- The refreshed BMW iX is due to land in March 2025, likely as a 2026MY
- A huge illuminated grille and revised DRLs will mark out the new nose
- Trim name changes will reflect power and driving range improvements
BMW’s electric portfolio racked up another stellar sales performance last year, with the brand’s EV registrations growing by 92 percent worldwide. And to help drive that last percentage even higher, the iX SUV will get a mid-life makeover that won’t improve its gawky looks much, but will boost its power and range.
The huge kidney grille isn’t going anywhere, but our spies tell us it will be subtly tweaked and that the facelifted iX’s snout will feature BMW’s Iconic Glow illumination package. Unlike other high-end BMW luxury cars, including the 7-Series and X7, the iX won’t switch to a double-deck headlight arrangement, instead settling for a new DRL pattern to bring it in line with other recently facelifted BMWs.
Related: BMW Sold 62% More EVs, Now Make Up 13% Of All Its U.S. Sales This Year
There are new air intakes in a reprofiled bumper that gives the new iX a stronger chin, and we hear that the door mirrors have been updated, though it’s hard to see anything different looking at these spy shots of different black and white iX prototypes.
Many of the most important changes take place under the skin – though the final production cars will point to them through their new badges. The BMW iX xDrive45 will replace the xDrive40, the xDrive60 will replace the xDrive50 and the range will be headed by the iX M70, which takes the place of today’s iX M60.
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Each of those models will do the same job as the iX grade they replace, but they’ll do it better due to some important electrical and mechanical changes. Every trim should make more power than the one that went before it – the iX currently starts at 322 hp (326 PS / 240 kW) and tops out at 610 hp (619 PS / 455 kW), but is likely to get the i7’s 650 hp (660 PS / 485 kW) setup – and BMW will also improve the driving range.
That improvement can’t come soon enough for Europe’s entry-level iX xDrive40, which is rated at an unimpressive 264 miles (425 km). Last year BMW teamed up with Michigan-based battery company Our Next Energy (ONE) to fit an iX with a Gemini dual-chemistry battery capable of taking the SUV 608 miles (979 km) before it needed charging, but it’s not confirmed that the updated iX will be quite so long-legged.
We should see the refreshed iX landing next year as a 2026 model in North America (2025 for the rest of the world) around the same time that BMW will reveal its next generation of electric cars developed under the Neue Klasse banner. These will include a 3 Series-sized sedan and an X3-sized SUV, likely named i3 and iX3 respectively, both of which have been previewed by recent concept models.
Update: This story has been revised to include a fresh batch of spy photos as well as additional information we have on the BMW iX LCI.
