Meet the BMW Vision Neue Klasse X. It's the second concept to wear BMW's "new class" styling, and a strong signal of what the upcoming iX3 might look like.
For most of its history, BMW has produced cars that were svelte and stately understatements, carved with clean lines that aged well and had the simple, rewarding driving dynamics to match. In recent years, BMW has gone a bit more bold, styled with much more aggression and a controversial take on their iconic kidney grilles that has drawn ire and a few too many comparisons to various marmots. Here, though, BMW has found boldness with balance, and brought those kidneys back down to bite size. If you're of a certain vintage, you'll immediately recognize the classic cues on display: the light signature housed in a long horizontal "grille", the Hofmeister kink, the clean lines and sculpted surfacing. There are small homages to BMW's e12 5-series of the 70's, their e30 3-series of the 80's, and to our eyes it looks the right mix of fresh and familiar.
Bravo, then. But what lies beneath? Well, BMW is developing an all-new computer architecture with in-house developed "super brain" hardware and software to power the next generation of automation, driver personalization and ride control... but we don't know much beyond that. It would seem that BMW is leaning into touch interfaces, showing us interior concepts that are minimal and without physical buttons. That may draw a different kind of ire, as the EU recently announced new regulations requiring physical controls. We'll see how the concept ends up translating to reality.
For now, these Neue Klasse remain just a Vision of a near future. We might get our first look, however, with an upcoming refresh of the iX3 due next year. While that's not expected to be a total reboot, it is presumed to be the first model to wear the styling that these Neue Klasse concepts are proposing... at least, if recent spy shots are telling the truth.
