Official Thread BMW Vision Neue Klasse

[Rolf]

Thomas's words at the end of his video are encouraging, describing it as extremely fun to drive, with different and even better attributes than the G20 ICE, and as the most technologically advanced sedan currently available.

Yes I am looking forward to the first drive reviews on the asphalt and without the disguise. This i3 is going to give the class a shake up it needs and the Tesla Model 3 will be surely the car it aims to beat on all counts.

 

[jphcbpa]

Will the ICE be revealed this summer / fall ?

 

[Matski]

I'm a bit shorter than him at 1.85m - long in the leg. When I sit behind myself in my G20, it's also tight. I drive in a much more upright seatback position than most and with my seat base at its lowest [this is the way]. And whilst my feet still fit under the seat base, my knees are just touching the seatback.

I can imagine that sitting behind myself would make the E90 feel more spacious in the back than it really is as my driving position is more NASCAR style than Karting style - but even then, it's certainly not what I'd call roomy.

At the end of the day though, the 3-er was intended to be a compact executive car - typical occupancy of one, with occasional family duty and two kids in the back... I'm not too worried about the i3 with this in mind.

 

[AbsoluteUnit]

The issue is the skateboard chassis means the floor is very high. And unlike the i5 and i7, they didn't make the car taller to compensate. Its the same issue with the CLA. The ICE version fares well, but the EV version has a very high floor.
These companies should really be looking at Lucid, to understand how to package dedicated EV architectures properly.

 

[Centurion]

Looks very cramped.

Hs sedans in this segment ever been spacious in the back?

 

[AbsoluteUnit]

Hs sedans in this segment ever been spacious in the back?

Given that the G20 3 series is about as big as the E60 5 series... It should be doing better than it is.

 

[Der Hofmeister]

The 3er, be it electric or ICE, is part of the medium segment. To be honest, most sedans in this segment are decent regarding rear seat space. The G20 is good, the F30 is as well. The preceding generations - more or less.

The problem of the i3 comes from the packaging. Even if the NA0 is merely longer than the G20 (by 4 centimeters), that does not mean the cabin is actually larger or better integrated. The G50 will feel and be more airy.

 

[Esp5]

Can’t help but wonder why BMW keeps hiding the Hofmeister kink area more than anything else. It’s been under camouflage for so long that at this point it’s either going to be brilliant… or ugly as sin. Given BMW’s last 15 years of uninspired design, I’m betting on the latter—but the young BMW fan in me still hopes they finally correct course & make something beautiful, classic, & unique to the brand.

You're right, the Hofmeister kink will be so ugly that I heard that the i3 will go on sale with that part still camouflaged.

 

[Matski]

These companies should really be looking at Lucid, to understand how to package dedicated EV architectures properly.

It's not about packaging the EV powertrain - it's how you make the rest of the car around it. The Air is longer than all 5-series with the exception of the current one, which is often criticised for being the size of most 7 series. It's also got a similar profile to the one-bow design Mercedes used for the much criticised EQS and EQE. And the Air Pure pretty much starts in price where the (non-M) 3 series finishes...

... which of these characteristics would you carry over to a 3-er segment car?

Air vs G20...

 

[AbsoluteUnit]

It's not about packaging the EV powertrain - it's how you make the rest of the car around it. The Air is longer than all 5-series with the exception of the current one, which is often criticised for being the size of most 7 series. It's also got a similar profile to the one-bow design Mercedes used for the much criticised EQS and EQE. And the Air Pure pretty much starts in price where the (non-M) 3 series finishes...

... which of these characteristics would you carry over to a 3-er segment car?

Air vs G20...

If you look at their skateboard, you can see that they've actually cut out foot wells in the battery and moved them to under where the seats are. Essentially creating more footspace.

The Air is as big as a 5er with interior space more comparable to an S class or 7er. Or so it is claimed.

The i3 doesn't need to go full EQS, but surely there are learnings to take away with respect to how you package the batteries etc.

 

[Matski]

If you look at their skateboard, you can see that they've actually cut out foot wells in the battery and moved them to under where the seats are. Essentially creating more footspace.

Which you can't do without either reducing battery capacity, or making the car longer... the Lucid way of doing things doesn't currently apply to the 3-er segment, simple as that.

 

[Tuffode]

Excited for this, seems like the traction control system is similar to Lucid’s in house system which lets you drift a ton without spinning out. It’s so much fun. Hoping these are available in Individual colors, would honestly consider one in a nice purple.

