2027 BMW i3 First Look: The 3 Series' Biggest Update Yet

• What's new: The BMW i3 is the company's fully electric 3 Series.
• Why it matters: It uses a completely new tech suite and has an estimated driving range of 440 miles.
• Edmunds says: With prices starting around $50K for the i3 50 xDrive, this'll be a solid competitor for the upcoming Mercedes-Benz C-Class EV.

Hey, this looks familiar ...

Indeed it does. The i3 is effectively the production version of BMW's original Neue Klasse concept car that debuted in 2023, and its architecture and design language — as well as the battery, electric motors and onboard processors — are shared with the iX3 SUV. This all bodes well for BMW's new EV; I absolutely loved driving the iX3, and my colleague Tim Stevens had a blast flinging an i3 prototype around on the ice in Sweden.

I had the chance to see the i3 in person last November, and I can tell you that while the design is polarizing, much like the iX3, this car looks better in real life. Photos kind of make the i3 look blocky, chunky and larger than it really is. In reality, the new i3 is only 1.5 inches longer, wider and taller than the current 3 Series. It's not a big car.

Trick tech and a weird steering wheel

The i3's cabin borrows a lot from the iX3 SUV, which is both good and bad. The good: BMW's Panoramic Vision display is here — a pillar-to-pillar dashboard-spanning customizable display that puts all sorts of information right in the driver's line of sight. The bad: That stupid steering wheel, which, thankfully, you can swap out for a less offensive two-spoke design if you select the optional M Sport package.

A 17.9-inch central display has a neat parallelogram shape, and it'll run BMW's Operating System X, which I've found to have a relatively steep learning curve but a wealth of functionality once you get the hang of it. Even better, you can send different items and widgets from the screen up to the Panoramic Vision display, and BMW's AI assistant leverages Amazon Alexa tech to answer your weirdest queries or manage a whole host of vehicle functions. 

You can order the i3 with either synthetic or real leather in a variety of colors, and depending on the trim level, both standard or sport seat designs are available. Because the i3 isn't much larger than the current 3 Series, interior space across both rows of seats is about the same, though the squared-off design does pay dividends in rear seat headroom. I'm only 5 feet, 8 inches tall, but I have no trouble getting in or out of the i3, and I'm totally able to get comfortable in the back behind my preferred driving position.

Up to 440 miles of estimated range

The first i3 to arrive will be the 50 xDrive. In BMW speak, that means a dual-motor all-wheel-drive EV with 463 horsepower and 476 lb-ft of torque. The company isn't quoting an official battery capacity, but because these specs are the same as the iX3 50 xDrive SUV, I'm going to assume the i3 uses the same 107.8-kWh pack.

Whatever the pack's capacity ends up being, BMW says that the i3's battery can charge at a maximum rate of 400 kW when plugged into a DC fast charger. The i3 50 xDrive is also expected to have a driving range of 440 miles, based on BMW's internal testing that matches the EPA's regimen. Bidirectional charging allows the i3 to work as a generator, so you can power devices or even your home if needed.

Like the iX3, the i3 uses BMW's gimmicky-sounding Heart of Joy internal processor, which consists of four high-speed "superbrains" that control all of the vehicle's functions. The benefit to this system is that the i3 will be incredibly quick to react to both driver inputs and the sedan's driver assistance functions. The Heart of Joy worked a treat when I sampled it on-road in the iX3, and Stevens had great things to say about its abilities to turn the i3 into a proper snow drifter too.

Arriving later this year

The i3 50 xDrive won't be cheap, with a base price estimated to start between $50K and $55K. There will undoubtedly be a less powerful single-motor variant in addition to the hotter M version. And, again, these Neue Klasse bones will go on to underpin future internal-combustion 3 Series models.

Based on my experience with the iX3, I'm expecting seriously good things from the i3 when it hits the road later this year.