S2E16 - BMW Off-Roader Rumor + BMW iX3 Review + Mercedes Engine Deal

Hey guys, welcome back to a new BMW blog podcast. This is season two episode 16.

We're back after a few weeks of a little break with this podcast, but we have a lot of topics

to cover. So without being said, we're going to dive right in. I'm joined today once again

by Nate Resch. So Nate, welcome back.

Yeah, thanks for having me. Yeah, we got a lot to talk to. BMW has been spitting out

news like crazy.

Yeah, it's been a busy summer. So maybe let's outline the topics in this episode so people

know what's coming. So we're going to start with the BMW rocket project. That was probably

the biggest news we've heard the whole year. I'm going to tell you my insight on that.

Then we're going to talk about your experience with a fantastic car, a BMW M3,

rear wheel drive six-speed manual in a beautiful, dark, emerald metallic. I love that color.

It was so gorgeous. Everyone was commenting on it.

It is absolutely beautiful. We put an overlay on the screen as well. So if you're watching

these on YouTube, you will be able to see the car. And then we're going to talk about

the BMW iX3. It's coming up in this episode. We're not going to focus solely on the design

and all of that, but I'm going to share my experience with the car a few months ago.

I had a chance to drive it on the track and on the road in Mirama, France. So that could be

quite interesting for a lot of people waiting for a new BMW V.

Then lastly, we're going to talk about this new rumor on the BMW giving some engines to Mercedes.

And how could that play out? It's still a rumor. BMW hasn't confirmed that,

but we have some thoughts on that as well. So with that being said, let's dive right in.

BMW Rocket, let me start with this. What was your first impression when you heard the news

about this BMW Rocket project? Kind of about time. They make a lot. SUVs is half of their

sales numbers here in the States and more than half actually, I think now.

And they don't really have any rugged off-roader. Everyone's coming out with off-roaders.

Brands are bringing back old SUVs like the Scout and things like that.

It's a hot area right now. And I think it's something that BMW has almost neglected over

the last years. They're one of the first outs with the performance SUVs with the X5.

And I thought they were a little behind with the performance off-road SUVs now.

So it's going to be interesting to see kind of where they target this product, right?

Took everyone by surprise, but this has actually been a discussion that I've had with them over the

years. Every chance I have to talk to either the head of product management or designers,

I always ask them, what's the next thing for BMW? How can you get into new segments that make sense

profitable and segmented? They're cool. And I came mentioning over the years,

Rivian, right? It was a fairly new brand, not known in Europe basically, but quite

known in the US by now. And they were coming out with these fantastic projects, you know,

like the R1T, which was an electric pickup truck. And that was the first car that the first moment

that I saw it, I was like, I'm not a pickup truck kind of guy, but that's the only one that I would

actually get to drive just as a daily driver in Chicago. And then granted, I've started to see

more and more of this on the road in Chicago for like normal people behind those two will not

somebody that would use it as an utility vehicle, basically. So that's when I kept pushing BMW,

Hey, how about this segment? You know, is this an interesting segment? What do you think about

this one? And I got a lot of hints back in the day, you know, we're exploring, it started off as an

EV only type of vehicle based on the new IX3, which is coming out next week. So similar size,

of course, different designs. And that was at a time when, you know, the EV market was still kind

of hot, you know, kind of starting to come down in 2024. But, you know, 2022, 2023, they were

looking at this, it was kind of hot. And of course, that was the segment that R1T was in.

And of course, other companies were going into that as well, even, you know, American brands

too, you got scraped in favor of a large, large vehicle. And I think that's the right choice

based on what I know, a much larger vehicle. Also, it gives them freedom to come out with

different drivetrains on this one. For that type of vehicle, I would say having a nice or a plug-in

hybrid makes a lot more sense. But tell me what you think, I mean, what would be the right drivetrain

choice for that car? I would probably lean towards the PHAV, getting that extra torque of the EV

motor would be nice. You know, that'll definitely help in a lot of the off-roading situations.

Especially you'll have a lot more control, depending on how many motors there are,

you have a lot more control with the electric motors over your torque and how it's applied.

You know, you can instantly turn on and off. So it almost works like an additional diff,

you know, in the drivetrain. So it's extremely helpful to have that. So I would lean towards

the PHAV, which, you know, we kind of do on our road vehicles anyway also, you know, it kind of

gives you the best of both worlds. And so it would be a nice drivetrain to have.

As long as, you know, it has the ability to run, I think, an extended distance on EV. I know a lot

of times the PHAVs are very limited. But as you've had with the new M5, they're getting better with

their longer and longer. And I think if you can get through that full day on EV, and then on the

weekend be able to use more the PHAV full architecture, I think that would fill into that

that Rivian space, right? Because a lot of people like to drive all EV throughout the week.