Seeing the photo of the kidneys this morning really has increased my excitement for this, it was looking too faceless before.

 

[advantage20]

Can’t help but wonder why BMW keeps hiding the Hofmeister kink area more than anything else. It’s been under camouflage for so long that at this point it’s either going to be brilliant… or ugly as sin. Given BMW’s last 15 years of uninspired design, I’m betting on the latter—but the young BMW fan in me still hopes they finally correct course & make something beautiful, classic, & unique to the brand.

It's a key brand design element that typically piques our curiosity and that BMW likes to keep under wraps until the reveal. Pretty sure we're going to get a thicker trim piece fixed to the C-pillar with the model's series number etched onto it, similar to the 5er

 

[Esp5]

It's a key brand design element that typically piques our curiosity and that BMW likes to keep under wraps until the reveal. Pretty sure we're going to get a thicker trim piece fixed to the C-pillar with the model's series number etched onto it, similar to the 5er

I think it will be quite the opposite; the trim piece won't be there. It's not on any of the three i3 concepts presented, nor does it exist on the production iX3. There are many indications that the trim piece isn't part of the NK design, but rather something from the "previous" style. BMW is constantly renewing and modernizing itself, which contributes to its success.

 

[SCOTT27]

It looks like another cap to break up the C-Pillar. The kidney grille is part of the “iconic glow” same as the iX3.

 

[advantage20]

I think it will be quite the opposite; the trim piece won't be there. It's not on any of the three i3 concepts presented, nor does it exist on the production iX3. There are many indications that the trim piece isn't part of the NK design, but rather something from the "previous" style. BMW is constantly renewing and modernizing itself, which contributes to its success.

Look, we can argue exactly the opposite here -- BMW is constantly going back to its roots, which contributes to its success -- and it still works!

The concept vehicles are meant to showcase the essence of the styling language, and therefore aren't designed with the same structural integrity and other technical aspects in mind as the production models. The concepts do not need to be as watertight as the production models for instance, which is why they can get away with their doors looking like they're as flimsy as those on a bathroom cabinet:

We'll see, but it looks to me like the window trim/surround behind the rear door could be big enough to potentially host a 3 or ///M3 graphic, on top of visually elongating the glasshouse as it's usually the case:

I don't think the switch to Neue Klasse means every single recently introduced styling detail is going to be binned. For example the latest model designation badge style with the final 2 digits being smaller looks like it's here to stay, e.g. it'll read ///M350 with the smaller 50:

 

[Esp5]

Look, we can argue exactly the opposite here -- BMW is constantly going back to its roots, which contributes to its success -- and it still works!

BMW constantly innovates and sets the standard in many design details, breaking with the past and setting trends, there are plenty of examples, and it NEVER repeats the same kink in a successor or another model of the brand.

The concept vehicles are meant to showcase the essence of the styling language,

The very essence of NK is without trim piece, as shown in their concepts and the production iX3.

We'll see, but it looks to me like the window trim/surround behind the rear door could be big enough to potentially host a 3 or ///M3 graphic, on top of visually elongating the glasshouse as it's usually the case:

Yes, as I said, "I think" is that we certainly don't know yet, but that's what it seems to me based on the clues given and a little analysis.

I don't think the switch to Neue Klasse means every single recently introduced styling detail is going to be binned. For example the latest model designation badge style with the final 2 digits being smaller looks like it's here to stay, e.g. it'll read ///M350 with the smaller 50:

I don't know if you noticed, but the typography on the new iX3 is completely new and different.

 

[Tuffode]

BMW constantly innovates and sets the standard in many design details, breaking with the past and setting trends, there are plenty of examples, and it NEVER repeats the same kink in a successor or another model of the brand.

I would have agreed with this in the past, but recently it just seems like they gave been following trends.

Floating roof (iX), split headlights, door mounted seat controls, flat bottom steering wheel, flush door handles, single large center mounted touchscreen.

These are all things companies were doing years before BMW jumped on board. Even the “trimless” windows, Range Rover did it years ago and it was done better as the iX3 still has trim on the top part so it looks unbalanced. I honestly can’t think of what they have done recently in terms of blazing the trail design wise recently. Panoramic display maybe but to me it seems like a gimmick and other brands have also done it. Maybe I am missing something.

 

[Tuffode]

Had Gemini had the teased kidney grills to this render although not sure if it will have slats or not.