The BMW iX3 Website Might Be Previewing An Entirely Different Bimmer

2 months, 1 week ago - 22 September 2025, CarBuzz

The BMW iX3 is only the first vehicle in the German automaker's onslaught of offerings based on its futuristic Neue Klasse modular platform. We already know there's a Neue Klasse 3 Series on its way – in both combustion and all-electric i3 forms — as well as a forthcoming X5.

But what we can't quite decipher is a four-door sedan that appears unrelated to the 3er, recently spotted by the keen eyes at BMWBlog on the brand's German consumer site.But what we can't quite decipher is a four-door sedan that appears unrelated to the 3er, recently spotted by the keen eyes at BMWBlog on the brand's German consumer site.

Using The BMW iX3 To Preview Another Car?
The sleek four-door appears in animations that tout the iX3's sophisticated driver-assistance features, such as active lane-change assistance and 3D parking. The sedan wears some of the styling cues of other Neue Klasse products, such as the low-cut window openings of the BMW Vision Driving Experience concept and the dimpled nose and tail of the forthcoming 3 and 5 Series sedans. However, the wide-set "kidney grille" motif and windshield that cuts deep into the hood are more akin to the late BMW i8 than anything in the company's future product plans.

As a result, we can't be sure if the animations indeed preview another future Bimmer or not. It doesn't make a lot of sense to us to use computer-generated images of a generic vehicle, considering we can't find these animations used elsewhere in BMW's media portfolio – one would think the company's graphics department would just make a CGI iX3 for the consumer site instead. But considering the mish-mash of styling cues the subject is wearing, it seems like this stylish sedan is indeed a digital stand-in and nothing more.

Lots Of Technology In The Neue Klasse Platform
BMW's newest vehicle architecture, which takes its name from the similarly game-changing "New Class" lineup of sedans and coupes that first appeared in 1962, has a lot of impressive tech to boast. For starters, the powertrain-agnostic platform will be able to accommodate internal combustion, fully electric, and hybrid propulsion thanks to its open-body design, wherein the bodies in white are built without an integrated floor. In the case of hybrid and electric applications, the battery will mate directly to the body, forming part of the floor to increase rigidity and reduce weight and manufacturing complexity.

In the case of the iX3, which is mechanically unrelated to the similarly named X3 combustion SUV, the electronics are also significantly less complicated than before. Four "superbrain" high-performance computers take the place of what would've been 20 ECUs in a more conventional setup. Those computers communicate with each other wirelessly, eliminating the 2,000 feet of copper wiring found in a comparable SUV and thereby reducing weight further.

The BMW iX3 will go on sale in the U.S. sometime next summer, likely as a 2027 model. When it arrives, BMW is targeting a base price of less than $60,000 and 400 total miles of driving range. A cheaper model will follow in early 2027, starting under $55,000 and going 300 miles per charge. That would give the company a rather compelling alternative to the Polestar 4, Audi Q6 e-tron, and Tesla Model Y, none of which offer as much range as the top-level BMW.