What's your perspective on this one versus a Defender basically?

So yeah, I think what they'll need to nail down, which BMW is really good at,

is nailing down that feeling luxurious without hitting those high value, you know,

like you're pointing out with the G-Wag. And like, it's going to feel nice and premium,

but not be at that G-Wag in probably price frame. And most likely be better than a G-Wagging,

just because G-Waggins are like 50 years old and they haven't updated them ever.

But I think what's going to really kind of shine, like you point out, is that Defender area, which

is also, I mean, it's huge because you can take a look at who's also joined that realm, right?

With the Toyota Land Cruiser coming back and the Lexus GX. I mean, those came back with

boxy off-roader vehicles, just like the Defender. And they've been skyrocketing in sales. I mean,

they've been a huge hit for them, especially the GX, because that premium, luxurious off-roader

people want, you know? So I think BMW coming into that world is going to be great.

I think it's a good market segment for them. I think, yeah, I think if they're in that boxy,

you know, fitting into that realm, they will provide something that I think the others don't.

One big hit on the Land Cruiser has been it's a turbo four-cylinder and people just think it's a

clunky drivetrain. And so everyone's kind of leaning towards the Lexus GX, which is just a V6.

And I think it's a V6 hybrid. I could be wrong. But like, it's better, but it's not ideal. A lot

of people are very upset that the Land Rover wasn't, you know, like old Land Cruisers, it's not as

rugged and tough as it was. So like, you have that clientele that looking for that $70,000,

$80,000 SUV off-roader that are telling you, we need this rough and tough, right? So I do think

they will have to do something a little bit outside of their realm, though. Like,

you can't just be anything that's kind of just rebadged and lifted with bigger tires, right?

It's got to be a little bit more development to it. But I think there's definitely a good

size market for them here. I kind of mentioned this one more time. The project, it's not fully

approved yet. There have been many projects at BMW that were either fully approved and they get

cancelled because they can actually cancel a project of 18 months up to the production starting

date. So they can always do that. All right. So now let's go to real products that we can actually

sample today. So tell me about your experience with the M3 rear wheel drive 6-speed manual because

I haven't driven one since 2021, I think, or 2020. So it's been a while for me also. I've

mostly been in competition models. It's hard to get one, right? Like, everything's a competition

which you can only get with the 8-speed, you know, the paddles. And so I was going to go up to H&R,

whose headquarters is here in the Northwest and check them out. And they have a project M4.

So I reached out to the press fleet manager and they're like, hey, well, we have this M3 manual

and I was like, yes, yes, I've driven that before. I haven't even seen one. So I got my hands on that

and like you mentioned, beautiful, dark green, like just gorgeous, looks almost black and direct

sunlight. And like then you walk around it and it's like you see the emerald green pop out,

beautiful looking car. And yeah, the 6-speed manual is everything you expect from every other,

if you've driven any other 6-speed manual, either the M2 or whatever else the Z4 it comes in,

like it's a good manual. The car's obviously, we know a lot about the car. And the manual is,

I mean, if you watch my video, it's good. Like it's nothing amazing. It's not like I'm going

to be speccing the car for this. I think the only reason I would is because it's possibly the last

one. But I think they did a really good job at making it kind of an all-round good car with

the manual. Like I mentioned in my video, so I have an E46 M3 and it's really notchy, like sometimes

getting in the first gear, it's tough. They got character. My E36 is the same way. And this one

in the regular comfort mode, driving around town, it's smooth. It's easy. Like the clutches is

like perfect. Like there's no shutter to it. Like people in the car aren't getting sick.

But with all the cool new features of the cars, like you jump it into

Sport Plus, you trigger everything up and then it comes to life and it's a lot more fun. So I

think it's a great car if you're going to be driving it all the time because you can drive it

in traffic easily and smooth and not have any issues. Your clutch foot's not going to get tired.

But yet on the weekend, you can dial it up and still get all that M kind of punch and power and

enjoyment of actually rowing your own gears. Yeah, so let me ask you this because I mean,

I get asked this question quite a lot and honestly, I never know what's the right answer.

Would you advise someone to get the M3 competition with an all-wheel drive automatic

or would you recommend an M3 6-speed manual wheel drive? I would say the M3

I would say the way to do it would be if I was picking an M3 would be the comp with all-wheel

drive. It's so big. It's so fast. It's just like when I reviewed the M3 CS, it's just ridiculous.

You're pulling gears. It's so fast with that all-wheel drive coming out of corners. You can

just floor it, pull the gears, and it just launches. So due to its size, its weight, its power now,

I think it just fits better with that transmission. If you want to row gears, I think the M2 is the

way to go. Like when we drove the M2 and it first launched out down in South Carolina,

it was a lot of fun to actually row the gears. I think that car being a little bit lighter,

a little bit less power, you're wanting to manhandle a little bit more,

it's just a little bit more fun with the gears. I think with just everything getting bigger and a

little bit heavier, it's kind of like driving an M5 previously now with the M3s. So the older

M5s, the manual is a little bit more kind of fit its attitude.

