my test drive.
Coming directly from a smoothly suspended French car, I was amazed by how supple the iX3 was without becoming something of a barge to drive. It was actually smoother than I was used to, without feeling anywhere near the ‘boatiness’ of an XC70 I owned a few years ago. (That went around corners pretty fast, but it would seriously scare you when trying…)

[DjCoke]

Originally Posted by CnSky

So I drove an IX3 premier pro edition last week on 20 inch black aero rims and was very impressed with it but a deal breaker was the harsh ride. Even on comfort setting the rear felt like it was on super hard shocks.

I experience this but only a little in my current 530e on 20s.

Stating to wonder if all that weight on the rear axle is the issue when paired with 20 inch wheels. The car was running on Yokohama star marked tyres (new to me as I have never seen Yokohama BMW approved tyres before)

Anyone else find the rear feels harsh and sounds harsh, you can hear the road back there and the tyres reverb.

Apart from that I would buy one in a heart beat.

Well I had a 520XD 2017 and it had only rear air suspension. I can say fully that the iX3 is by far better ride then my 520. That is the very reason I bought the iX3 in a blink of an eye.

I test drove the Model 3 2019and 2021 and Y 2021, these EV’s are really harsh rides. But as said it is a personal thing. What I will say is that the chairs are harder then my 520D, so that can feel as a harsher ride because of that?

[Thanis34]

Coming from a 2013 520dA on 20” rims I must say that the iX3 is a lot smoother in terms of suspension but I agree with the comment above regarding the sturdier seats. Seating comfort is notch below my old 5 series and might affect how you perceive the ride.

PS: What setting was the ride in … by default if you put it in Sport mode, the suspension is indeed a bit tighter than the default. Since I have the m-adaptive option. Sport mode is set to individual with both suspension and steering set to comfort and only keeping the engine in Sport mode.

[CnSky]

I put it in comfort for the test drive.

Wondering if the Yokohama's aren't great as I usually install Michelin.

[huggy509]

I drove an iX3 for 2-3 hours yesterday and it felt really good, comparing to my X3 with 21” RFT which I don’t find too harsh

[CnSky]

Weird as it felt bad at low speed but at higher speed was pretty good.

Maybe it's the roads here in ireland, while generally they are good tarmac surfaces I'm starting to see many of them have minor tight spaced washboarding in towns to help with grip in icy conditions and adaptive shocks really don't seem to like that as they try to over adjust at slow speeds.

Drive 900km in 24hrs in my 530e and it was perfect until I got onto smaller local Irish roads.

Roads even minor ones in the north were fine but didn't have any washboarding.

Same effect I felt in the IX3 so maybe I'm just personally very aware of it as I'm sure it's subjective in many ways.

[robfen]

I drive an i3s too which is too firm for Irish roads really but is fun.
I just traded an x5 xdrive 45e for the ix3
If the i3s is too hard, the x5 with air suspension is too soft and wallowy for me
I just drove the ix3 up the west coast to Mayo and the suspension is somewhere in between .
it handles very well and is firm but comfortable.