BMW gives electric iX3 styling tweaks for 2021

BMW has updated its fully electric iX3 SUV, with styling that has been brought into line with the recently revamped X3 — the car upon which it is based.

The new model, which will begin assembly at BMW’s Shenyang facility in China in September, gets aesthetic touches including a larger kidney grille, slimmer and adaptive LED headlights, bulging tail lights, and a front apron redesigned for more prominence.

BMW’s more powerful Laserlight technology can be ordered as an option. It comes equipped with the M Sport package as standard, which now features new style 20-inch M aerodynamic wheels.

The cabin gains a fully digital screen with a 31.2cm instrument cluster and an enlarged control display. BMW Live Cockpit Professional with cloud-based navigation system, BMW maps and BMW intelligent personal assistant, smartphone integration with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, remote software upgrade and other digital services from BMW Connected are available.

It gets sport seats in the new Vernasca leather upholstery variant and interior trim strips in the new Aluminium Rhombicle dark finish but there will be two equipment lines to choose from: Inspiring and Impressive.

The former includes metallic paintwork, adaptive suspension, automatic tailgate operation, a panoramic glass roof, electrically adjustable seats, a sport leather steering wheel, a storage package and a three-zone automatic climate control system with preheating and preconditioning function.

The Impressive grade adds acoustic glazing, BMW Head-Up Display, Harman Kardon Surround Sound System and BMW IconicSounds Electric.

Power is provided by an integrated drive system with electric motor, transmission and power electronics in a single housing.

Maximum output is 210kW and 400Nm in rear-wheel drive configuration. Performance is rated at 6.8 seconds from standstill to 100km/h.

In SA the vehicle will come standard with a 6m charging cable, which is plugged into a household socket, or optionally a dedicated home or office wall charger that takes 7.5 hours for a full charge.

Plugged into a fast DC (Direct Current) public charger replenishes the 80kW/h iX3 battery to 80% of its capacity in 32 minutes. If you are in a hurry BMW says DC charges also offer 100km of driving range in just 10 minutes.

The iX3 is rated with a 460km of pure electric range when fully juiced.  

Standard fitment driver assistance systems include Driving assistant professional with the steering and lane control assistant; active cruise control with stop & go function; automatic speed limit assist and route monitoring; parking assistant with reversing assist camera and reversing assistant.

BMW will launch the iX3 in South Africa in the first quarter of 2022, with pricing to be communicated at the time.