We’ve already seen, and lauded, the bigger iX3 electric SUV, a BMW so good that we named it as our Irish Times car of the year back in December. Now, though the same “Neue Klasse” platform (a name plucked, with much significance, from BMW’s history) is going to work under the car that, for many of us, defines what a BMW is, even in the SUV age. Still, it’s possibly the most handsome BMW of recent years, with a sharp-edged look that clearly owes a debt to the 1980s E30 3 Series. Little flicks of LED lights at the outer edge of that grille pay homage to the traditional BMW quad-light look. BMW i3If, after all that, you’re still an electric sceptic then BMW will be keeping petrol-and-hybrid-powered 3 Series, using the platform of the current model, but wearing the skin of this Neue Klasse i3.

Source: The Irish Times March 18, 2026 23:50 UTC