It’s the new face of BMW. And this time, Bimmer fans might actually like the face.
Meet the BMW iX3, whose right-sized, vertically oriented twin kidneys — rendered in optional glowing LEDs — pay homage to the original Neue Klasses of the 1960s, including the beloved 2002. Yet there’s nothing backward-looking about this innovative electric SUV, or the many Neue Klasse models that will follow in its footsteps in design and technology.
After more than two years of media build-up and design evolution, including an iVision Dee concept sedan, BMW will unveil the production iX3 at Munich’s IAA Mobility show on Sept. 8. We attended a media preview in July at a film studio in Munich, where the iX3 revealed itself as a quantum leap in BMW’s electric design — and a handsome one at that. Forget the frumpy (but brilliant-driving) iX or the overwrought grille of a 4-Series: The iX3 is one of the market’s most visually appealing compact SUVs, regardless of powertrain.
A slender, sporty greenhouse perches atop an aggressively upright body with a fascinating mix of blocky shapes and precisely drawn lines. Light replaces chrome, including for that striking, optional LED-lit grille. Flush door handles and window glass help the iX3 slip through the wind, and a drag coefficient of 0.24. Body-color wheel arches drape over standard 20-inch alloy wheels, with sizes up to 22-inches available. A downsloping roof adds style without sacrificing rear headroom, thanks to a space-saving battery design. The rear end is a design highlight. Horizontal LED taillamps sweep deeply into the vehicle’s center, accentuating a husky stance. A reworked BMW roundel nestles into a valley between a dramatically extruded upper tailgate, echoing the roundel treatment on the hood.
The Neue Klasse’s building blocks are an even bigger story. To keep pace with top EV rivals, a powerful 800-volt electric architecture integrates new cylindrical battery cells developed in partnership with China’s CATL. The inaugural Neue Klasse squeezes 108 kilowatt-hours of usable energy into an efficient underfloor pack that also serves as structural chassis member. Cells are integrated directly into the pack with no surrounding modules, saving weight and space: The top of the battery case actually forms the vehicle floor. BMW claims that 50 percent of the batteries’ lithium, cobalt and nickel will come from recycled sources.
With a 20-percent jump in battery energy density, BMW engineers peg EPA driving range at right around 400 miles, a welcome leap over current models. The iX3 can also charge 30 percent faster. It can add up to 230 miles of driving range in 10 minutes flat, and fill its battery from 10-to-80 percent in as little as 21 minutes, easing resistance to EVs from time-pressed customers. Those speeds do require a 400-kilowatt fast charger, which are only beginning to pop up in public — including from the Ionna network, backed by a consortium of automakers that includes BMW.
Still, the BMW will juice up quickly on a 350-kilowatt charger from Electrify America or other networks. . And like many all-new EVs, the iX3 integrates a Tesla-style NACS plug, and will offer game-changing access to Tesla’s ubiquitous network.
American buyers will need to wait a bit longer, with an initial iX3 50 xDrive model coming in roughly June, from a new BMW factory in Hungary. That iX3 generates a healthy 463 horsepower and 476 pound-feet of torque from a pair of electric motors. BMW estimates those dual independent motors, including an ultra-efficient asynchronous rear motor, will hustle the iX3 from 0-60 mph in a swift 4.7 seconds. Top speed is limited to 130 mph. A single-motor, rear-wheel-drive iX3 is expected to join the lineup, but not at launch.
A bit like the iX, the cabin leans into the future without being obnoxious about it; this is still a luxurious place to be. The interior does dispense with traditional driver gauges in favor of new Panoramic iDrive, powered by Operating System X. It projects information on a deep black, nanocoated surface that wraps all 43.3 inches of the lower windshield, from pillar to pillar. A digital speedometer, battery state-of-charge and other basic info fronts the driver, with six slots along the windshield to the right that drivers can configure at their leisure.
The idea is to keep a driver’s eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. For fans who’ve finally figured out the vexing iDrive 9.0, Panoramic iDrive will bring its own learning curve, though I got up to speed after a few minutes of futzing with controls. That includes thumbing a bank of switches on the squircle-shaped steering wheel to manage the windshield display.
A “floating” instrument panel, wrapped in a mesh textile and backlit from below, wraps and flows into enormous concave door trim panels. A generous 17.9-inch touch screen hovers atop the instrument panel that’s nearly devoid of traditional analog switches. That trapezoid-shaped screen angles toward the driver for an easier reach. Fortunately, a row of HVAC controls gets permanent position along the screen’s bottom screen, avoiding any deep dives into menus. An optional 3D Head-Up Display integrates navigation and automated-driving displays with stunning 3D image depth. A sprawling Panoramic Roof is another key option.
A low-slung center console integrates a wireless charging pad, USB-c ports, the gear selector, an audio roller switch, hazard lights and windshield defroster, with storage space below.
With so-called “software-defined vehicles” the industry buzzword from Beijing to Bavaria, the iX3’s centralized digital nervous system is divided into four discrete zones. That zonal architecture amasses 20 times the computing power of BMW’s current EVs, and saves 2,000 feet of wiring and a number of fuses. The system will eventually roll out to every BMW model.
Four onboard “Superbrains” divvy responsibilities between driving dynamics, automated driving, infotainment and basic vehicle functions. Another liquid-cooled “Energy Master” controller manages all battery functions, and supplies power to the batteries and electronics.
BMW says those big brains are smart enough to make the iX3 especially fun to drive, yet are also designed to operate invisibly and stay out of the driver’s way. One, the (oddly named) “Heart of Joy,” puts the drivetrain, steering, brakes and energy recuperation on a single controller. It monitors every driver input and driving-dynamics parameter, calculating the right moves at 1,000 “beats” per second — 10 times the speed of previous control units. That’s critical to match the near-instantaneous responses of electric motors.
For one, BMW estimates that 98 percent of real-world stops can be managed through regenerative braking alone, with no need to touch the physical brake pedal aside from sporty sessions or emergency stops. That relieves the workload on drivers, and reduces brake wear. By incorporating brakes into the Heart of Joy, the iX3 should return up to 40 percent more energy to the battery than before.
Another Superbrain combines BMW’s latest semi-autonomous systems in a single unit, versus the previous four. Those digital helpers are designed to keep human drivers in-the-loop. BMW calls its Collaborative Steering a world’s first. Using a driver monitoring camera, the system can allow drivers to steer, apply brakes or even drive over a lane marker — perhaps while rocking through canyon corners, or just to steer around a bicyclist or pedestrian – without driver assistance intervening, shutting down or having to be restarted again and again.
BMW executives say the iX3 M50 will start around $60,000. That compares with $52,075 for a gasoline-powered, 255-horsepower X3 30 xDrive; or $67,075 for an X3 M50, with 393 horsepower.
On paper, the iX3 appears as stylish, efficient and technically advanced as any electric SUV in America, and a potent rival to the Porsche Macan EV. Yet when it reaches our shores next year, the iX3 will face a newly hostile climate for EVs, including potential tariffs on this Hungary-built SUV. Washington has also repealed a $7,500 federal tax credit that made it easier for people to make the leap to electricity, including BMW fans who used a “leasing loophole” to save themselves $7,500.
In other words, if BMW wants to import and sell a ton of iX3’s, it will have to sell them on their own merits. On paper, the iX3 has what it takes, and then some. We’re looking forward to testing one, and seeing if paper translates to pavement.
Tags: 400 miles iX3 Neue Klasse
