BMW i Series vs Toyota Corolla

What's the difference?

The thing that really grabs you from behind the wheel of a car like this is just how far EVs have come. The fact you can get a ridiculous range and have a really, really good time on the right twisting road is a pretty good deal and solidifies the fact EVs like this one are the future.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

Note: The author, Andrew Chesterton, is a co-owner of Smart As Media, a content agency and media distribution service with a number of automotive brands among its clients. When producing content for CarsGuide, he does so in accordance with the CarsGuide Editorial Guidelines and Code of Ethics, and the views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.

The final score for this review makes it look as though the Corolla is a middling effort. The scores for each individual section of the review are well considered and fair. The Corolla does lack the practicality of some of its rivals. A lack of an ANCAP rating isn’t great and the powertrain is just okay. But it remains one of the most fun-to-drive hatchbacks on the market today, even seven years into its life, and I would wholeheartedly recommend the Corolla to anyone looking for a small car. If you can forgive some of the quirks, it is a reliable, adorable, fun and efficient small car favourite. 

It's hard to talk about the design of the BMW iX3 without spending some time at the front end. This is a bold, bold take on a BMW grille, and one that is entirely devoid of chrome or metallic lashings.

That’s not to say it’s boring. The iX3 has a light theme that runs inside and outside, the latter of which is called the Iconic Glow exterior package, which replaces the physical embellishments with white lighting that frames the kidney grille and the other inserts. It looks very cool and very modern.

In the cabin, the lighting theme continues, this time under the dash inserts that illuminate from within. But that’s not what really draws your eye.

That honour goes to the Panoramic Vision, which replaces the traditional driver’s screen with a pillar-to-pillar display that stretches the width of the cabin and displays all your key driving info.  It seems like a strange thing to get your head around but it felt natural almost immediately, with everything you might need (including a g-meter in its sportiest mode) on display.

Also new is the funky and chunky BMW steering wheel, which reminds me a little of one of those double-sided lizards, in that it can be hard at times to figure out which way is up, and which features 'Shy Tech' (features and controls stay out of sight until the driver or passenger needs them).

All in all, I like the space. There are just enough traditional-feeling elements mixed with new tech to make it feel futuristic and familiar.

It’s been around for a good seven years, but the current-gen Corolla hatch is still a smart design. It has a squat stance and looks as though it has sporty intentions (it doesn’t), and the head and tail-light treatment doesn’t look like anything else in the segment.

The Corolla has adorable proportions and a pert little behind in a sea of increasingly boring small SUVs.

However, in SX trim and in the ‘Sunstone Orange’ body colour of my test car, the Corolla gives off rental car vibes. Which is hardly surprising given lower grade Corollas are a favourite of rental companies.

Inside that vibe continues. This is where the Corolla is really showing its age.

There are various shades of grey throughout the cabin, with a mix of hard and soft plastics. The cloth seat trim is drab, which is a shame because some other brands have managed to make cloth cool again. Not Toyota.

The touchscreen sticks up out the top of the dash like an old iPad and the dash design is old but functional. 

There is nothing inspiring about this interior design. In saying that, of those aforementioned rivals, only the Mazda3 and the new Kia K4 have modern cabins.

The BMW iX3 is 4782mm in length, 1895mm in width, 1635mm in height and it rides on a 2897mm wheelbase.

It doesn't feel huge, but there's certainly enough space in the back seat for me. At 175 centimetres I have enough knee and headroom sitting behind my own driving position, plus you can adjust the angles of the rear backrest to get a little more comfy.

But while the front seat feels very modern, the rear is more a traditional back seat experience. Back seat riders get their own air vents and temperature controls, twin USB-C charge ports and a pull-down divider with twin cupholders, but that's about it.

The auto-opening boot reveals a 520-litre luggage space (1750 with the seats folded), all of which is unencumbered by charging cables and the like, which are housed in the 58-litre frunk.

