Next BMW iX3 previewed: Vision Neue Klasse X concept

BMW has finally delivered a first look at what is likely to be its most important next-generation model: the 2025 iX3, previewed here in the form of the Vision Neue Klasse X concept.

As with the Neue Klasse sedan unveiled in 2023, this X concept combines futuristic themes with styling elements drawn from BMW’s storied past.

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The standout example of this execution is showcased at the front end, with long ‘grille’ and headlight sections that converge – unlike the sedan – on a narrow kidney design harking back to the original Neue Klasse (New Class) models of the early 1960s and the compact 02 Series that followed.

The forward-slanting ‘sharknose’ profile calls on the styling of Graf Goertz’s original vision in the 1956 BMW 507.

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As with its sedan sibling previewed last year, the Vision X Neue Klasse is designed around an advanced cell-to-pack architecture, loaded into a fresh low-drag signature wrapping.

Speaking at the sedan’s unveiling, BMW Group design chief Adrian van Hooydonk described his team’s latest efforts as "sporty, compact and elegant. A set of characteristic lines and surfaces compiles a subtle and unpretentious shape with nicely balanced proportions.”

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Despite BMW’s home city of Munich being broadly known as a conservative foil to cosmopolitan Berlin, van Hooydonk adds...

“We consider ourselves to be the southernmost German car manufacturer – which explains why the Neue Klasse strives to capture the cool ease and expertly crafted lightness typical of the great Italian design houses like Giugiaro, Frua, Bertone, Michelotti and Pininfarina – all of whom have done work for us in the past."

For now, as with the Vision Neue Klasse sedan, the Vision Neue Klasse X is revealed mostly as a preview for the next iX3’s styling.

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Full technical details are still to come, although BMW has previously confirmed an 800V architecture, enabling charging speeds that should deliver around 300km of driving range in 10 minutes.

When it’s unveiled later this year and launched into the market in 2025, trademark applications suggest the second-generation iX3 will be offered in sedan-style iX330, iX340 and iX350 forms – a new approach to BMW’s SUV model naming that will be mirrored in the petrol X3 range with X320 and X330 variants.

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When will the next iX3 come to Australia?

BMW Australia is unlikely to talk local timing until the production version of the new iX3 is unveiled, but its 2025 production schedule suggests a late 2025 or early 2026 launch in Australia would be likely.

Watch for more to come in the months ahead.