I'm going to counter with this that my gut feeling is based on my conversations with them,

is that we might not see another M3 manual. So we will see an M3i, but I think that's going to be

competition type level of the vehicle, all-wheel drive, automatic. If it's the last of its kind,

honestly, I would go before it's done and I would just spec that car in a beautiful spec,

BMW individual color for sure, inside and out. I'll make that a very, very special spec that when

I go to car events in 23 years, Legends of the Audubon, when you see that car, those are the

times basically. Yeah, and that's the pro for getting the manual in the M3. It's looking

like it's going to be the last one. I think it's only like one out of five take the manual in the

M3. I don't know exactly the specs. They told me on the M2 that it's over 50%. The M2 is 50%,

but I think the M3 because it's not a competition, it was like one out of five.

So like you're getting limited numbers there and then like you pointed out, you get something

individual or something like this green. I was a little bit shocked when I first saw the sticker

price on this car. 70 grand. 100. 100 grand. Yeah, because it had carbon ceramics on it.

And the custom color. So yeah, you're pushing an expensive for... So I understand why a lot of

people might not, but you're right though. You get a special color on it in a manual. It's going to

be a lower volume and 20, 30 years down the line, people are then going to be like, yeah, that's the

last of its breed. And look at this awesome color. It's going to be unique and actually

mean something, right? But even for 100K, if you... I mean, it's a lot of money,

especially with the flash on all that. I mean, it's crazy, but honestly, I was thinking right

now, there is no other car that you can buy for 100K that gives a real-wheel drive on a six-speed

manual. Nope. I mean, Porsche 911, it's really... It starts at 150. Yeah, if you can get it.

If you can get it, then what else it's out there? I don't know, the

quadrifoglio, do they offer manual? The Giulia? I don't think they may not anymore.

And then you look at AMG, they don't have the right engine. So why would you do that? So honestly,

really, the M3 and M4 are really in their own league right now, despite the price increase. And

I think BMW has been very good about keeping prices fairly low compared to like how Porsche

they do theirs. I think they increased twice this year, Porsche. So considering that they

could have done the same thing, just bring it up more and more, because there isn't really nothing

out there. I'm happy that it happened. But yeah, I mean, last point on this one, arguably, there is

no... Actually, not even arguably. I mean, there is no comparison between the automatic and the

6P manual as far as how the power is put down, the grip and all of that. It comes with the all-wheel

drive. And also the daily usage and the daily drivability, it's far better in the automatic

and all of that. And of course, performance wise, it's not even comparable to the 6P manual. But

it's that emotional thing that I always come back to. Even though it's annoying, I have two manual

cars and it's annoying to drive them in traffic. It's no fun. But then for that 10% or 20%, I

have a chance to go out and push it just a little bit. Even though I don't have any amazing driving

roads, it kind of makes up for all the inconvenience that I'm experiencing. Yeah. That's why obviously

I still have my A46, because I like that old connected feeling. So yeah, it does. There's

that small segment. And that's why it comes down to how you're going to use it, right? If you're

using it every day, then you might... I mean, they've done their best to make it as usable as possible.

But yeah, it comes down to throwing it into Sport Plus and being out in the mountain roads,

where you really, really will enjoy it. Do you have buggy seats in yours? Yeah.

Well, you have to get buggy seats. I mean, honestly, think about it. If you're making that car,

one of a track type of fun thing, you've got to get a buggy seat. And I got to say, the BMW

buggy seats, they're actually quite comfortable. They're maybe not as good as the Porsche ones.

I would say the Porsche ones are probably the best when it comes to being comfortable. But

they're actually not bad. I had a chance to drive in them quite a bit. Yeah. I mean,

we had a few people jump on, I think, either a YouTube channel or Instagram page, and ask

questions about the side supports. Like with the manual, are you rubbing up against the side of

the bucket? And no, you're right. It's an extremely comfortable seat. I enjoy them. It's just by

passengers didn't. Yeah. I mean, it's the same thing for me. My wife absolutely dislikes them.

But it's mostly because it's annoying to get in and out. Like once you're in, and if you don't

have to get in and out, you know, a few times during your drive, then you're fine. But if you,

like when I'm filming, you know, I have to get out, I can get out basically too, you know,

it just gets annoying after a while, right? Yeah. Because that's kind of the annoying part. But

if you're driving for a few hours, you stop once you refuel, you eat and then go back in.

They're really, they're really, well, honestly, and they don't bother me. Even the notch in the

middle really doesn't bother me. I don't really think about it. They look so cool.