Towing and electric vehicles are never the greatest of matches, such is the drain on the battery, but the iX3 can be fitted with a standard tow ball, unlocking a braked trailer capacity of 2000kg.

The Corolla is a small car and that is evident inside. You might bump elbows with your front passenger, but I have no problem with the front leg or headroom.

Those cloth seats might be drab but boy they are comfy, and the fronts have loads of side bolstering. 

The steering wheel has typically clear controls and looks and feels nice. 

As a more, shall we say seasoned model in the segment, the Corolla still has buttons on the dash for things like air con, but not too many. That bulbous centre stack and the centre console, however, could be better designed for the space.

As it is, the wireless charging pad is hidden under it at the far end of the console. It’s a bit fiddly to get your phone in and out. This is also where one of the USB-C ports lives.

The other one is in the central storage bin which is quite small, but also houses a 12-volt outlet. There are no other places to store things because of the rounded shape of the console, which also features a couple of narrow cupholders.

OurCarsGuide bottle had to be squeezed into the door storage cavity - only narrow, short vessels will fit properly.

That 8.0-inch multimedia screen is very easy to navigate, with logical menus and icons. However, it’s almost too basic, which is not helped by the all-white background. It could be a more engaging set-up but it’s also very hard to fault the functionality. Our Apple CarPlay maintained its connection the whole time with the car, too.

Space is quite tight in the rear, although I have enough headroom for my 184cm frame. Legroom is just okay behind my driving position. There’s more space in the back of a Hyundai i30. It’s also dark because of smallish rear windows and thick C-pillars. 

The rear seat backrest is quite upright, but, like the front seats, well cushioned.

Amenities are just average back there - there’s a weird cupholder high on the door, only a passenger side map pocket, no rear air vents and no USB ports, although you could easily use the one housed in the front central bin. There’s a rear fold-down armrest with two cupholders.

The rear seats split and fold 60/40 and they fold flat making for a better loading space.

The good news is the SX (and the base Ascent Sport) come standard with a temporary spare wheel, which is great news for a hybrid model. The bad news is, that reduces boot space to a paltry 217 litres. 

That’s off the pace of all of its key hatchback rivals, including the Mazda3 which has its own cargo concerns at 295L, and the Hyundai i30 with 395L.

The Corolla ZR hatch has more space at 333L but you only get a tyre repair kit instead of a temporary spare. 

If you’re dead set on a Corolla but need more cargo space, consider the smart looking sedan that has 470 litres.

Toyota dropped all exclusively internal combustion engine versions of passenger car models and car-based SUVs last year so the Corolla is now hybrid-only.

The grade we tested is the SX five-door hatchback which is priced from $35,260, before on-road costs. Interestingly, the sedan version, which has a much bigger boot, is $340 cheaper.

The SX sits in the middle of the Corolla range with the Ascent Sport the most affordable (from $32,110) and the ZR the priciest before you get to the fire-breathing GR Corolla hot hatch.

Direct rivals at this approximate price point include the Hyundai i30 N Line ($36,000 BOC), Mazda3 G20 Touring ($37,110), Subaru Impreza 2.0R ($35,490) and the Kia K4 Sport ($35,190), although that is sedan only for now.

You get 16-inch alloy wheels, cloth bucket seats, a synthetic leather steering wheel, auto-dimming rear view mirror, rain-sensing wipers, rear privacy glass, keyless entry and start, dual-zone climate control, USB-C ports, a wireless device charging pad, six-speaker audio, an 8.0-inch colour multimedia display with sat-nav, digital radio, Bluetooth, voice assistant and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. 

The standard features list could be described as adequate without being overly generous for the price. A head-up display (standard in the ZR) would be nice.

We’ll focus on the 50 xDrive, as that’s the one we’ve driven, and because the powertrain is a peach. Its twin-motor all-wheel drive set-up delivers a total 345kW and 645Nm, which is a lot. And because there is no traditional transmission to step through, and because all that oomph arrives at once, it feels plenty punchy indeed.

