The BMW iX does a lot of things really well. It’s luxurious, pretty quick, and offers the latest and greatest tech features. Perhaps the most important part of it, however, is its electric powertrain, which delivers gobs of power with relatively little drama. Not only does the electric powertrain make acceleration a cinch, it also makes the cabin of the BMW iX a nearly serene place to spend your time. As it turns out, the iX is one of the quietest vehicles on the road today.
The BMW iX is Supremely Quiet, Matching Much Pricier Rivals
Back in 2022 or thereabouts, Car and Driver tested out a 2022 BMW iX xDrive50. With their advanced instrumented testing, they uncovered that the iX registered just 63 dBA of sound while cruising at 70 mph. For reference, a normal conversation takes place around 60 dBA and a dishwasher will introduce you to around 70 dBA. But much more relevant is that the Bentley Bentayga only managed 61 dBA at cruising speed; the Rolls-Royce Cullinan registered 62 dBA. The Bentley costs around double what the iX does ($203,000 or so); the Rolls, roughly $400,000.
But it gets even better than that, because we’ve tested the new and improved 2026 BMW iX from inside the cabin. Now, our instrumentation wasn’t as scientific as C&D’s, but we think the results are nonetheless remarkable. Using an iPhone app, we managed to measure the 2026 iX M70 we drove at just 57 dB. Of course, we were also driving the car a bit more slowly—70 km/h (43 mph) as opposed to 70 mph (112 kmh). Furthermore, frequencies will change and distort as the vehicle’s speed changes, and the road surface plays some role in how much noise gets into the cabin. Still, it illustrates just how quiet the cabin of the BMW iX is. Note that despite measuring our in-car noise in dB and C&D relying on dBA, there’s realistically only small differences in the figures as the majority of in-car frequencies occur surrounding 1-4 kHz.
Other In-Vehicle dB Comparisons with the iX
Being electric, the iX has a natural advantage over the aforementioned Bentley and Rolls-Royce. But it isn’t alone in achieving the 63 dBA number. The Audi e-tron Sportback recorded the same 63 dBA, as did Rolls’ first all-electric affair, the Spectre. Considering the Bentayga and Cullinan tested both utilized a gas engine—a twin-turbo V8 in the Bentley’s case, a twin-turbo 6.7-liter V12 in the Rolls-Royce’s—it really speaks to just how well-insulated these six-figure luxury cruisers have to be.
Without trying to muddy the waters too much, as this is already a little bit of an apples-to-oranges comparison, we will point out that sources elsewhere have tested the new 7 Series and achieved a measurement of 51.7 dB while cruising at 55 mph (88 kmh). That definitely inches closer to the testing that Car and Driver performed, but surprisingly, the X7 and X5 appear to drive even more quietly. Similar testing reveals 49.2 db and 49.8 dB measurements, respectively.
Additional sources: AcousticsToday
