Swinging open the iX’s frameless driver’s door admits you into a cabin that’s notably less risqué than the car’s outward appearance, but little more ordinary.
The large front seats, with their integral-style head restraints, position you quite high and bent- legged at the controls, with good forward visibility (it’s less good over your shoulder and to the rear). The design theme of the fascia in front of you, and of the panels and consoles to either side, isn’t overly ornate or showy. This isn’t a luxury car cabin that’s out to dazzle you with chrome, or that ladles touchscreen technology on every available surface. It has fairly modestly sized features and beguilingly lavish materials and finishes, but it’s also a bit understated and feels harmoniously balanced. Nothing is clamouring for your attention; it’s smart, it’s inviting and it puts you at ease.
There are certain similarities between the iX’s cabin and that of BMW’s trailblazing all-electric i3: a flat cabin floor with front footwells left open at the inboard sides, a low-feeling scuttle, a two-spoke steering wheel and a raised centre console with split-level storage. The iX’s combined instrumentation and infotainment screen is of a grander scale than the i3’s was, however, and it curves around towards the driver a little as it runs across the dashboard. In terms of outright passenger space, the iX wants for little. The back seats are comparable to a full-size limousine on leg room, and would certainly beat one for head room; they’re very easy to slide in and out of, although they’re shorter and flatter in the cushion than a limousine’s rear chairs might be. They don’t offer the ‘stadium-style’ seating of other luxury SUVs, but your view out from the back seats is nonetheless good; and if you want charging ports to plug a device into, you need look no further than the seatback in front.