BMW says the sprint to 100km/h takes 4.9 seconds, and we believe them. Top speed is a claimed 210km/h.

Since Toyota dropped the petrol engine from the Corolla range, it’s a hybrid-only affair.

The powerplant is a 1.8-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine paired with Toyota’s fifth-generation hybrid system that incorporates a lithium-ion battery, which is lighter yet more powerful since the 2022 update.

The Corolla drives the front wheels exclusively via a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

It’s not the punchiest engine and could do with more poke, but Toyota does do hybrids well. 

As we mentioned at the top of this review, this is another big plus for the iX3. Its massive 108.7kWh net NMC battery delivers a maximum driving range of 805km, which is frankly ridiculous. To get it, you need to engage Efficiency Max, which dulls the drive experience, but that is an impressive number all the same. Engage the sportier settings and the figure drops to more like 650km-plus. 

Charging is 22kW AC and an impressive 400kW DC – or 300kW in the upcoming 40 model — which means a 10 to 80 per cent charge in 21 minutes when plugged into the fastest of chargers.

BMW says to expect 15.1-17.1kWh/100km in terms of energy usage on the WLTP cycle.

According to Toyota the official fuel-use figure for the Corolla hybrid hatch is 4.0-litres per 100 kilometres and CO2 emissions sit at 90g/km.

While the trip computer said 4.8L/100km at the end of our week, my own fuel consumption calculation came to 5.8L.

You will only need 91 RON 'standard' petrol to fill up the Corolla.

BMW spent a lot of time describing this car as being of revolutionary importance to the brand. It was designed as an EV from its inception, but is also the flag bearer for the New Class gen of cars, and so it has all sorts of features and tech that will roll out across the rest of the BMW range.

Does it feel overly revolutionary from behind the wheel? Not really. I mean, it drives forwards and backwards, and turns around corners when you move the wheel, all of which is to be expected.

But it does mostly feel very BMW, which I think is what they meant. The Jekyll-Hyde nature of the iX3 becomes apparent the moment you engage its sportiest driving modes and flatten your foot. This is proper push-you-back-in-your-seat acceleration that feels slightly more violent than the iX3's claimed zero-to-100km/h time suggests.

Then there's the flip side of that coin. Engage Efficiency Max and you can seemingly drive forever (or at least more than 800km), sipping battery juice and riding in peace, quiet and comfort. 

But at its core, and no matter the drive mode, it feels like a BMW. Crucial to that is a thing the brand calls the Heart of Joy, which sounds utterly sci-fi but really is a computer brain that works on traction and power to make sure you never lose grip.

If you've ever been in a car where the traction control light is flashing on a dash, you'll know what usually happens is it cuts engine power until you find grip, and it gives you power again, then cuts it, then gives it to you as required to find the grip, and it can give you that kind of jerky, stop-starty kind of feeling.

The iX3 doesn't do that. Instead, it plays with traction and is far more subtle without ever cutting power, and gives you the feeling of being able to tip into a corner and then power out without ever feeling like you're going to lose grip, or power.

The bigger electric motor is at the rear axle, which delivers most of your performance unless you need extra grip. So, when you are powering out of a bend, it feels a lot like a rear-wheel drive car and really well sorted from behind the wheel.

If that's the driver's side of the equation, the other side of it is pretty good, too. We took to the town at city speeds, and it was super comfortable, quiet and absorbed most of the road imperfections pretty easily.

Interestingly, the suspension isn't high-tech. There's nothing adaptive about it, and there's no air cushioning or anything like that. But it feels well tuned, and is pretty comfortable, even on dodgier road surfaces, while still delivering a sense of connection.

My favorite kind of mid-size SUVs are ones that have that dual nature. Something that has space for the family and all of their things, but also something that can be a fair bit of fun on the right twisting road, and this one absolutely nails that brief. It is a hoot to drive on twisty stuff. 

