We Drive BMW's Neue Klasse! Do 4 Brains + Heart of Joy = Ultimate Driving?

Motor Trend

a day ago

In the early '60s, a struggling BMW needed a clean break from its dowdy, outdated luxury models and slow-selling economy cars and motorcycles. That's when the Quandt family invested in the brand, ordering development of the Neue Klasse— BMW's then first completely new car since 1933. These sleeker models introduced the iconic 'Hofmeister kink,' drove well, and made the brand and its reputation what they are today.
BMW is reviving that nomenclature to signal that the architecture underpinning this 2026 BMW iX3, the forthcoming i3 sedan, and a whole family of 40 new electric, gas, and hybrid SUVs, sedans, and maybe a supercar is the 'newest' since that 1962 BMW 1500. Will drivers really feel the difference?
BMW organized an elaborate demonstration drive of prototype iX3 50 xDrive models (the first Neue Klasse variant to launch) at its Miramas proving ground in southern France in hopes we'd feel it, and we came away impressed. 1-Millisecond Latency
Probably the single biggest achievement here is the switch to zonal architecture with 'four big brains'—the one dedicated to driving dynamics is dubbed 'Heart of Joy'—directly running every single gizmo and widget on the car, with no hierarchical delegation to supplier-authored software running on supplier-sourced silicon. The whole shebang is BMW here, which cuts overall latency (the time between ordering and executing an action) from the typical 10–50 milliseconds down to just 1 ms. Believe it or not, you can feel this at the wheel of this fully electric iX3, because it is forever calculating precisely how much grip is available at each tire. Damp Cornering
On a wet handling course interspersed with dry patches, in its default driving mode the iX3 always heads in the direction it's pointed despite our determined efforts to force oversteer or make it plow. In Sport mode, the system rewards similar antics with gentle, easily maintained drifts. We especially appreciated this system on our early morning drive on twisty, hilly rural roads still partially damp with morning dew. Powering out of shady corners gave the impression they were bone dry, when strong braking in similar corners revealed loads of ABS intervention, revealing the low-mu truth.
Always knowing the precise grip level allows that brainy Heart of Joy to mete out precisely the maximum amount of power or retardation conditions will allow, with nothing squandered in clumsy iterative braking stabs. This allowed our iX3 to follow an M4 remarkably closely around much of the handling circuit, despite weighing more and packing roughly 25 percent less power. It's like the hyperfast electronics bestow 'virtual agility.'
Of course, the M4's actual agility clearly allowed it to scoot out of tighter corners more quickly, as we waited for our taller SUV to settle back down to allow even distribution of full power to all four wheels. Alas, there's no electronic escape from physics). Revolutionary Braking
Three levels of regeneration can be selected via the screen, but true one-pedal driving is accessed via shifting to B mode, and with the 1ms latency, BMW claims 99 percent of customer braking can be handled via regen. With the 'Heart of Joy' superbrain able to directly micromanage the braking at each wheel under all circumstances, engineers have programmed them to deliver a limousine stop (no head bobbing) every time.
They gently release just as the car comes to a complete stop, whether you're braking manually or via one-pedal driving. We tried our best limo stop in neutral (no regen) and didn't come close. A sharply twisting steep descent demonstrated that the computer can't be flummoxed by widely varying wheel speeds. The Neue Klasse's greatly expanded reliance on regenerative braking is largely responsible for its claimed 25-percent improvement in overall efficiency.
At least for entry-level iX3 models, the suspension is completely passive, but the geometry, dampers, and elastokinematic bits are all new, and everything's tuned to attenuate or eliminate vibration or oscillation. Strategic reinforcement and the structural battery box provide an extremely rigid body and chassis. Body motions are well controlled, allowing natural levels of roll, pitch and dive. The ride/handling compromise impressed us on rural French roads, but the acid test will be neglected American pavement.
Sport mode steering is meant to feel less anodyne, with effort at the rim tied to the lateral grip information calculated by the 'heart of joy.' Try as we may, we failed to notice evidence of changing road grip, meaning it's still no match for the E39 5-Series' hydraulic system in delivering fingertip joy.
Exact specifications for the asynchronous induction front and brushed synchronous rear motors have yet to be released, but the round-number estimates are 300kW/600Nm, or 402 hp/442 lb-ft combined. A new silicon-carbide inverter generates 40 percent less heat/energy loss than the previous silicon ones. 4 Driving Modes
The vehicle always starts up in Personal mode, which can indeed be personalized for everything but the powertrain mode (which impacts efficiency ratings). Sport alters steering, driving responsiveness, sound, and screen graphics. Efficient dulls throttle responsiveness to maximize thrift (boosting the computer's indicated range by 25 percent). Silent quells all artificial noise and presents 'calm' screens displaying minimal content. Driver Assist Systems That Don't Annoy
