BHPian Aurum recently shared this with other enthusiasts: Miscellaneous stuff about the car: Distinct Hexagonal steering wheel. Apparently, for a car with airbags in the steering wheel, 10 and 2 is the wrong way to hold the wheel due to potential injury. Thumbs slots on the left and right just above the capacitive touch buttons. I wish the volume (on the right side) had been a scroll wheel like Audi. On the left side are the driving assist/ cruise control buttons. It’s cool that when using Google Maps directions on Android Auto, the full route comes on the large screen on the left while the immediate directions are shown on the driver display as well as the HUD. The same thing happens with Apple Maps on Apple CarPlay. Very convenient. Can’t show the driving assist while driving, but it can steer to keep in lane as well as keep distance from the car ahead at your determined speed. Super useful on the Mumbai Pune highway. The physical iDrive crystal knobs allow you to control the system without touching the screen. This is probably the last BMW generation to have that. You can see the buttons for park assist (fully automated), driving settings and height adjustment (using the air suspension). While the mobile charger (with cooling) is conveniently located, the cup holder is not. Too low and hindered by the floating console above. Two USB-C ports are available in the front. There are two at the back behind the seats In case you want to connect a wire from the USB charger to the phone, there is a convenient phone holder as well, with an open area to connect the wire. The HUD shows directions apart from speed and other info. Many configurations are possible, of which I have the simplest one. The car also has AR directions – shows a live overlay of directions on a live camera view of the street. Haven’t taken a photo of the same. The default way to open the door is a button. The seat adjustments are on top like Mercs, and the crystal theme continues here. There are seat memory and seat settings buttons. Both the front seats are ventilated, heated and have massaging. That doesn’t come by default in the iX sold in India, but is an extra 2 lakh that came in the demo car. Between the driver and the passenger is just empty space (perfect to keep a large handbag) that I have filled with an organising space. There’s too much space in this car to fully fill up. Additional deep centre storage area between the driver and passenger. Apart from the seat settings, the passenger side has a slot for keeping their phone (thoughtful extra). There’s an amazing amount of space in the back row with super comfortable seats. More photos coming up. The ends of the seats have curved upholstery until the door that softly supports your sides. You dont realize how this helps until you have three people sitting at the back. Each of the three can easily sit in comfort, especially because of the flat floow. Not sure if I’ve ever seen this anywhere else. The above-mentioned flat floor with the two back zones of the 4-zone climate control. There are vents on the side and the bottom. Leg room for a 6’1″ person with driver’s seat adjusted to my height. As good as it gets. Amongst other things, this is where you notice the difference between this and the X5. The large electrochromic roof lets in just enough light to make the cabin feel spacious and… With a touch of the button, it becomes nearly transparent. No openable sunroof. Never opened in my Q5, don’t need. The boot seems about as large as the Audi Q5 and is definitely smaller than the X5, because the space is used inside. The spare tyre takes up space if you keep it in. The 12 V plug at the back and the seat releases, which fold the back seats down, are convenient. The front boot can’t be opened by the customer but the BMW logo can be opened to fill in washer fluid. Press the logo and… it opens. Overall, the car is nearly 5m long and longer than the X5, so not a small manoeuvrable animal. Many, many small thoughtful features which I am too lazy to cover. Haven’t covered the infotainment system at all. Happy to answer any questions you may have. Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
