2025 BMW iX facelift teased – new headlights, grille pattern, more performance, 10% better efficiency

Unveiled in the middle of a pandemic, BMW’s pioneering electric SUV, the iX, is set to get a facelift soon. Select journalists (not us) have been invited to get behind the wheel of camouflaged prototypes ahead of the reveal and provided some initial info.

First, some bad news for those of you who dislike the current car’s divisive styling – the iX looks to retain the same sheetmetal and even the bumpers of the original, at least on this Sport trim. The only visible changes are a new linear diagonal pattern for the grille (taken from the new 1 Series) and vertical daytime running lights from the also-facelifted 4 Series. Inside, there’s apparently a new optional round M Sport steering wheel for those not keen on the polarising hexagonal unit.

As you can probably tell, the bulk of the changes have been focused on the mechanicals. According to Autocar, the motors have been uprated to produce higher outputs and correspond to new variant names – the previous xDrive50 is now the xDrive60, for example. This is in line with what you get on the i7, so expect the xDrive40 to become the xDrive50 and the M60 to become the M70.

Efficiency has also been boosted by 10% thanks to new silicon carbide inverters and more power-dense batteries that remain the same size as before. The current xDrive50 with a 111.5 kWh battery has a range of 630 km, so a 10% improvement would bring the new xDrive60 close to 700 km.

There have also been tweaks to the car’s chassis for the betterment of both ride and handling. Hydraulic rear axle bearings and “friction-optimised” wheel bearings join lighter components and lower-rolling-resistance tyres, while the overall suspension tuning has been adjusted to suit each model. As before, steel springs and passive dampers come as standard, with air springs and adaptive dampers optional.

Lastly, adjustments to the drive modes include a new Sport Plus setting that offers fixed rather than adaptive regenerative braking for a more consistent brake feel. On the other end of the spectrum, a new Max mode is claimed to extract an additional 20% or so range.