BMW has started reinventing itself, and with the electric era comes a fresh design. But how do you shape the upcoming vehicle lineup to make it look futuristic and hint at its battery-electric power while bringing back some iconic lines from the brand's past?
That's a question that the company's design team has answered several times in the shape of the Neue Klasse concept cars. These rides look like they've come from a sci-fi movie, and their styling doesn't do justice to BMW. Nonetheless, their production counterparts are thankfully toned down, so they are not on the extreme side.
Case in point, meet the Neue Klasse iX3, which will be similar in size to the X3 and iX3. The premium compact crossover was recently spied in prototype form while being driven out in the open. And it's not the prettiest of its kind, at least up front, where the camouflage makes it look like it has borrowed Opel's vizor face.
Mind you, we expect it to be a bit different once the vinyl stickers start coming off to the point where it might just hide a tiny kidney grille, perhaps as a tribute to the brand's past models, like the iconic E30 3 Series. The space between the presumed kidney grille and the headlamps is not entirely visible on the pictured tester, and the front bumper would have probably looked more in place at the rear.
Photo: Baldauf
The fenders have a swollen design, and that's a nice addition, and the back end is similar to other modern-day BMW high-riders. We would ignore the taillights, as they look provisional to us, and so do the reflectors. We can see the Hofmeister kink in the rear quarter windows, though the automaker tried to hide this styling feature on the scooped tester.
For a cleaner-looking profile, designers gave it flush-mounted door handles, and it's nice to see that they have kept the traditional side mirrors instead of replacing them with rear-facing cameras hooked up to two individual screens on the inside. The wheels are nothing to write home about, as they seem to have come from the car marque's current portfolio – for now, anyway.
The architecture underpinning the Neue Klasse iX3 theoretically supports one megawatt of power, or (1,360 ps/1,341 hp/1,000 kW). Nevertheless, it won't launch with that much oomph, as chances are the supposed full-blown M version that is said to be in the works might offer around half. Moreover, the series will also comprise lesser versions, whose outputs and driving ranges will be announced when the time comes.
So, what's your take on the Neue Klasse iX3? Is it something you'd consider buying over something like a Tesla Model Y or a Mercedes EQC?
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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