- BMW shows its first two Neue Klasse EVs again under camouflage.
- The first to be revealed will be the iX3 SUV in September, followed by the i3 sedan sometime in 2026.
- They both preview the design direction that BMW will adopt for its entire lineup in the future.
BMW is sprucing up its image as it prepares for the unveiling of the first in its Neue Klasse line of models. During the annual general meeting, the manufacturer showed two camouflaged prototypes for the upcoming two models, providing us with our best look yet.
The iX3 electric SUV is wearing its production front and rear lights, while the i3 sedan still has placeholders. The former will make its public debut in September at the IAA Mobility 2025 trade show in Munich, although we already have a pretty good idea of what it will look like.
Its side profile reminds us a lot of the BMW iX, with its long, wagon-like rear end that appears to create a lot of overhang. The rear light clusters are large and wrap around the entire rear end, although they don’t create a full-width light bar.
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Source: BMW
The front of the car will stay true to the concept that previewed it, complete with the shark nose that will become a trademark of BMW again with the launch of the new Neue Klasse. This design element is borrowed from the original Neue Klasse, and it’s BMW’s way of visually linking the two distant generations.
The iX3 SUV will be built in a new plant in Hungary, while the i3 will roll out of a factory in Munich.
There will also likely be a combustion version of the new iX3, which would presumably replace the current (and still very new) G45 X3, once that reaches the end of its lifecycle. The new combustion 3 Series will arrive much sooner than an X3 with Neue Klasse design. BMW has already been seen testing the new combustion 3 Series with its production body, and it looks a lot like the fully electric i3, although the two are mechanically very different.
The new 3 Series is built on a development of today’s CLAR platform, which BMW uses in everything from the 2 Series coupe all the way up to the 7 Series and X7. Just like the gas-burning 3 Series, the i3 will get both sedan and wagon bodies, while the next 4 Series will reportedly be only available as an EV.
Confusing? Maybe so. But in the end, the consumer gets a lot of choices. And if nothing else, the exercise illustrates how tough it is for automakers to build groundbreaking EVs while still serving customers who want gas-powered cars as all-electric sales growth moves more slowly than anticipated.
Both the electric sedan and SUV will get hot M variants with up to four electric motors, which should result in some pretty feisty handling.
BMW has caught a lot of flak for the design of some of its cars in recent years, and I’m not yet convinced Neue Klasse is a return to form for the manufacturer. The concepts that preview the i3 and iX3 were fairly well received, but there is still some weirdness to the way they look, and we need to see the finished product without camouflage for a definitive opinion.