Literally everyone. Yeah, everyone's all that comes like, well, this color, and then walk them

be like, whoa, those seats. Yeah. And I mean, that'll be my, my spec. So if I were to do that car

and keep it for a very long time, absolutely bucket seats, special color, special leather,

carbon ceramic brakes, I mean, I will, I will, I will do it properly. You know,

carbon fiber, I'll do the whole thing, you know, just because, you know, it's, it's one of a kind.

So, yeah, no way to find one to, to experience before winter comes because I wish I haven't

really tried once. Yeah. I mean, it was, it was quite the experience. I, like I said, I don't,

I was trying to remember the last time I've driven, I've not driven a G80 model with a manual.

And I don't know if I drove any of the F chassis ones, three or four in a manual either. So

it was quite interesting. And yeah, it's a great combo. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think they've

done a great job, like I've said multiple times now of making it either a daily driver or having fun.

And yeah, if it's one of the last ones, I mean, exactly. Yeah, gotta get it. Gotta get it if you

have room in your garage. Exactly. Nice. All right. So now let's shift gears to electric cars.

I guess, even though the market is going down, there is still a huge appetite for electric cars

and a lot of customers, I think they're starting to be like I've been for the last 10, 12 years.

If I've had an i3, you know, since the first generation came out basically, and then I had

consecutive models and it's four in total, every two or three years, I've changed them. And I've

become this type of customer that was not old about EVs, but I was the type of customer that

I'm a hybrid type of customer. I need an EV, but I also need a fun car or a gasoline car,

or even a practical car basically. And I think that's what the world it's getting to right now,

where it's not all a zero sum game. If you want to pull it that way, basically, you'll have this

hybrid for a very, very long time, in my opinion. And that was pretty smart about offering both.

So with that being said, Neue Classic, this is a huge product for them. I mean, I literally was

filming this, I just finished editing. I can't show anything on the screen, but I've just finished

editing a 40 minutes long video on the design of the car. And I absolutely love it. Can talk more

about it. I mean, I put other renderings out and I'll put one on the screen and you can see,

you know, what we think it would look like based on the spy photos, but I absolutely love it. I

think it will be my next car replacing the i4. And I did have a chance to, since I can talk about

design right now on the other features, I can talk about what I've learned during the drive.

I did a drive back in May or June. In Mirama, France, it's their typical testing ground. And

we go there every year. So we're very fortunate they let us come back every year. And I had a chance

to drive the iX3 there. It was the 50 model. I think they communicated the horsepower at that

time. So I think it was below 500, maybe 470. I left a double check. If it wasn't communicated,

I'll cut it out. If it wasn't, it's in here. I think that's the one. And fantastic. We

drove it on the road, regular suspension, no air suspension on it, no adaptive. It was just a

basic steel spring suspension. I loved it because we went through some French roads. They were

chosen on purpose to kind of show how the suspension handles those. And the rebound on

that was fantastic. So even as a daily driver with a base suspension, the ride quality was

really, really good. Of course, not at the level of an iX for the air suspension. I have to mention

that. I mean, I don't think they will offer an air suspension on the iX3. But you know,

the iX, it's in a different class when it comes to that. But daily driving, absolutely fantastic.

But then of course, we wanted to sample this in the heart of joy. I guess this super computer

that controls all the models and different functions in the car. Basically, there are three

computers in the car, but it is the main one in many ways. And we went on a track and I pushed

the car quite a bit to the point that I think they even spun out a little bit. I was really

pushing it to see if I can, if I can defy physics. At some point, I mean, I was going

130, 140 kilometers per hour on a wet handling course. And they just literally just sprayed it

with water and it was so slippery. And the car wouldn't break traction. So you really had to

push it past that, you know, physics point, if I could use that term, to try to spin it a little

bit or have that, you know, tail spin out a little bit. And it was almost impossible. So

absolutely fantastic when it comes to that. So I think in wintertime, this will be a very, very

safe vehicle if equipped with proper tires, of course. But also the way that the response,

you know, that came from the car, it was like no latency, it will auto correct,

you know, the spin and all of that. And just fantastic. Honestly, I'm excited to see what

they can do with this one in an M3, for example. Is it? So the IX3, that's a dual motor, right?

So dual, I mean, honestly, they didn't tell me this one, they didn't want to communicate. But

based on the positioning, because I know they're going to be, I mean, I've talked about this in

the past, it'll be a base model, probably called 40. And they're going to be like a top model,

probably called M60 or M70. So the 50, it's always going to be the one that has a dual motor.

I'm assuming maybe the 40 might be a single model, even though that, not sure that will make sense.