Downsides? Well, you can't entirely disguise more than two tonnes of weight. If you're going downhill, especially on a twistier road, you can feel the weight around you, especially when you go to pull up in a hurry, despite the strong-biting brakes.

The other thing is the steering, which is direct and lovely but quite light. It doesn't have that meaty heft some BMWs offer, and as a result, it can be interesting to place the vehicle. You can find yourself a bit further over in the lane, or further away from an apex than you're expecting, because your light inputs have really shifted the vehicle. 

But BMW has nailed the brief here. Do keep an eye out for the cheaper one that's coming, though. It could be a bang-for-bucks, rear-drive bargain.

Most generations of Corollas have been solid, dependable and occasionally, even fun to drive. 

My first car was a Holden Nova GS hatchback, which was a rebadged version of the seventh-generation Corolla. I loved that car. It was zippy, fun and super economical.

The same principles generally apply to the current-gen Corolla. Thankfully, Toyota’s former CEO, Akio Toyoda, insisted all models from the Camry to the Kluger needed to be injected with more fun. And he succeeded with the Corolla. So much so that they've spun off a wild GR performance hot hatch version.

The Corolla sits low to the ground and it just feels much more connected to the road than a small SUV can. Even in mid-range SX guise, the Corolla can hug a corner and there is ample grip to ensure a fun drive on your favourite winding road.

Sure, the hybrid powertrain might not set your heart racing, but it is quick enough from a standing start and it lacks the lag of some of its turbocharged contemporaries. There’s also plenty of poke on tap for a small car when overtaking.

Even though it has a sporting edge to how it handles, the Corolla SX has been tuned for comfort first and foremost and this is another area it excels. The damper set-up ensures the Corolla soaks up speed bumps, nasty potholes and whatever else our shoddy roads can throw at it. At no point in my seven days with the Corolla did I complain about a harsh bump or thud.

Steering has a mechanical feel but it is still sharp, adding to the ‘chuckable’ vibe of this hatchback.

The powertrain can be noisy when pushed and combined with a CVT auto it’s the nicest sounding engine out there. Also, the transition from electric to petrol power isn’t particularly smooth. Other carmaker’s hybrid offerings - like Honda for example - are close to seamless. 

Some road noise gets into the cabin but it’s no deal breaker.

The Corolla is currently unrated by crash safety watchdog ANCAP. It did achieve a maximum five-star rating back in 2018 but that expired at the end of last year.

Safety features are largely standard across all grades and the SX comes with auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and daytime cyclist detection, lane departure alert with steering assist, speed sign recognition, 'Lane Trace Assist', adaptive cruise control, a blind spot monitor with safe exit assist, a rear cross-traffic alert, reversing camera and front and rear parking sensors and a rear occupant alert.

It doesn’t have a driver attention alert, and it’s all the better for it.

The lane keeping aid is well calibrated and subtle in its interventions, but the adaptive cruise let the speed creep several kilometres over the set speed on several occasions. 

BMW offers a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, which is about right for the traditional premium players, but off the pace elsewhere. The traction battery is then covered for eight years or 160,000km.

The service intervals are condition based, rather than timed, and BMW sells a pre-paid package for the iX3 which is $1614 for four years, or $2420 for six years.

You can upgrade either to what BMW calls Service Inclusive Plus, which includes high-wear stuff like brake discs and pads and it is $5535 for four years or $6615 for six years.

There are around 50 BMW dealers across Australia covering mainly cities and key regional centres.

The Corolla is covered by Toyota’s five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which, given Kia, MG, GWM, Jaecoo and more have longer terms (not to mention Nissan and Mitsubishi’s conditional 10-year terms) is now officially trailing its competitors.

However, the capped-price servicing plan of up to five years costs just $250 for each service, which is incredibly competitive. The service schedule is every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.