BMW ix3

SECOND REPORT Our car, complete with its Hans Zimmer soundtrack, is striking all the right notes

- Richard Ingram

Running costs Official range/tax 286 miles/£0

Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 510/1,560 litres

Peformarnce 0-62mph/top speed 6.8 seconds/112mph

HAVE you ever taken a moment to consider all the beeps and bongs your car makes as you start it up and drive along? Many of these are designed to blend into the background; Volvo's very proud of its indicator sound that's modelled on the sound of a snapping twig, for example.

Others are more noticeable - as you'll know if you've ever had an autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system unduly activate when it senses an approaching obstacle you had every intention of avoiding. These noises are created and tuned specifically for their planned use.

But BMW is taking things to the next level. Not content with a generic sound library, the designers and engineers at the Munich brand's HQ have enlisted the help of German film score composer and music producer Hans Zimmer to come up with a series of sounds that will quite literally set the tone in its electric cars for years to come.