BMW iX review: reliability & safety rating

The iX is BMW’s latest flagship, built on a newly developed platform dedicated to electric cars and packed with technology. BMW owner satisfaction as reported in the most recent Driver Power survey may not reach the highs you’d expect for a premium German marque, but the iX matches the best-of-the-best in the electric car market when it comes to safety.

BMW iX reliability & problems

The first BMW iXs only arrived with customers in November 2021, so the flagship SUV hasn’t been on the road long enough for us to get any sold reliability data yet – and neither have BMW’s other electric models using its fifth-generation eDrive technology: the i4 saloon, i7 limousine, or iX1 and iX3 SUVs. However, the German marque fared relatively well in the 2022 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey and managed to finish 16th out of 29 on the list of best car manufacturers.

Safety

The iX passed its Euro NCAP crash tests with flying colours, garnering the maximum overall score of five stars, along with impressive individual ratings of 91 and 87% for adult and child occupant protection respectively. Protection of pedestrians and cyclists was rated at 73%, while the car's safety assist systems were rated at 81%.

The Tesla Model X rival comes with a wealth of safety systems as standard, including BMW’s Driving Assistant Professional, which includes lane-keeping assistance, cross-traffic warning and adaptive cruise control with stop and go, among other features. It also gets a rear-view camera and automatic parking as part of the ‘Parking Assist’ pack. Additional safety features are also available as part of the optional Visibility and Technology Plus packs, but these come as standard on the top-of-the-range M60 model.