There’s been so much focus lately on BMW’s upcoming ‘Neue Klasse’ electric iX3 that you could be forgiven for thinking that it will replace the current ICE-powered X3 entirely when it arrives next year. But in reality, the current combustion SUV is being heavily revised to sit alongside the iX3, and today we found out a little more about those important revisions. Although the BMW Neue Klasse architecture that forms the base of the iX3, as well as the next 3-Series that arrives in 2026, can handle both ICE and EV powertrains, only the electric version of the compact SUV gets the new platform. The regular, gas-powered X3 continues with the older CLAR chassis but receives a styling makeover that brings in a squarer nose and sleek flush door handles, two features already seen on its X1 little brother.
Autocar reports that the wheelbase
measures 2,865 mm which would make it one whole millimeter than before, but says the new model is fractionally longer, wider, and
lower – though not by so much that you’re likely to notice. It retains a fairly
upright rear window, which, together with the more conventional front grille
setup, will make it easy to tell from its electric counterpart. The interior
receives BMW’s latest OS9 iDrive system and the wide, curved infotainment
screen, and swaps its traditional gear selector for a toggle. But the good news
for old-school fans is that the rotary iDrive selector lives on. Seating is
still strictly for five, but the trunk has reportedly grown by 20
liters.
Changes below the skin will include a new
steering rack and a wider front track, plus more power for the six-cylinder
M40i replacement. That’ll be badged M50 XDrive, we’re told, and should make
around 396 hp, a healthy increase on the 355 hp the current
model makes in Europe, though America’s M40i already pumps out 382 hp.
Autocar says the UK lineup will include 2.0-liter, four-cylinder petrol and
diesel models, both with mild-hybrid tech and standard all-wheel drive, but all
eyes will be on the xDrive30e PHEV. Like today’s plug-in, it’s an electrified
inline-four and should make more than the 288 hp of the existing
version. Most importantly, it should deliver a big improvement in electric
range. The 2024 PHEV only manages 60 km on a charge, half of what
the best new plug-in SUVs can do.
Whether America will actually get the PHEV
this time around, we don’t yet know. Neither the plug-in nor iX3 electric
versions of today’s X3 are sold in North America, and the next U.S. ICE-powered
X3 lineup might only include a 30 xDrive and the M50 xDrive at the launch this
fall. But we can be sure that the all-new iX3 previewed by this year’s Neue
Klasse X SUV concept will definitely be on the menu in every major market for
2026.