I think we'll start with at least two motors. The question is if the M70 will have more than

two motors or not, I mean, they can do one, two, three, four, basically right now with this new

technology. And that's going to be advantage of it. But I'm pretty sure this one was dual based

on how the car reacted, handled all of that. And I think that's, that's what it was. But

yeah, honestly, just a really, really nicely done car. We'll see how the design has been

perceived by customers. I mean, we saw the, like I said, the spy photos, we saw the concept cars

that gives us a very good idea of what to expect. But overall, I think it will be a successful

product. They also mentioned the range, I think I can talk about that. They say it's going to be

like 800 kilometers on the WLTP. I don't have the EPA or I do have everybody's under embargo,

but 800 WLTP, basically that's the one they can make it for Germany. I think they talked about

charging time also, like, you know, 350 kilometers of charging time in 10 minutes, which is

So, so then therefore it's got pretty good. Yeah, it's, yeah. So then, you know, you got access

to, you know, a lot of those superchargers like the Tesla networks and things like that.

So I should talk about that. Yeah. So yeah, so it actually comes with a with a NAACS

port basically. So they also communicated that you will have access to the Tesla supercharger

network. The day the car goes on the market. So that's cool. The problem is that, you know,

it's got a I think the charging capabilities 400 kilowatts or 405. There are no charges that I

know of yet using that maybe maybe the new Iona network, I think the Iona, the BMW is part of

I think they're going to they're starting to install that they might have a few out,

but overall, they're just not. I mean, the most that I see in Chicago, it's a 350 basically.

So to take advantage of that 800 volt architecture and the charge capability, they will have to

roll out this super, super charging stations basically out. But I mean, just imagine being able

to put 350 kilometers in 10 minutes. I mean, I just a game changer basically, because I could

care less than about the range. It's more about the okay, let me find a charger just quickly.

I mean, even five minutes, if I get 200 kilometers, that's, that's like for me, that's

almost a week of driving basically. So yeah, and that's what opens it up to your casual customer,

right? Like most people, they look at that and they look at the charge times and just

it really puts them off. People have, I think gotten over the range. I think it's now they

focus on that charge time. And then they look at like the Tesla network being like the only main

fast one. And they're hearing stories about and like in SoCal how like you got to wait in line.

So then you're waiting in line for a fit 40, you know, whoever knows how long to charge for 40 to

50 minutes. And they're just like, I don't want any of that part, you know, I just don't want to

deal with that. But as we as these get progressed a little bit better, like, yeah, if you can get

five minutes and get a ton of charge out of it, that's that opens it up to that casual customer

than a lot more. So exactly. So and that's that's where this is geared towards too with the iX3.

Now the iX3, I know they've shown like we've seen the concept i3 and it's like a completely

different shape than like the three series. But the iX3 versus the X3, is it roughly the same size

or a little smaller figure? It looks roughly the same size. I don't have the exact specs roughly

the same size. I would say the side design, you can see it in the spy photos as well. It's a little

bit different looks to be a little more coupage. But overall, yeah, it's really just an X3 type of

vehicle. So I expect since I mean, it felt the same inside as far as the size, you can see it in the

video, I've talked about that as well. So I think size wise in inside will be very, very similar,

of course, the biggest change. I was going to mention that it's really the addition of this new

interior design, the new iClassio one, which basically, there is no iDrive controller. So

you can expect that you get in this central display right now. Then of course, behind that,

you have the panoramic display, which that's the one that I was kind of interested to test it out,

because I want to see what it looks like, what it feels like as far as when you're driving the car.

And honestly, it just became quite, quite intuitive. After a few minutes, I honestly

stopped using the head up display. I was mostly using that panoramic vision to see the,

you know, the maps and all the information, all of that, of course, you can still

use the head up display. And I'm assuming I will probably use it as well. But I focus more on,

you know, how legible it is that that screen, you know, it was sunny outside also. So that was a

good, good way to test the contrast and the contrast and all of that. Of course, that the

weird part was I was in two prototypes, one had the new steering wheel,

one that has the spokes at six and 12 o'clock. And the BMW logo was, was covered up with tape.

And you couldn't sometimes like, okay, is this steering wheel in the right direction? Is it upside

down? So that was kind of annoying. But that's not only happened because they covered up that,

that logo on the steering wheel. So it was a bit tricky. It's, it's weird looking, you know,

but something that we've seen already in the concept car, they, they do have another option.

So there is another option that you see in the video that I posted on YouTube with that,

there is another option with a, with a normal design. And basically you have the spokes at,

I think four and six o'clock instead of, you know, nine and three and that looks more normal.

I think there will be an M support version as well, which I haven't seen. But, you know,

they're options. So if you want one over the other one, it's fine.

Coming as a former driving instructor, like the, the current wheels are so good because

it's got that notch for your thumbs to fit right in perfectly at nine and three. So like getting

rid of all that. Does it have, okay. Well, there we go. Still has it. Still has it. Still has it.

