This is the Vision Neue Klasse X,
and it provides a big insight into one of the
most important BMWs ever. Neue Klasse?
Even with my dodgy German,
I know it means new class.
BMW experts will recognise the significance.
Back in 1962, the original
Neue Klasse 1500 was the car that saved
BMW from near bankruptcy. It also set a
template for BMW design that the
Bavarians very skillfully evolved over
the next three decades.
Until they decided that polarising
opinion was much more fun.
I mean, do you remember the Chris Bangle years?
Before social media was even a thing,
there was an online petition to
get the poor guy fired. Unbelievable.
BMW has lately given us the iX, the i7
and the, erm, XM.
Bold and progressive to some,
an offence to all things that are holy to others.
Whatever your opinion, the Neue Klasse
represents a massive reset.
First, we had the saloon.
And now, we have this,
the BMW Vision Neue Klasse X.
Look at that front end.
This is a confident, robust and very cleanly surfaced car.
Forget the recent adventures in polarisation.
The shock value here is
that the Vision X looks a lot like a BMW,
a wholly modern one and rammed with new technology.
This isn't just about a new
design language though.
The Vision Neue Klasse saloon
and X crossover follow the
Vision Circular and the i Vision Dee concept cars
in setting BMW on the path to full
electrification and sustainability.
There's a whole new approach to the
interior and to the concept of connectivity.
The hardware underneath is modular,
so it will encompass electric cars
from a 2 series-sized saloon all
the way up to a full-size X7 SUV.
Front-rear and all-wheel drive will all be
available in a variety of wheelbases
and ride heights. The Vision Neue Klasse saloon,
well, that teases the new three series.
But that's some way off.
It's this, likely to be
called the iX3, that will
land in showrooms first.
The Neue Klasse cars will use BMW sixth-generation
lithium-ion batteries in 75, 90 and 105kWh capacities.
Range, thermal efficiency and charging times are all
said to be around 30% improved on the current setup.
The hardware uses less
rare earth materials such as cobalt and
features more recycled nickel.
The Neue Klasse has also been designed from the
beginning to use far more secondary
materials and will itself be much easier to recycle.
Production is due to start in November
in a brand-new factory that's
entirely fossil fuel-free, but the car
won't land in BMW showrooms until
autumn 2025. This really is a massive
tech story and here's an example.
BMW's new supercomputer controller,
the so-called Heart of Joy. Now this combines
the hardware and software so that the
cars powertrain and all the dynamic
functionality, the traction control,
the stability control systems, braking,
all that stuff, is all governed by one
supercomputer rather than multiple
subprocessors. Why does this matter?
Because traditional ECUs suffer from a
time lag usually between 10 and 20 milliseconds.
This, the Heart of Joy – great name –
reduces that to just one millisecond.
Ironically that should help deliver
a more analogue sensation, making this
new-age BMW feel alert and interactive,
as well as more efficient. EVs might be fast
and powerful but there's a certain
sameyness in how they behave.
BMW reckons the Heart of Joy will give its
cars distinct character.
Over to Frank Weber, the chief technical officer who
told me this, "Those of you who love the
ultimate driving machine are going to love it.
Some of the functions we have
are crazy." Thanks Frank.
We're also talking about an architecture that can
run four electric motors and a battery setup
that's good for up to one megawatt of power.
That's 1,340bph. No need to
worry about the next M3 then.
That though is for another day.
I can't wait to come back to that one.
Back to the here and now and the Vision Neue Klasse X.
I'm joined by Kai Langer who's the head of
iDesign at BMW.
Kai, my head is practically
exploding trying to take in everything
that you're doing around Neue Klasse.
I mean, this is like the biggest thing BMW
has ever done. Someone said to me
yesterday, "The biggest investment for sure."
The biggest investment for sure,
but also we have to be future proof.
That's the reason why we do it and that's also
the reason why you see an SAV implemented
into our new architecture and
how it would look like. - OK, so, you know,
we've had some months to get familiar
with what you've done with the Neue Klasse saloon.
Can you sum up in, I don't know,
two or three kind of handy
soundbites or phrases... What the
Neue Klasse design language... What is it?
What is the essence of it? - Two or three is difficult
though because there's a lot.
But if I have to boil it down,
I would say it's uncomplicated, it's bold,
it's reduced, iconic, cool and alive.
OK. That was probably five or six but that's
good and they're all... I think I've
remembered them all. And a lot of interest
obviously, you know, BMW since the '62 Neue Klasse.
In fact, you can go back to the 30s,
the double kidney grille and the lights.
We should start at
the front here because you've done some
pretty cool stuff here. So tell us about,
well, tell me about the Neue Klasse
approach to the front end.
I mean, you just mentioned it.
We have a rich history, right?
