KLASSE IS PERMANENT(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 58

We're now used to car makers trying to redefine what a mid-sized electric SUV should be, but BMW second generation iX3 really does. The first of a fresh era of the Munich maker's Neue Klasse designs, it will badly frighten its premium rivals. If you're choosing at the up-market end of this segment, you simply can't ignore it.

Background word count: 157

Back in 1961, BMW reinvented the way it designed and built motorcars with the original Neue Klasse models. Now, it does so again with a new electric architecture platform that will undergird its next era of development. Starting with this car, the second generation iX3. We already had five generations of BMW EV development, but this sixth one is the first not be based on a platform originally designed for combustion drive. That was the downfall of the Chinese-made MK1 iX3 that arrived in 2020, which was heavy, unremarkable and couldn't even be had with more than one motor. But that was because BMW was throwing all its resources into developing something much better - and this is it. Everything about this premium mid-sized electric SUV is different, not only from its predecessor but from just about everything else in its over-crowded sector. New standards seem to have been set here. Let's see how they stack up.