Yeah. So from that perspective, still has it. I also tried to control some of the functions

via the touchpad that's on the steering wheel. It was quite easy. They're haptic buttons. So it's

easy to control that as well. I've done a full video and I drive backs. I was showing that too.

So overall, I do like the interior. I do like the single screen in the middle. It was also

easy to reach. I was testing the ergonomics because some of these current screens, I struggle,

even though I'm quite tall, I have long arms, I struggle to reach the screen. I always have to

kind of lean forward or, you know, to the side. This one is, they've done a great job moving the

information more to the left on the screen. So the relevant one, it's on the left side more,

you know, have to go to the right corner basically. And also the fact that it's got this more angled

design towards the steering wheel. It's closer to the steering wheel. So you can actually

information a lot easier with your hands, basically. Of course, because you're losing

the eye drive controller, everything's done by that also by by voice as well. And you'll see

also the adjustments of, you know, AC all done through touch and everything else. I've done a

full demo on that. So once again, I recommend watching that video. But overall, yes, I do

prefer having more physical buttons, especially for climate controls and basic functions. But

yeah, that's, that's, that's going away for sure. So I mean, as you've seen in the video too,

overall a solid product, I think it will do well if they price it properly, it will do really,

really well. We need one in the US because we don't get an IX one or IX two, and I've been

preaching to the choir on this for quite some time, unlike it is an I for an IX, I love the IX,

but it's also $100,000 if you want to get a nicely equipped one. So that puts it out of

my price range, basically, because the IX is still one of my favorite BMWs today. And I left

the car, but the IX three, if they price it correctly, in the middle somewhere, then then I

think it will be a really, really good selling product. And honestly, I do see myself getting

one and pairing this with whatever gasoline cars I might have. Yeah, you bring up the I for and

you own one. And like, I test drove it even in the in the, it's either the 35 or when they

changed to the 40. I loved it. I thought that was an amazing car. And I'm really surprised.

Like, I don't see a lot more of them, like they just don't get that.

No, I think they sell a lot of them.

Yeah, I might just be my area in Seattle, maybe Seattle, the tech people love the new startup

of like Rivian and things like that. But like, yeah, they like that. Dude, there's so many

selling. It's all the best selling cars, which it should be because it was it's fantastic car. So

like, but you got a good point, like the only the IX is such a huge difference between that and

there. So like that gives a great middle ground. And especially if it's it's roughly the same size

in X three, that's covering most people what what they need, you know, so yeah, exactly. And the

fact that you have all this new new technology, the batteries are brand new, the models are brand

new, you know, the charging capabilities and all of it. There's this such a huge step forward

compared to what we have today. And I think that's what people will appreciate more and more

when it comes to to this new new class BMW is basically so I think I'm excited to show the

Carson, you will be unveiled on September 5. So you'll have a chance to see that on our channels.

They'll also have some live reporting from Munich and also from the plant in Hungary. So I'm excited

to see how they're being built and how is it different than all of it. So there will be a lot

of content will have another IX three, you know, it's only going to be in the US I think next year

can reveal them time yet. But I think I've talked about it in the articles if you go

search for it, you'll kind of have an idea when but um, yeah, that was a that was a quite a quite

cool experience. So a lot of fun on that track. I know that track quite well. As I said, I always

try to push the limits of the car without damaging the prototypes because that's quite important

to them. So but that's really good considering, you know, SUV EV so it's big, it's heavy, you know,

so like, it sounds like it's going to have some great some great drivability around. So excited

to get that shot. It's a heavy car. It's an EV and it didn't feel heavy, but it's definitely heavy.

But you it's a next three. So people will never drive the car like I did. I will never drive the

car like I did on that track either to be honest, because I was really like going, going stupid,

stupid things. But they do have one more point to end on that and then we move on.

What I liked about the most in this car and I almost forgot it's really the most important

thing in this car is the brake regeneration. It is absolutely amazing to the point that I'll say

I think they said that 80 or 90% of times the the braking is actually done by the electric

models, which is impressive. But there were some exercises where I would they would actually have

me go down the hill or up the hill and they will say close your eyes and tell me if the car has

stopped and I wouldn't be able to tell you the car will stop or you will still roll. It was that

smooth. That's awesome. Even when you're it's amazing. I mean, I've showed it in a video,

absolutely fantastic. Even when you were going down the hill, like through corners, all of that,

you stop and the car would just like literally just sit there, you just lift off the brake

pedal and we just like stand there, sit there, whatever, stand there. I guess that's the that's

the right word. And then you'll just, you know, push the gas pedal and just go slowly and smoothly

and it's just so, so smooth and going uphill as well. Same thing, you know, just, you know,

you was just luck itself to the asphalt and that's it. So absolutely amazing and even driving. I mean,

it was a ridiculous smooth, different, you can change the settings and then of course, like an

all the brake region, mostly BMW has. So I was quite impressed with that because I think that's

probably the biggest thing that you're getting from this heart of joy type of computer, being able

to control that and also to eliminate motion sickness because so that's what a lot of times

