BMW iX3 disappears from configuration

Although the fully electric mid-range SUV still appears on the German carmaker’s website, when asked, BMW told Inside EVs that orders for the BMW iX3 have been placed in Europe until well into 2025 and that the end of production of the iX3 is planned for Q2/2025.BMW wrote to the German-language US publication, “We have therefore decided to no longer accept orders for individually configured vehicles. Accordingly, the vehicle is no longer available in the configurator. From the end of 2025, the first model in the Neue Klasse will once again be a fully electric offering that is appropriate for the segment.”The successor is already in waiting. Less than a month ago, the luxury carmaker announced that its plant in Steyr had started pre-series production of the new electric motor for the Neue Klasse. This phase should lead to series production in around a year’s time since the debut model of BMW’s next generation of electric cars has already been announced for 2025.The current iX3 is still based on the CLAR mixed platform, which was once developed with a focus on combustion engines. The iX3 was, therefore, only ever available in one drive configuration, namely as a pure rear-wheel drive model. All-wheel drive was not available, even at extra cost. Despite the relatively efficient electric motor with 210 kW output, the range and charging performance can no longer keep up with the (cheaper) competition. From a technical point of view, it’s no surprise then that the carmaker has decided to take it off the configurator. The large electric car is also hampered by being built by BMW-Brilliance in China, which means it will be affected by the impending special tariffs when imported into the EU.Until now, BMW has enjoyed a good customer response to its multi-energy strategy—i.e., electric cars based on combustion models. Among the German premium brands, the Munich-based company has pole position. At Mercedes and Audi, sales of electric cars on purely electric platforms have been somewhat modest. So far, customers have wanted to drive a familiar BMW model—only with an electric drive.This is likely to change in the future and the successor to the iX3 will be the debut model of the Neue Klasse, built in Hungary. This new architecture was developed with electromobility in mind. Here, BMW is switching to round cells for the battery, while the system voltage is increasing to 800 volts. With the upcoming model changes, all electric BMWs are to be converted to the Neue Klasse from the 2 Series to the large 7 Series.Including reporting by Sebastian Schaal, insideevs.de