This is the future of BMW.
The all-new iX3 electric SUV was revealed overnight in Germany, becoming the first product of the brand’s Neue Klasse generation of vehicles. It debuts both a bold new design language for the brand, but also a raft of new technologies – both for the powertrain but also the infotainment.
The looks are the obvious biggest change, with the company claiming that this new look has been “reduced to the essences of the BMW brand – and therefore more BMW than ever before”, despite such a dramatic change.
The key elements of the design is a new, more upright front end, featuring both a more vertical kidney grille and new lighting signature. BMW claims that the new kidney grille, which is significantly smaller than recent years, is inspired by BMWs of the 1960s, to connect the Neue Klasse to its past.
Inside the showpiece element of the new interior is the BMW Panoramic iDrive, a screen that runs almost the entire width of the dashboard. It’s not just a new screen, it also runs the latest BMW operating system.
BMW Chairman Oliver Zipse didn’t undersell the significance of the new iX3 to all future BMW models.
“The Neue Klasse is our biggest future-focused project and marks a huge leap forward in terms of technologies, driving experience and design,” Zipse said.
“Practically everything about it is new, yet it is also more BMW than ever. Our whole product range will benefit from the innovations brought by the Neue Klasse – whichever drive system technology is employed. What started as a bold vision has now become reality: the BMW iX3 is the first Neue Klasse model to go into series production. We are not only bringing the next generation of one of our most successful fully electric vehicles onto the road, we are launching a new era for BMW.”
The hero model of the new range is the iX3 50 xDrive, which is powered by a new dual-motor powertrain, the sixth-generation electric vehicle technology for the brand, and makes 345kW of power and 645Nm of torque. Crucially, it’s paired to a new 800-volt electrical system and a 108kWh battery, which BMW claims provides up to 805km of driving range.
BMW has confirmed that the iX3 50 xDrive will be the first Neue Klasse model to arrive in Australia, by the middle of 2026, with pricing and final specification to be announced closer to launch.
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