I struggle with that, especially when I go fast and I, you know, speed up and you know,

brake hard and all of that. I do get motion sickness more now than ever. But with that car,

it was ridiculously smooth. Honestly, it was so, so good. I think that will be

one thing that will impress people when it comes to that car. Yeah. And that that's the one of the

big things of, you know, EV vehicles is that smoothness between stopping and going and that

regen of slowing down. I mean, my experience with BMWs in the past, like it seems like that the

standard mode was always too weak. And then when you turn on regen, it was like really hard and

like you're constantly, it's, you know, getting thrown forward a little bit. So smoothing that

out would just make it feel a little bit more refined, you know, and a little bit more luxurious

and just more comfortable as you pointed out. So that'll be a, that'll be a great, great thing

to experience there. So yeah, so I'll have a chance to drive it again this fall and then

we'll have a chance again to drive it in the US a few times. So we'll have a lot of ice,

three stuff coming up a hundred percent. I'm excited to show what I have, you know, hiding

on my computer because I shot a bunch of content and a bunch of silly content as well for social

media. So funny ones as well. Yeah. So she's got to sort out through, through all the, through all

the content. But yeah, so let's move on to the last topic. Let's talk about this. This news

that came out on rumors, I guess, because hasn't been confirmed by BMW nor by Mercedes. Essentially,

there was a rumor that came out of manager magazine. It's a respectable publication in

Germany. So they tend to have good sources. I wasn't able to verify that yet. I did reach out to BMW

and I was told no comment at this time. So whatever that means, but essentially, apparently,

there are talks between Mercedes and BMW and cooperating or, or sharing engines. So essentially,

BMW would provide engines to Mercedes, their B 48 2.0 cylinder turbocharged, which honestly,

I did something that I did not see coming. So if that happens, that's really going to take me by

surprised. But I'm still trying to wrap my mind, my mind around. I'm still trying to, I mean,

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this. Like, does it really make sense? Like, who's,

who's gaining the most out of this out of this collaboration? What do you think?

Ah, you know, it's, it's, it's what is that, you keep your friends close, but enemies closer.

And to me, I think BMW being just from their experience, they're, they're counting

counting dollars, right? So they're seeing this as a way to produce more money. And

Mercedes on their end, they've been getting a lot of flak with their four cylinders,

like they're putting it in things that shouldn't be in. And like, it's apparently really rough.

And people just aren't enjoying it. And we all know the B 48 and B 58 is a great engine.

So I'm not a Mercedes expert, but I think some of their engines are coming from other suppliers,

like Geely from what I heard, and those, I don't know what other brand was providing their fourth

cylinder. So I guess they've always focused more on higher outputs versus, you know, the entry

level engines that would use like a class or B class and so on and so forth. So I guess that's

where that's where BMW would, would help them with this engines. But it's a, it's a tricky one,

right? Like I guess BMW will get money out of it. Probably. I don't know if there's any other

collaboration on technology that they will be shared. And then of course prestige, because,

you know, having a BMW in a Mercedes, that's quite interesting. So I guess from this perspective,

maybe BMW is coming now to have, but then I guess we don't know the details. We don't know if it's

going to happen. But will there be any, any, any cons on why BMW shouldn't be doing this?

I mean, just because they're the closest competitor, I mean, they share, as we mentioned

earlier in this podcast, you know, they sell engines to Land Rover, JLR, like they're in the

Range Rover Sport. I think the SV has it or something like that. And like they're in the

lot of, they sell engines. Morgan. Yeah, Morgan. Like they sell engines to like anyone who wants

to buy them. Like, and you could say they're not, they're not competitors. Yeah, exactly. It's not

the one that they continuously call out all the time in marketing materials as like we outsold

Mercedes or Mercedes is like we outsold BMW. Like they're the direct, right? So I don't

wonder how the math will work in the financials because like, okay, we're giving them some good

engines. We know they're very good. They're Euro seven and blah, blah, blah, all of that.

But are they going to, you know, sell more cars than us because of our engines? Or are we going

to lose money on sales? Like it's got to be a trick. I wouldn't want to be at the end of that

deal to try to figure out. Will it be like the McLaren F1 where it was like McLaren F1 powered by

BMW. I highly, highly doubted that Mercedes will allow that. I mean, that would be too much. But

from Mercedes standpoint, I mean, of course, they are losing a little bit on the reputation,

but they, they stand to gain as well. I mean, they arguably have a little bit more money,

you know, so they need that engine. Basically, they're, they're, they don't have to develop

their own to spend billions of dollars and takes time and all of it. They're getting something

that's reliable. It's a great engine. So for Mercedes standpoint, yes, you know, people are

going to poke fun. Hey, you know, it's going to be a double engine, but in the end, who cares?

