There is an unwritten rule that people shouldn’t buy a car in their first year of production, as it may still have undiscovered problems. This has the truth, as in many cases the car manufacturers need additional time to iron out mistakes, even after the start of assembly. This is particularly relevant in 2025 when software has completely adopted our cars. There are several examples of new models, especially luxury brands with software gremlins.
With this in mind, it is understandable that some hesitate to buy a car as soon as it gets on sale. This applies in particular to brand new vehicles developed on a platform that has not yet been used. The IX3 shares nothing with its predecessor or another model in BMWS line -up. From Idrive X and Panoramic Vision to electric motors and batteries of the sixth generation, the “NA5” is a really new product.
Nevertheless, BMW is confident that its first “real software-defined vehicle” will not be plagued by bugs at the start. Mike Reichelt, head of the new class program, told Autocar The software of the 2026 IX3 was developed completely internally. This gave BMW complete control over the “brain” of the crossovers and enabled the company to eliminate problems on the way.
The new technology, which was led by the IX3, was not by a separate team, but by the entire group of people who are involved in the project, “every engineer at BMW has to do with this new technology. For me it is a mistake if you think you can take over digital development outside the company or another part of the company.”
As with other BMW products in the digital age, the IX3 will improve over time. More than 60 models already support regular updates that have been introduced to around 10 million cars. So far, the owners have applied over 15 million updates, and the process becomes even easier for the new class models.
The electrical crossover has an automatic update function that does the entire work for you after activation. The driver only has to confirm that the update is installed. BMW claims that the implementation does not last more than 20 minutes.
Reichelt argues that “every engineer has to go into the digital world” and underlines that the good old days of analog cars are gradually becoming a distant memory. BMW is far from the exception. Practically all car manufacturers are now taking the same way to focus on software.
Source: AutoCar
