2026 BMW iX3 revealed in patent filing, i3 sedan & wagon to follow in 2026

November 2024: New iX3 revealed with Neue Klasse styling

The next-generation 2026 BMW iX3 has made an unscheduled debut this week, revealed in design patent files — usually required to be publicly accessible as part of any standard trademark and patent search.

While the current iX3 is largely identical to the regular G01 X3 that launched in 2017, this new generation of the popular electric SUV will stand apart with its own unique styling and platform, moving away from the new G45 X3 range that launched with petrol, diesel and PHEV powertrains this year.

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As these classically dull but detailed patent images show, the new iX3 will take its styling cues from the Neue Klasse (New Class) X concept revealed in March this year.

The Neue Klasse X concept showcases another reimagined take on BMW's iconic split grille layout (known colloquially in the past as a 'kidney' design), this time referencing early BMW models with a smaller and narrower design than we've seen in recent years.

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Indeed, even the Neue Klasse sedan concept revealed in 2023 has its own distinct grille design, with a wing-like shape spreading out across the boxy sedan's face. The X concept features the same 'wings', but with that new compact grille at their centre. It's a look that quickly evokes thoughts of the iconic 2002.

In its upcoming iX3 production form, the X concept's compact 'grille' appears to carry over largely unchanged — if more as a signature faceplate now than an actual functional opening.

The broader design themes of the concept can likewise be identified in the patent image, but without the overall muscly lines and proportions of the show car, as is often the way with any concept's transition to production.

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What do you think of the look?

Patent images, necessarily dull and unflattering, should never be taken as a fully accurate depiction of a final production, of course.

With that in mind, tell us in the comments below if you think it's a good look or a fail!

When will the new 2026 BMW iX3 go on sale?

Exactly when we'll see the new iX3 make its official debut is unclear. Our earlier information, detailed below in Georg Kacher's original story, pointed to an unveiling sometime in 2024.

But, as the year's end closes in, a 2025 reveal for a '25 or '26 model year seems likely. Any Australian launch after mid-year is likely to come badged as a 2026 model.

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2023: iX3 due in 2024, i3 sedan and wagon to follow in 2026

Georg Kacher

BMW’s first ‘new class’ model to hit the road won’t be the four-door i3 previewed this week by the Vision Neue Klasse – but the next iX3 electric SUV. Of course.

This raises the question of whether the X-badged Neue Klasse SUVs will share the horizontal front-end grille design with the sedan – or whether there is a new SUV-specific signature in the making.

While the iX3 taps the NK tech cluster, the next X3 remains loyal to the CLAR WE DNA. The different underpinnings suggest different dash-to-axle ratios, but the styling between ICE and EV will again be almost identical – repeating the strategy chosen for the new 7 Series & i7, and the upcoming three-door Mini.

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The same scheme will allegedly be repeated for the future 3 Series and the Neue Klasse-based i3, expected in late 2026. The electric i3 Touring wagon and its ICE sibling are due to follow six months later.

"Design can speed up change," states the man in charge, styling boss Adrian van Hooydonk. "The Vision Neue Klasse is so progressive it looks like we skipped one model generation."

The new mid-liner still displays must-have design elements like big 21-inch aero wheels, set-back greenhouse, monolithic proportions and extra-clean surfaces.

While we can understand that BMW does not want to create a two-class society like Mercedes has done with the combustion-based E-Class and electric-only EQE, the cab-backward silhouette of Vision NK does not seem to be the logical first choice for an EV which has no need for an engine bay.

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The BMW Neue Klasse concept

Wouldn’t the i3 be better off with a longer wheelbase, as in part compensation for the massive underfloor battery pack which pushes up the H-point by however small a margin, compromising the already tightish packaging?

To which extent, and where exactly, does the identikit design have a negative effect on cabin space? And how does the saloon fare in this respect vis-à-vis the stacked iX3?

BMW to update its model naming

Applications filed with the EU trademark authorities suggest a pending change of nomenclature which will likely kick off with the Neue Klasse launch.

While the X3 will reportedly be badged X320 and X330, the iX3 goes on sale as iX330, iX340 and iX350.

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The current BMW iX3, based on the regular petrol and diesel X3 range.

The same formula is valid for the rest of the range with the 560, 660 and 760 monikers gracing the top-of-the-line models.

According to the unofficial launch schedule, the new iX4 will be introduced at the same time as the i3. In the third quarter of 2027, insiders expect the second-edition iX1, one more Neue Klasse offspring.

Towards the end of the same calendar year, the fully electric i1 five-door hatchback is due to see the light, filling the void left wide open by the departing A-Class.

While the future of the 2 Series coupé is said to be iffy, the 2 Series GranCoupé prevails as i2 only in long-wheelbase guise which suggests it will be sold exclusively in China.

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The current BMW i4 electric sedan.

2028 is the tentative launch window for the i4 coupé, convertible and the MkII i4 GranCoupé.

Rounding off the first wave of NK entries is the i7 replacement informants pencil in for 2029. In the sequel to this piece, we are going to tell you what the M division and the new Alpina subbrand have up their high-voltage sleeves.

While it is not clear whether Mini will at some point also join the NK faction, the mould-breaking lead car of the Bavarian electric revolution – the full-size iX – will almost certainly bite the dust at the end of its first and only life cycle in 2028.

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The final surprise of the day concerns the X5, X6, X7 and XM which will, contrary to common belief, not just yet switch to the Neue Klasse platform.

Instead, the large SUVs continue to ride on the CLAR WE components set in ECE and EV guise well into the next decade.

How come? Because packing constraints are not such a big issue for full-size models and because it is logistically wiser to roll out the transformation in two waves.