Our iX3 journey from Debrecen to Sydney

TheUltimateDrivingManiac wrote

I guess BMW in North America does not believe in electric cars in general - we don't get the iX1, for example, while we get a regular X1.

Hopefully, it will stay this way, and we will get great offers on the iX3

NielsH wrote

Will our new cars become cheaper under the new EU trade agreement?

https://www.carsales.com.au/editorial/details/european-free-trade-agreement-tweaks-lct-151688/

TheUltimateDrivingManiac wrote

No, BMW will pocket extra profit

Ozzie8 wrote

Our current threshold before the luxury car tax kicks in is $91,387. The basis for the calculation is the vehicle sub-total inclusive of GST. The new threshold is $120,000, and given the vehicle sub-total inclusive of GST is below $120K for our new vehicles, the LCT should be zero. For me this is a $7K reduction.

The challenge is trying to undestand when these changes will be implemented, I can't find any information on that. And then how the change will be applied. Is it applied only to new orders, given we have existing orders? Is it applied on the delivery of the vehicle at time of final payment?

Ozzie8 wrote

As with some of my previous BMW's, I've posted about the the end to end journey from order to shipping to arrival to driving. I'm looking forward to doing the same, with my newly ordered iX3 50 xDrive Sport Pro. While I appreciate this post may not be for everyone on the forum, I'm hoping there will be something of interest or value to many.

I decided to make the move to an EV a few years ago. This involved selling my M850i coupe ( ) and moving to a Porsche Taycan ( ). The EV move I don't regret but the Taycan was a complete lemon. Given a range of factors, I also decided to move from a sedan to a SUV. As I was keen to return to BMW, I bought and now drive an iX M60, which has been flawless. It's a great car, with a few challenges that have been addressed in the recent LCI release (front end and seats).

It has been hard not to miss the promotion and announcement fervour of the iX3 neue klasse. What appealed to me was the new platform, tremendous range, technology updates and a car that is a little smaller than my iX. One thing which has really surprised me is the iX3 nk is available to order in Australia ahead of the US market. I cannot recall this ever happening before for any new BMW release. Our configurator went live on March 11 and I ordered my new car on March 12. Why is this so? Well one theory I have is the SUV market in Australia is our most bouyant and the Chinese manufacturers (BYD, Zeekr etc) have really targeted the segment with lower priced, higher spec vehicles, putting BMW's position in this segment under threat. The iX3 nk certainly provides a vehicle with the platform, options, pricing, range and performance to better compete.

My order is the iX3 50 xDrive M Sport Pro Package. Colour is Polarised Grey Metallic. I did think of Silver and Blue colour options, but I kept coming back to Polarised Grey and liked the colour, the fact it is a little darker but not too dark and the metallic shows up differently in different lighting conditions (from the videos I've seen). For the interior, I wanted the multifunction seats as some of the reviewers have said they are more comfortable and roomy than the sports seats. As I wanted to add the merino leather option, of the two choices, I liked the look of the black over the Adelaide grey. The Adelaide grey appears to have inserts of alcantara like material which I'm not a fan of on the seats (but it is hard to tell). So I decided on black.

The Sport Pro Package in Australia comes standard with the panoramic sunroof. Now before the iX, this most likely would have been a no go, as I've never been a big fan of the sunroof (Australia has so much light almost every day). However, I have the panoramic sunroof in the iX, and the technology BMW have embeded in this and the experience has been outstanding. I'm assuming it will be similar in the iX3 nk but just in case I've ordered a clip on internal sunroof shade accessory. Let's see. For the wheels, I have 22" in my iX and they are too firm. I think the 21" wheels look better than the 20" on the iX3 and so I opted for this size. On the design I started with the aero wheels but changed the order and moved to star spoked wheels. They look better.

