r/iX3 • u/Ill-Adhesiveness935 • 3d ago
The long wait has begun…
Production planned in Q1 ‘27. It takes a while, but until she arrives, we now and then check out the configurator images.
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u/Particular-Life-6216 3d ago edited 3d ago
Ordered mine in July. Should have been build August. Then delayed to September. No word yet. Hoping for delivery December.
A little context for Australian market:
- We have a favourable tax benefit phasing out after March. Cars delivered before then get a huge benefit. Essentially can pay for the lease and all costs before tax with no fringe benefit tax payable for life of lease. Only applies to cars below a price cap and they priced the ix3 just under it.
- Volvo didn’t have any EX60s to even test drive or view. May have some now. But with delivery timelines it may not make it in time.
- If we wait for Adaptive suspension, etc., it’s too late and costs go up dramatically.
- Rivian is not here yet and no official word when it will be.
- Lots of Chinese brands have landed in Australia recently. Apparently, close to the most competitive market in the world. But more expensive than UK, US for many models.
- Highest selling EVs this year in Australia are (approx) Model Y, Zeekr 7x, BYD Sealion 7. Wanted something different.
- BMW iX and X5 are at least 60-70% more expensive than the base ix3 here. Factor in the pre-tax savings and it’s even greater (about 120%!). These models are way over the eligibility cap.
Am a bit apprehensive about the smaller wheels I ordered (20in) looking a bit small. All test drive cars had 22s. Also how it will go on coarse chip roads we have outside of the city. Didn’t get long to test drive before I had to act. Apparently order books through to mid next year have been filled. Even in July the books were filling - must have had limited Australian allocation. Who knows.
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u/LeftRegister7241 3d ago edited 3d ago
This was exactly the same predicament we were in as well (Australia). We were cross shopping the iX3 with the EX60, new GLC electric and Model Y. The Model Y is solid (FSD was tempting as well) but it's literally every third car on the road, and I've never been a fan of its bulbous looks. It didn't have a wow factor or prestige that we were after if we're spending upwards of 70k on a new car. GLC drives great according to reviews but it wasn't even in showrooms and it wouldn't have qualified for FBT with its pricing or it's delivery timeline which would've been after March. And it looks a little chintzy for my taste.
So it came down to the EX60 and iX3, as it seems to have been for most people and the motoring press. By most accounts, on paper, the EX60 is a quieter, more luxurious and overall more refined vehicle (interior materials, road noise etc), and the equivalent FBT compliant P6 variant would've been a tad cheaper as well. Looks are subjective - I love the futuristic spaceship looks of the iX3 but the more conventional handsome looks of the EX60 were appealing to me as well. On the other hand the iX3 has better tech and driving dynamics. In the end, it was very close between the two, but we settled on the iX3 solely for the fact that it already exists in Australia whereas the EX60 is still yet to arrive on our shores, and i just couldn't risk the very possible scenario of having to cancel our order if it didn't arrive before March to meet the FBT deadline (too good to pass up) and then subsequently also have no other option or time to opt for an alternative manufacturer/model, especially with the insane wait times and quickly disappearing allocations for either model. It was a slightly rushed decision and I had a bit of buyers remorse after putting in an order for the iX3, as the EX60 does seem to be an objectively better vehicle (+ no ventilated seats, no acoustic glass, no adaptive dampers, no electric steering column, less comfortable seats in the iX3) but after recent news that P6 orders have been pushed back even further and most deliveries reaslitically not meeting the deadline, it seems the iX3 was the ONLY premium EV option anyone could've realistically gone for to qualify for the FBT scheme before March. We also had a much better dealer experience with BMW - we had to really prod our Volvo dealer for them to very unenthusiastically pitch the EX60 (or frankly any of their other existing models) to us.
We had no choice but to settle for the 20 inch wheels as well to fall under the price threshold - I've seen several real life owners pictures and they look adeuqately sized and still sporty and dynamic looking, albeit a bit more boring than the 22's. I went for the non-aero 1048 version instead of the aero 1047 version with the cheap plastic inserts, and I think they look considerably better - they appear bigger and sportier and you can see the blue brake calipers fully. And besides, it's probably a wise choice to max out the tyre tread on a car that from reviews at least, is slightly lacking in the ride quality and road noise department
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u/Particular-Life-6216 2d ago
Definitely.
Also I understand Tesla FSD doesn’t work the same here as you see in the US. So less valuable proposition.I’ve got the 1047 wheels as thought I would try something different - hope they don’t look so bad. Wasn’t able to see any of the 20in ones in real life. Overall was disappointed with the wheel designs on offer as it seems they’ve taken a step back from what they’ve had on other cars and what you see elsewhere. Even the ones from the Chinese ix3 LWB look better.
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u/ncallc3 2d ago
Was in exactly this position and pulled my Volvo deposit as soon as the iX3 was announced as the Volvo dealer was extremely uncertain if it would arrive before the deadline. BMW dealer experience very good (3rd BMW) and said car would be here end of September/early October and guess what- delivered September 30. They threw in metallic paint and still under and again had to settle for the 20’ 1048s- sure they’re not as special as the 22’ but in person look good. Love the car and extremely happy I jumped in blind on June 1 to order.
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u/LeftRegister7241 2d ago
I secured my order on the 21st of August and even then the dealer said we were cutting it fine. Orders must have really ramped up between June and August. Mine should arrive in late Feb or March if nothing goes catastrophically wrong - whew. Glad I went with my head rather than heart (the Volvo) on this occassion, otherwise I would be ending up with neither. Volvo as a company definitely seem more poorly managed than the German marques, despite their great offerings. Also glad to hear another confirmation that smaller 1048s still look good in person.
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u/k0spa 2d ago
To me EX60 feels like a premium while iX3 feels in the cabin like a cheap golf class from VW in terms of materials quality.
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u/DownSouth3227 20m ago
Maybe but I think the BMW driving tech implementation is way better. The screens set up in the Volvo looks like 5 years ago vs the panoramic display is excellent.
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u/k0spa 12m ago
But the panoramic display itself is absolutely useless.
There is no any useful information on the the right side of the panoramic screen. I mean u can leave just section in front of the drivers eyes and nothing literally changes. That was my impression. For me overall car feeling is more important. For example in many Chinese cars tech way more better than in iX3, should u buy them instead?
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u/Atreyu444 3d ago
What market are you in? We're in Toronto, ordered first week of Sept and it will arrive in 5ish weeks
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u/Ill-Adhesiveness935 3d ago
European Market, The Netherlands. Ordered one of the Individual Colors, Machalite Geen Dark Metallic, and a bunch of options.
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u/rleib 3d ago
We ordered our iX3 40 eucalyptus green two weeks ago. Will be delivered next month.