BMW just turned the page — and the new iX3 makes everything that came before look outdated
The first Neue Klasse production car arrived at BIMOS 2026 with 800V, 400 kW charging and a cabin BMW has never tried before. The era starts now.
BMW has finally decided to turn the page. At BMW’s stand in Busan, the headliner was the new BMW iX3 50 xDrive — and this isn’t just another electric crossover. It’s the first production model of Neue Klasse, the platform with which the brand officially opens a new era for its EVs. BMW itself calls the iX3 the “first model of a new era.” And these aren’t empty words — the architecture, the battery and a completely rethought cabin all back them up.
In Busan you could finally see the car up close. The blue-grey crossover stood next to MINI and other BMW Group Korea models, and almost nothing remains from the previous iX3. The front end looks cleaner and visually lower. The famous “nostrils” have shrunk, gained an illuminated contour and now openly reference the classic Neue Klasse of the 1960s. Slim headlights, large wheels with aerodynamic inserts, near-smooth flanks — next to BMW’s familiar X models, the new iX3 looks like it stepped in from the next decade.
The Korean market gets the iX3 50 xDrive. Two electric motors, all-wheel drive, a combined output of 345 kW — that’s 469 hp — and 645 N·m of torque. Zero to 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds. Top speed limited to 210 km/h.
The real ace isn’t acceleration. It’s the battery. The new iX3 runs on an 800-volt architecture, with a high-voltage battery rated at 108.7 kWh of usable capacity and DC charging support up to 400 kW. From 10 to 80% in 21 minutes. And 10 minutes at a fast-charger adds up to 372 km of WLTP range. Seriously — ten minutes, nearly 400 kilometres.
The claimed WLTP range is up to 805 km. For the Korean version, BMW Korea quotes up to 611 km on the local certification cycle. The gap is wide, but it’s expected: the Korean methodology and WLTP simply measure differently, and lining them up head-to-head is a thankless exercise.
The cabin is completely new — and this is where BMW took a step few rivals have dared to. There’s no separate instrument cluster. None at all. In its place sits BMW Panoramic Vision, a projection zone running the full width of the lower windscreen. The central display is angled toward the driver, and the buttons on the steering wheel work on a shy-tech principle: they light up and reveal themselves only when needed. Beneath it all is a new electronic architecture built around four high-performance compute units. One of them is Heart of Joy, the controller managing the link between drive, steering, braking and recuperation. A single brain for the entire dynamic experience.
One more detail BMW is especially proud of. The iX3 is the first production model from BMW’s new plant in Debrecen, Hungary, built specifically for the next generation of the brand’s EVs. Korean prices are already on the table: SE — 79.9 million won, M Sport — around 86.9–87.1 million won, M Sport Pro — 91.9 million won. Sales start on July 6. The Neue Klasse era is officially underway.