And we have a heritage and
obviously we have very, very strong icons.
We've shown it already, a new
interpretation on our icons into the
digital icons on the Neue Klasse sedan and
what we see here is exclusive
interpretation for our SAVs. Like a more
vertical approach to our icons and
this is where we came up to add our
jewellery pieces into our digital icons.
There's no chrome here, no bright work.
No, there's no chrome, no real chrome.
We don't want to use it for the future
anymore because obviously, you know, it's
it's hard to produce and to be
environmentally friendly. So what we play
again here is to replace the chrome with light.
OK, that's cool. And so, the
double kidneys on the X models –
so the SAVs, the off-road cars – they're gonna
be vertical. Throughout? And then saloon, we've seen
in the Neue Klasse saloon, which
we should go and have a look at actually – horizontal.
[Kai] Yeah, I mean it suits
the Concepts very well, we believe.
So, we have a dynamic agile sedan, which is
like more on the horizontal side of the
Concept, right? And obviously with SAVs,
people like the presence these cars have
and since we have to be all-over more
efficient in its overall proportions – so
the car becomes a little bit more lower,
a little bit more aerodynamically efficient.
Nevertheless, we want to give
them that feel of presence with like a
vertical exclusive icon.
Yeah, the beltline in this car is unusually low, isn't it.
So that's the edge of the window line.
We can see that in the Neue Klasse as well.
That's also quite a bold thing to do, isn't it?
I mean, you can see it's low.
Why have you gone with that approach?
I mean, we talked a lot and I tend to talk
a lot with people like you, with my team
and what they feel about cars and
that's very interesting because we are
all human beings, right? And we also
thought about and discussed about when
it happened that cars become like the
windows more narrow and narrow and narrow
and almost like tank-style window surfaces,
you know, almost to nothing and
then even tinted. So it all looks very
aggressive and we thought... I don't know,
we don't think that the future should be
that aggressive and we want to include
the people more towards what's happening
outside and there's nature. There are
nice things, right? And we want to get
light into the car. So this is where we
decided to try to drop down the beltline
to create more window surfaces.
And to be honest, that also helps to make
the car more agile,
dynamic and lightweight.
Because, if you remember, 3.0 CSL, I mean,
that car had a very low beltline and a
very big greenhouse but nobody actually
ever asked that this car is not dynamic.
So it still works. You can be very dynamic
and sportive but without being
aggressive and I think... we think that
lower beltline and bigger window surfaces
also play along with it.
Shall we get into it
and have a look inside?
So, Kai, there are four main pillars to the interior,
if I remember correctly.
New multifunction steering wheel,
panoramic vision display there,
the central screen here and the head-up display.
- Yeah. - Well, I don't know where we should start.
I tell you one thing I've
noticed straight away is it's, um, I mean,
it's not actually a four-spoke wheel, is it.
But we have a spoke here at the
top of the steering wheel as well and
of course, in a normal car or conventionally,
we need that space to read
the instrument display. But not here
because it's up there. I mean, that's the
stroke of genius, isn't it, using this
area of real estate inside the car
to actually have what, you know,
your instruments basically.
And, yeah, you just said it. We are using what's already there.
You need a windshield and to us it
was like just the next logical step to
project all the information into the
windshield because we obviously know
it works very well with our head-up display.
And why not using it over the
whole windshield width.
And that became our... obviously became our vision panoramic display.
And it works in the triangle of, like,
the steering wheel and the right-hand spoke.
You can direct it to the CID or directly
towards the panoramic vision display.
And, yeah, we believe that's like a
whole new functionality for our
customers and way more practical.
There's no iDrive controller.
I'm old enough to have attended the launch of the
'65 7 Series when that was first shown
and the, you know, some of the
criticism and confusion that followed that.
But, of course, everybody adopted it after that.
Everybody adopted it and it worked very well.
It also worked very well for us.
So... - Now, you've got rid of it!
Now we got rid of it but we believe
that what you get instead is no step backward.
So, instead you get like more
functionality more of the high-tech functions
integrated into way more intuitive interaction.
[Jason] Sure. So the functions that were done
by the iDrive are now on this
right-hand spar of the steering wheel.
Is that right?
Couple of them and then you can go towards the CID
and the central display. - Yeah.
[Kai] And also then you are able to basically shoot your functions
and your icons to the centre...
to the panoramic vision displays to have
it always in in your field view and
functionality if you want.
So obviously, you can personalise the central screen
but you can also slide it from here and
then it appears over here? - Yeah.
[Jason] Incredible. What do you... what's your
favourite bit in here? I mean, I'm just
looking around and it does occur to me
there's a massive amount of technology going on.
But then you look at the seat adjustment
and how spare and sparse
the door panel is. - I mean this is really what
my favourite bit on this car is
is actually the overall appearance.
