BMW is set to unveil the all-new iX3 sometime this year. The fully electric (EV) SUV will introduce the marque’s new Neue Klasse platform, alongside a ‘Neue’ look – but the same design language will not only be limited to just the EVs, as BMW Group design chief Adrian van Hooydonk revealed.
In an interview with Autocar, van Hooydonk confirmed that the Neue Klasse design language will soon be rolled out to every single BMW model in its line-up, including internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. The first to do so will be the 5 Series in a facelift update – despite that the latest-generation model was only unveiled in 2023.
The new Neue Klasse design has already been previewed by the Vision Neue Klasse and Vision Neue Klasse X concept vehicles, headlined by the significantly reimagined kidney grille design up front, and a smoother overall styling with less aggressive lines and trims.
“We will make sure that the form language that we are developing now – and starting this year at the IAA [Munich motor show] with the first of the Neue Klasse vehicles – will be rolled out over the entire product portfolio, leaving no car behind,” said van Hooydonk.
The BMW 5 Series facelift will be followed by the X5, 2 Series, X2, 7 Series, and X7, Autocar reports. Within three and a half years, the entire BMW line-up will carry the new Neue Klasse look, according to product boss Bernd Körber.
The reason for the redesign, according to van Hooydonk, is so that the other cars don’t look like previous-generation products alongside the upcoming BMW iX3 and 3 Series, both of which will be built on the all-new EV-specific Neue Klasse platform.
But don’t worry, the redesign doesn’t mean each model will have the same cookie-cutter Neue Klasse design. The design chief clarifies that while they will all have a familial resemblance, each model will still have its “own distinct character traits”. Think the clean shoulder lines on the 5 Series, and the small upkick, almost-duck-tail-like silhouette of the boot on the 3 Series.
While not confirmed, the Neue Klasse redesign should also include an interior makeover, featuring the marque’s latest-generation Panoramic iDrive cockpit design with a wraparound instrumentation screen above the dashboard.
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BMW has originally planned to limit the Neue Klasse design to just its EV models – a trend that it initially explored with the radically-different BMW iX EV SUV. However, the German carmaker changed its tune in October last year, confirming that the design direction would make its way to ICE models as well.
Why are we making this much change in design? Because the technology is changing this much. Society’s appetite for change has sped up,” van Hooydonk said. “We’re not only launching one car now in September: it will be the beginning of a whole range of new vehicle launches in the next two to three years. We’re going to renew pretty much the whole product line-up.”
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