2022 BMW iX – One of the most distinctive features of automobile luxury is driving in absolute silence. A lot of people believe they are completely silent because the use of electrons to drive the motors eliminates the buzz and thrum of the constant explosions that occur inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine. However, at highway speeds, EVs aren’t exactly quieter and are subject to the exact tire thrums and wind noise than combustion-powered vehicles. However it’s the 2022 BMW iX, which costs just $84,195, excels even in these conditions it is one of the quietest vehicles we’ve tried.
2022 BMW iX Price & Release Date
The test vehicle we used was one of the 2022 BMW iX xDrive50 which, once a plethora of extras that could be included, was priced at $104,020. This xDrive50 is the iX’s basic trim within the U.S., powered by an electric motor that is mounted on each axle to generate 516 horsepower. The iX we tested was driven by optional 22-inch wheels that were shod with Bridgestone Alenza 001 B-Silent summer tires, which makes its quiet an even greater feat.
At Car and Driver, we measure the sound pressure levels inside with a hand-held Bruel & Kjaer Class 1 sound-level gauge. Three measurements are taken in idle, the throttle wide open, and when traveling at 70 miles per hour. The measurements of sound pressure are made in a logarithmic order, which means that a minor percentage increase in the information can make a significant change within the actual world. For example, every 3 dBA increase is a double in the pressure of sound. The data we compare is only that were taken from the same testing facility because we have a different test track in Michigan. Michigan testing track can be rougher and louder in comparison to our California testing track.
Changes
The tests we conducted on our tests of the BMW iX recorded an average of 66 dBA when the accelerator on the floor and 63 dBA while moving along at 70 miles per hour. It’s in the top tier of cars that we’ve examined. Four cars are quieter at highway speeds: a 2019 Bentley Bentayga V-8 (61 dBA) as well as a 2019 Rolls-Royce Cullinan (62 dBA) and the 2020 Audi S8 (62 dBA) as well as 2019. Jaguar I-Pace (62 dBA). The iX was much quieter than the other four models in a wide-open throttle and beat even the fully electric I-Pace with 71 decibels under acceleration. Also, the iX is quieter than the quietest Tesla we’ve ever tried which is the 2021 Model S Long Range Plus that came in at 66 dBA.
BMW’s EV SUV beats out other luxurious cars in making it quiet on the road. The iX measured one decibel less squeaker than the 2021 BMW 745e plug-in hybrid and the 2021 Mercedes-Benz S580 4Matic and the 2021 Cadillac Escalade 600. The iX can easily outperform these three land yachts that are powered by gas in terms of the absence of noise at the top speed.
2022 BMW iX Test Drivers
The iX’s quiet highway speed is a pleasure for longer durations of time too and it traveled for 290 miles in our highway-range test of 75 mph. It’s the second-best result we’ve recorded. It also represents 92 percent of the 315-mile EPA range number which is an extremely high proportion of the measured range than is typical for EVs. The only exception is one model, the Tesla Model S Long Range Plus which clocked 315 miles, has gone further in our tests but we’re confident of Lucid Air to be able to Lucid Air to jump to the top of our EV range test ranking once we have tested it.