After years of increasingly polarizing design decisions, BMW seems to hit the Reset key with a design (and a philosophical) shift that the brand can connect with its roots again – all while becoming electrical.
With the upcoming family of new class of electric vehicles, the Bavarian car manufacturer is ready to reintroduce some long-lost basics again and after overeats, clear lines and interiors that were designed for the driver. The shift is not just cosmetic. It is a deeper philosophical change for the brand that even extends to combustion cars.
The street back to drive the purity
BMW has long marketed itself as a supplier of the “Ultimate Driving Machine”, but the latest models have not always fulfilled this billing – at least in the eyes of purists. While many of the latest offers of the brand are objectively competent and technologically advanced, they often lack cohesion and clarity that defined the best of the past work of BMW. Vehicles such as the 2 Series-Base Gran Coupé with front-wheel drive, although it is capable, have criticized because they are too far from the traditional identity of the brand of vehicles based on the rear drive drive.
This will now change with the new class platform and its gene6 architecture. With this new approach, all new BMW EVs will either be at the back or all wheel drive with a rear drive closure. This not only offers optimal packaging for future products, but also matches the traditional dynamic values of BMW.
Design characteristics that are actually important
BMW seems to be aware of the latest design criticism. Designers and engineers regularly cite the E21, E30 and E46 as inspiration, and the company’s new class design direction is strongly supported by this descent.
The vision of new class and vision NEE class X concepts indicate a re -calibration of proportions and intentions. It seems that the classic properties of BMW are back: CAB-Rearward design, crisp surfaces and shorter overhangs that indicate improved dynamics. Visual lines are better, columns are slimmer and the belt line is lower, which offers drivers a more dominant view of the street.
These are not just aesthetic improvements – they have practical consequences. By using the packaging freedoms from EV platforms, BMW has managed to create cars that look more compact and more balanced, even if their actual footprints do not shrink dramatically. In a world in which almost every vehicle grows with every generation, this is not a small performance.
That means there is no wholesale back into the past. The chrome decoration was largely removed in favor of shiny black elements and light -based details. It is a clean, modern look, and although not everyone appeals, it brings cohesion and a more modern identity in the future list of BMW.
Infotainment covered
Inside, the greatest shift can be the next generation’s iDrive system, which is anchored by what BMW describes as a “panoramic view view”. Instead of filling the cabin with ever heavy screens, BMW further positions critical information upwards, closer to the driver’s line of sight. A wide, head-like display includes the windshield, which is angled to the driver by a trapezoidal control screen. The aim is to reduce the distraction and to improve clarity.
From the point of view of user -friendliness, this could be a welcome correction. The earlier iterations of BMW were advanced, sometimes criticized to bury the functionality behind too many layers of UI. Whether the new setup really remains to compensate for the simplicity and ability, but at least the philosophy shifts in a promising direction.
Burning is not left behind
While the new class platform EV-First is, its influence also extends to BMW’s ice models. Future internal combustion cars based on a revised version of the existing CLAR platform will apply many of the same design and technical elements – in particular the new infotainment interface and the updated design language.
This step will help create a uniform visual and experimental language in the entire brand. This could exhaust dividends in brand clarity – something that BMW has not always done in recent years.
What comes and when
So it is expected how the new class rollout will develop from new ones:
2025/2026: The first new class EVS – the i3 sedan and IX3 crossover – enter production.
2027: New class-based IX1 joins the line-up. Rumors indicate that a Mini -Landsmann EV could follow at will.
2027: The electrical M3 (Project code ZA0) arrives.
2028: i4 Coupé and Cabrio -Land next to a smaller I1 model.
Before 2030: A larger i5 is expected to round off the NEE class.
Our attitude
New class drives a lot – not only in terms of electrification, but in the way BMW moves forward. While it would be unrealistic to expect a complete return to the analogue purity of an E30, the shift in priorities – from form through the function, for functional function – is promising.
It is too early to explain the victory. Performance, pricing and the real execution of these concepts will ultimately determine whether BMW can regain magic. But at least for the moment the right questions are asked – and the answers begin to make themselves known.