Aside from the exterior colour, interior seats and colour, most of the other options on the car come standard with the package. For those interested below is the complete spec:




In terms of the look of the car below are a few external and internal shots from the 3D config viewer, the only inaccuracy is my car is RH drive:







The next item to cover is the order status. When I order I was originally quoted June/July build with September/October delivery. This was then updated to May/June build with August/September delivery. Pleasingly the requested production week is 14 April! It may be the build falls into late April, here's hoping. Below is the dealer order status showing the status code of 047, which means the order is in the system but it is yet to go through the manufacturing acceptance and scheduling process. In the queue.



In the weeks ahead my order will eventually progress to shipping. Debrecen to Sydney (Port Kembla) is from one side of the globe to the other. I'm assuming the car will be moved by rail from Debrecen to Bremerhaven and then follow one of two shipping routes. The fast route, which is the blue route in this diagram, takes around 32-37 days. The longer route, which is the red route is literally around the world and takes 42-52 days. Of course we have the Iran war underway and we are seeing diesel shortages in Australia already. If the war continues is this likely to impact global shipping, probably. Who knows really.



Looking forward to keeping you updated as my order progresses and responding to any comments or questions. I've really appreciated the early reviews from new owners, please keep them coming.

NielsH wrote

My i4 is in for a service today and I'm driving around in a Mini Countryman today (not so mini). There's one iX3 50 in the country doing the press rounds and launch events. I'll go to the event in CBR on Tuesday next week.

pjam73 wrote

NielsH wrote

My i4 is in for a service today and I'm driving around in a Mini Countryman today (not so mini). There's one iX3 50 in the country doing the press rounds and launch events. I'll go to the event in CBR on Tuesday next week.

We're picking up a 2020 Mini Cooper S (manual!) in Sydney at the weekend to go with our i4 - looks like we're all-in on BMW now . We'll be stopping in Canberra overnight on Saturday on the way back to Melbourne. Do you know if the iX3 will be viewable on Saturday or is it one of those evening invite-only events only on Tuesday?

Ozzie8 wrote

For those with a new car on order, the Joe Achilles video 'Watch My BMW M3 Touring Get Built in Germany' which you can access on the main Bimmerpost homepage, is outstanding. Especially in terms of giving you a sense of the time it actually takes to build a new car. Maybe Debrecen will be faster with different labour laws and more robotics.

Towards the end of the video, Joe interviews Frank van Meel the CEO of the BMW M Division. He asks Frank about the car he drives, and the answer is the iX M70. I wasn't expecting him to say that, and more expecting him to answer M2, M3 or M5. Now I drive the iX M60, the pre LCI version, and it is a great car. I was going to upgrade to the M70 but BMW Australia never released the 60 or M70 LCI models, only the 45, due to the cost point. So I waited, and then the iX3 was announced and available for order way ahead of my expectations, and I took the plunge.

Needless to say there are a lot of features of the iX I'm going to miss and I will certainly do a very detailed comparison review between the two cars when I receive my iX3. But the CEO of the M Division drives an iX M70. It does get me thinking...

Ozzie8 wrote

For those with a new car on order, the Joe Achilles video 'Watch My BMW M3 Touring Get Built in Germany' which you can access on the main Bimmerpost homepage, is outstanding. Especially in terms of giving you a sense of the time it actually takes to build a new car. Maybe Debrecen will be faster with different labour laws and more robotics.

Towards the end of the video, Joe interviews Frank van Meel the CEO of the BMW M Division. He asks Frank about the car he drives, and the answer is the iX M70. I wasn't expecting him to say that, and more expecting him to answer M2, M3 or M5. Now I drive the iX M60, the pre LCI version, and it is a great car. I was going to upgrade to the M70 but BMW Australia never released the 60 or M70 LCI models, only the 45, due to the cost point. So I waited, and then the iX3 was announced and available for order way ahead of my expectations, and I took the plunge.

Needless to say there are a lot of features of the iX I'm going to miss and I will certainly do a very detailed comparison review between the two cars when I receive my iX3. But the CEO of the M Division drives an iX M70. It does get me thinking...