The Neue Klasse iX3 gets both a capacitive-touch sensing steering wheel (which means no 'hands on the wheel!' scoldings when they're already on it). The driver monitoring camera located in the inside rearview mirror determines what the driver is looking at, so the lane-departure warning/lane keep assist won't squawk or try to maintain your lane if it notices you just checked the mirror and then steered over the line. Watching an erratic driver coming up from behind you? The system allows the driver to stare at a mirror much longer than it does at a phone, the infotainment screen, or a landmark on the horizon. Hands-Free Driving Innovations
When the hands-free cruise control suggests a lane change, the driver need only glance at the appropriate mirror to approve it (and the system can be set to allow passing left-lane bandits on the right—equally abhorrent in Germany). A driver can also either signal to initiate a lane change or simply check the mirror and nudge the wheel in that direction and it will automatically signal and change.
You can even use the brake pedal (lightly) without canceling cruise control—perfect if a lane is ending and you need to decelerate to fit a gap in traffic. This is called 'cooperative braking.' Tap the brake, brake harder, or press the on/off button on the steering wheel to cancel (resume by pressing it again). Steering manually will also pause or cancel the hands-free mode.
The system even allows drivers to briefly rest their eyes when inching along or stopped in traffic, without displaying those aggravating coffee-break warnings. It won't drive off until the driver's eyes open (or look up from the phone), but there's no need to click 'accept' or goose the accelerator.
There's even an intelligent reversing mode that remembers the last 650 feet of forward maneuvering well enough to precisely reverse back through them. The superbrain controlling these 40 ADAS functions works 20 times faster than its predecessor and is the only one that requires active cooling. Automated Parking You Might Actually Use
These systems usually take longer to set up and finish parking than any good driver would, but at low speeds, the Neue Klasse's ADAS superbrain continuously maps potential parking spots. So when you're ready to park, your left thumb just presses the P steering-wheel button, the screen shows the spot it's aiming for, if you agree you thumb the OK button on the same steering-wheel stalk and the car hustles into that spot quicker than a cautious driver might. The screen allows you to choose a different space or switch between head-in or back-in, but it can be as quick as two button presses. When you return to the car, it asks 'Park Out?' Touch OK and the car pulls out. Panoramic iDrive
We love Lincoln's 48-inch screen, and we love BMW's 43-incher. They function similarly—driver info on the left, selectable widgets on the right (six shorter, wider ones here), but BMW projects its image onto the windshield, making it appear like it's farther out, just under the rear edge of the hood. The 4K-resolution image remains bright (1,000:1 contrast) and visible for all occupants—even those wearing polarized glasses (thanks to a BMW-patented screen coating). One note: We wish the G-circle widget 'remembered' several minutes of driving, so a driver could review it after stopping.
The 3D head-up display also gives an augmented reality three-curve preview that's quite helpful (sadly the HUD is largely invisible with polarized glasses). The three-screen setup (HUD, panoramic display, and central info display) seemed intuitive to use during our brief time at the wheel, and the angled graphics and coloring convey BMW's sporty mission. 'Shy tech,' wherein only buttons pertinent for use at the time have their functions illuminated, keeps the cabin looking clean, though some buttons' illumination struggled to be seen in direct sunlight. Operating System X on Android
The superbrain controlling all infotainment functions uses BMW's latest tenth-gen OS, which runs Android open-source software to accelerate time-to-market with third-party apps. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay screen mirroring remains available, with the former enjoying no noticeable 'home-court' advantages.
There's an onboard personal assistant (with 'BMW' as its wake word, but hopefully this is reprogrammable) that is personified with a face and eyes that look at whomever is speaking, and reportedly evinces personality at times, strumming a guitar, for example, when asked to crank up music volume. The Bottom Line?
Our prototype drives on and around the Miramas proving ground in the super-fast-thinking 2026 BMW iX3 have whet our appetite for more. We'll be eager to quantify the Heart of Joy's performance benefits, and we'll be eager to find out if we're still able to sense the millisecond-latency improvements when they're applied to inherently laggier combustion or hybrid powertrains. It also remains to be seen whether all the ADAS innovations are deemed fully legal or marketable in the Litigious States of America.
We'll all learn more about the pricing and specifications when BMW officially pulls the wraps off the iX3 at the IAA Munich show this September, in advance of its second-quarter 2026 launch.