BMW iX3 long-term test

We rate this electric SUV so highly that, back in January, we crowned it our overall Car of the Year. Now, we’re running one to see if we made the right choice...

Mark Pearson

Updated25 June 2026

The car BMW iX3 50 xDrive Run by Mark Pearson, used cars editor

Why it’s here To see if it can live up to the hype, and to give us a taste of what to expect from future BMWs

Needs to It’ll need to be comfortable, refined and efficient, and it’ll need to dispatch long-distance, commuting and family life duties with ease

Miles covered 2499 Price £57,750 Best price £57,750 Price as tested £64,262 Official range 498 miles Test range 380 miles

25 June 2026 – Cor, what'll she do, mister?

Not so long ago, the first thing people would ask you if they saw you in a flashy new car was how fast it would go. Now, of course, it’s more likely to be how far it will go.

My BMW iX3 is proving exemplary in such situations, thanks to its official range of 498 miles. That’s more than enough to stop even the most virulent anti-electric car protester dead in their tracks, and, according to our recent article on the electric cars with the longest range, it’s only beaten by the Mercedes EQS450+, a car that also happens to cost £40,000 more.

Mark you, I took the liberty of upgrading my car’s alloy wheels when I ordered it, so mine has the bicolour aerodynamic wheels, a £550 option that reduces the airflow over the wheels for more efficiency. These wheels are said to be worth seven miles more range, according to the WLTP figures.

However, we all know the official figures can be a touch misleading. So far, my iX3 is averaging 3.5 miles per kWh, which equates to a real-world range of about 380 miles. I have, more promisingly, also seen an occasional high of 3.9 miles per kWh, which would indicate a range of 424 miles.

These figures, I should add, have been achieved in the car’s default driving mode, called Personal. There are three others to choose from: Sport, Silent and Efficient, and it’s this last one, which I’ve yet to try, that might achieve even better results because it softens the accelerator response and reduces the power consumption of the climate control and the exterior lighting.

Either way, my iX3 is still the four-wheeled panacea for range anxiety. I very seldom check my car to see if I should be plugging it in before any short to medium-length journeys because I always know it’s going to have enough proverbial juice in the tank.

That effortless superiority applies to its refinement, too. The iX3 uses sound-cancelling technology, which plays opposing sound waves through the car’s speakers to cancel out some of the noise that enters its interior. It works, most noticeably at town speeds, where few cars I’ve driven are as quiet. That alone would be enough to earn my highest praise. You see, for me, it’s not how fast a car will go or how far; it’s how it gets there that’s more important.

For all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to the What Car? newsletter here