Most people don't care. It'll just be the gear heads and people like us. It'll be, you know,

like someone will like, oh yeah, I got a new Mercedes and like that one guy in the room will

be like, yeah, pop the hood. I'll show you the BMW logo, you know, and like no one's going to care.

They'll just be like me. So the first glance, it looks like the end of it's winning, but really,

really like it might be a fair, fair deal to everyone because BMW gets to make more money

on those engines. They keep the Steyr engine plant, you know, going, they definitely it's

another revenue source. This could be quite, quite, quite big because, you know, the segmented

Mercedes is in, they have a lot of products there. So actually might, they might actually,

you know, be advantages to both of these brands in like in the end. Question is, you know, it's

for how long will that deal go and be on and so many details that we don't even know if it's

going to happen, but it's quite interesting that there is even a rumor like around this because

I did not see that one coming at all. Yeah. And then, you know, I take a zoom out and take a look

at it as well. Like you have Mercedes Formula One team dominating and then falling off. And now

the story's coming out that they're going to use BMW engines in the street cars. Like the overall

look for them just doesn't feel right, right? Like, but like you say, for most people, they don't care.

So like they're getting a lot of bad press on their four cylinders, throwing a good one and

move on, right? I mean, if they use Gillies and all these brands, you know, I mean, BMW knows how

to make engines. There's one thing they know how to do its engines. They rarely miss. They've had a

couple that were maybe great, but they usually make really good engines. Yeah, that B48 and B58

engine is just so good. They are. I mean, they're powering 90%, maybe not 90%, but definitely more

than 50% of their entire lineup. It's just built upon these two engines, basically. And they're

very good. I mean, we've experienced these engines in multiple products. I mean, the B50 is not

going to go to them, but the B48, you know, we've tested out in the X3s and three series and all of

that. And it's really a reliable engine, a good daily driver. It's perfect for the segment that's

supposed to be in. Yep. Yeah, it's got great power delivery. It sounds good. Like it doesn't feel

like your typical four banger. So like, yeah, it's like Mercedes is going to get a win out of it.

Yeah. I mean, they even put that engine now in the M2 CS racing. It makes over 300.

Yeah, which like that blew up, you know, blew up on our channels. People are so amazed that

they put a four cylinder in there. But it's like, it's great. It's a good engine. Exactly. So,

yeah, it's if it does happen, you know, it's a win-win for both. Like I said, I don't think

most people will care. People, whoever's buying a Mercedes with a four cylinder engine doesn't

care. They're buying it for it being a Mercedes, right? For them, like the badge on it. So it's

no big deal. Yeah. Yeah. So let's see what happens with this one. It's just that's

looking back at the history, you know, those are just the two, like the whole billboard thing.

And like every there's just like so much us being better than you that sharing parts just

becomes weird. Yeah, I mean, it's it's probably going to be there. Probably some some clauses in

the country that you're not allowed to poke fun through marketing all of it. It's gotta be. I mean,

if you're done independently, it's gotta be. I mean, it's like, like I said, if that happens,

I would love to see the the clauses and everything that's been spelled out in that country. It's

gotta be pretty interesting. You know, so I haven't seen that type of collaboration between those

two big brands like that. Could you imagine being a fly on the wall in that boardroom in that

conversation? Just like that'd be super interesting to hear. Be in the room on the conversation on

what would be allowed and what wouldn't be. And you know, what the terms would be it just be

it'd be very interesting. Let's see, I mean, we'll we'll we'll bring you more news than that

we learn. But for now, I guess we'll stop here today, we can tease the next episode and we're

going to have it, you know, hopefully shortly after this one, I'm going to I'm going to focus

solely on the IX three, and I can tell you more about the car, you know, everything has the

design and all of it. So I'll have an episode on that I'll talk about the plant also my first

time going to the Debertson plant, they just open it up. So that's interesting as well.

They also have a chance to see different variants, the the mobility show in Munich,

so then I can share more about stuff that I've seen there. So more IX three stuff and then we'll

focus on other topics as well. I've been to Monterey car weeks, I want to talk about that too.

And then I'll also have an M5 touring that I want to talk about. And then lastly, I'm going to

pair that M5 touring conversation with the M5 long term that I've had, which I called it a

Minium seven. So in future episodes, we're going to talk about this as well. So as always, everyone,

thanks for watching. Thanks for listening to us. If you do have any suggestions, any comments,

or any feedback on what topics we should cover, please let us know and we'll try to

accommodate them. Nate, once again, thanks for joining me. Yeah, anytime.

S2E16 - BMW Off-Roader Rumor + BMW iX3 Review + Mercedes Engine Deal

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