Because as you just said, that's the
hardest thing to have like this huge
amount of technology and functionality
that people expect from cars. To put it
into a car that looks effortless, clean
and easy, you know.
Very welcoming and suited to you as a human being,
to us as a human being.
And you don't have to fear anything but nevertheless you get all the functionality.
That is my favourite bit.
And that you actually feel home and very comfortable.
Incredible. And I love this,
I don't know, I don't know why I really like it.
I mean, is this... is this stuff that you can...
Can we expect this for real?
I mean, obviously, you know,
the function of a Vision car,
a Concept car is to kind of, you know,
you have a bit of fun with it. You show us...
tease us with some things that we're
definitely going to see and then have some
fun with things that we're not going to see.
We'll find always good show cars
which promote ideas that someone found
a way into... into production.
And I can tell you from day one with the i Circular,
everything, every idea that we showcased
has a serious reason behind it.
And some people could say that we
became more and more close to reality
functions in products. So you can
expect all of our ideas you find here on this car
being somehow developed in a certain stage.
And be found somewhere in our cars.
The new iDrive bridges the gap
between this being a car and something
that the owner really wants to interact
and coexist with.
It's sustainable, high tech, but warm and human-centric.
And if you thought the world had gone totally SUV,
well, think again.
Well, look what we found.
Yeah, look what's there, right?
The Neue Klasse and it's inescapably a saloon,
which is a kind of, you know,
archetype car, archetype...
We're being told is not important anymore.
You've been told it's not important?
No, I love it! I mean, I'm a saloon guy.
I love saloons, but I'm quite old.
Yeah, OK. I'm happy to show you then
that the future for sedan is not that yet.
So this is actually what we believe in.
I mean, this is where we started from, right?
This is when we talk about the about the Neue Klasse.
The old Neue Klasse in 1961,
it started with the sedan.
It started with the mid-size sedan and
created its own... its own segment basically for BMW.
And started all the success for BMW.
So, what's so important about that car design-wise for you?
I mean, it brought it down to a point, you know.
It was in a way simplistic
and offered a lot of functionality
down to the point.
Like, really, it didn't mess around with...
Yeah, I can do this, you can do this.
It did a bold statement and
was working very, very well
for its purposes.
So people obviously liked it and that kept going
and obviously we spread
it overall our whole family
and we made a lot of products and
portfolio out of it. - Sure.
So, and with this car,
we actually talk about our heritage
in that mid-size sedan and say like,
"OK, fans, people, customers,
sedan is not that
and could also be brought into the future
where a lot of people think that a sedan
doesn't have a place anymore,
but we believe it does have.
OK, so this was the car that you
first showed your hand,
set out the new template
for the design language going forward.
What are the essential aspects on the Neue Klasse saloon
that we should be looking at?
I mean, we thought it
made sense to start again
where we just base our
success from with the Neue Klasse.
And when we call it Neue Klasse, obviously,
it should have been a sedan.
And again, we thought about like,
OK, let's bring it down
to the essence of BMW.
So what is like a
true-to-the-bone DNA BMW?
And obviously you find it within this car.
It has like a very well-balanced overall proportion.
Again, it has like a low beltline.
It looks agile, very dynamic,
but without being aggressive.
So, I mean, I remember when I first saw it.
It was the positioning of the rear,
right at the top.
That was controversial, right?
- Yeah. - We knew that this
would be like the thing.
But we believe that it
makes sense, you know, to include it.
I mean, I still believe that's the right move
because it continues like,
and follows the overall sculpture
and form and then logic.
And then creating the function there
in a part which is obviously way
easier to manufacture in that position
than steel or like aluminium.
There's a lot of clever stuff going on inside as well.
I mean, some of it is
LEDs and some of it is...
- Magic. - Magic.
Smoke and mirrors without the smoke.
And just to sum up,
the sort of the essence of the Neue Klasse
as seen in this car and in the Vision X,
these are ideas, concepts, approaches
that you can then apply across
the board to the whole range.
That's the plan, of course.
I mean, we are...
Sports car, Kai.
How about a sports car?
You name it. I mean, we've got plenty of cars
in our portfolio, right?
But obviously, that is the plan.
And that's the idea behind the whole design strategy
and design and form language that we show here.
Is that it could apply to all of our cars.
That this story works for all of them,
But without losing each individual character
for each product because this is
something BMW is known for,
that all of our cars have their own character.
And we want to keep it that way,
but they all belong to the same family then.
Truly, this is a brave new world.
BMW knows full well that its buyers
don't just want a
giant smartphone on wheels.
We all crave that emotional connection
that you can only get from a well-sorted car.
The signs are that these Neue Klasse models
will deliver on that.
And besides, combustion engine
cars will still be available,
Well, for now.