2027 BMW iX3 First Drive Review: Raising the Bar for Electric Luxury SUVs

• The BMW iX3 is one of the best-driving electric SUVs around.
• BMW is targeting 400 miles of driving range, and the iX3 can charge at a max of 400 kW.
• The iX3 arrives in the U.S. in mid-2026, priced from around $60,000.

Long range and fast charging

The iX3 50 xDrive will be the first model to arrive in the U.S., with initial deliveries targeted for mid-2026. The specs are competitive: a 108.7-kWh battery pack feeds two electric motors, delivering a combined 463 horsepower and 476 lb-ft of torque. A less-powerful, single-motor iX3 will follow suit later next year, and there'll no doubt be a high-performance M version coming down the line, possibly with an absolutely rippin' quad-motor drivetrain.

Here's where things get good: BMW is estimating a U.S.-spec driving range of around 400 miles for the iX3 50 — a lofty figure we look forward to validating on the Edmunds EV Range Test. Considering the Audi Q6 E-tron and Cadillac Lyriq top out at 321 miles and 326 miles of range, respectively, this will give the iX3 a huge advantage among shoppers who suffer from high levels of range anxiety.

When it comes time to charge the iX3, you'll be able to take advantage of many Tesla Supercharger stations thanks to the SUV's standard NACS charging port. A CCS adapter is included, opening up America's full bank of Level 3 public chargers. Thanks to its sophisticated 800-volt electrical architecture, the iX3 can charge at a max rate of 400 kW. Plugged into a Level 2 outlet — the kind you'd likely install at home — the iX3 charges at 15.4 kW, meaning it should take about 7.5 hours for the battery to go from 0% to 100%. All U.S.-spec iX3s have bidirectional charging capabilities as well, so you can use your SUV as a generator to power small appliances or even keep your house lights on during an outage.

This thing moves

That's all well and good, but the iX3's special sauce is in the way it drives. Without getting too deep in the weeds, the iX3 is BMW's most technologically advanced car yet, and by a long shot. It's got four high-performance computers — BMW calls 'em "superbrains" — that manage different vehicle functions. And one is solely dedicated to the drivetrain and handling dynamics.

Put plainly, this computer has ultra-fast processing power. What you experience from behind the wheel is an electric SUV that's both quicker to react while being smoother across the board — like when you finally empty the trash on your MacBook after too many months (or years) of neglect and your laptop suddenly runs a little bit better.

Winding through the gorgeous Spanish countryside, the iX3 drives with prominent verve. There's pep in its step, from the lightness and directness of the steering to the way the electronic shock absorbers smooth out pavement imperfections. The iX3 genuinely feels sprightly — quite a feat considering this SUV is likely to weigh just shy of 3 tons.

You can customize various driving settings like steering heft and powertrain response, though I honestly think the iX3 works best when left to its own devices. Sport mode lets you feel the full punch of the electric motors, accompanied by nifty space-age sounds (which, don't worry, you can turn off). But to me, the iX3 feels best in its Efficient setting; there's more than enough power for daily driving, plus you don't lose any of the good steering feel or suspension balance. The iX3's regenerative braking — where the car recuperates drivetrain energy to slow the car down — works a treat in Efficient mode, with easy-to-modulate one-pedal driving.

A handful of laps around Circuito Ascari reinforce my initial positivity. Through a tight slalom, the iX3 slinks from side to side with poise you won't find in other electric SUVs, the more expensive Lucid Gravity possibly being the only exception.

You do start to notice the iX3's weight under hard braking, but considering this isn't a track car, that's easy to forgive. More importantly for the real world: BMW's super-slick superbrain smooths out driver assistance functions. During a panic-stop/lane-change exercise, the iX3 remains confident and sure-footed, never skidding out of line.

The iX3's overarching on-road themes are balance and composure. This is something I cannot stress enough.

The tech inside is impressive

Those superbrains also give the iX3 an edge when it comes to infotainment tech. This is the first BMW to run the company's Operating System X software suite, housed on an 18-inch rhombus-shaped screen that's angled toward the driver. The menu structure has a steep learning curve, but you can set shortcut icons for the most commonly used functions, and owners will surely grow to understand the ins and outs of OSX after a while.

The most impressive part is how quickly the system responds to taps, pinches and swipes. Senior features editor Clint Simone said this when he got a first look at the iX3 and I have to agree: This might be the only screen I've ever used that feels more responsive than Tesla's.

OSX is only one part of the iX3's tech onslaught, however. Panoramic Vision is a full-width head-up display that projects onto a black bar at the bottom of the windshield, giving it the look of a fixed digital screen that spans from pillar to pillar. You can reconfigure the display to show all sorts of vehicle data or multimedia and navigation info — just choose what you want on the 18-inch center screen and shoot it on over. Everything is rendered beautifully, with a focal point that looks like it's set deep inside the hood. The display never washes out in direct sunlight, and you can see the whole thing while wearing polarized sunglasses too.

Because AI is slowly making its way into every part of our lives here in the year of our lord 2025, BMW has also introduced a personal assistant by way of a weird red-eyed icon that looks like a Marvel character in the center of the panoramic head-up display. It can handle simple tasks like opening and closing the windows, turning on the vehicle massage, cranking up or turning down the air conditioning, etc., and you can have it program navigation destinations using natural-language search functionality. BMW says even more in-car AI assistance is coming down the line via over-the-air updates.

The rest of the interior is fancy, too

Beyond the tech wizardry, the iX3's interior is impressive in its own right. There's ample space for passengers both front and rear, and if you fold the back seats down, there's 65 cubic feet of cargo space — perfect for weekend Home Depot hauls. There's a cool backlit effect under the cloth fabric on the dash, and all of the materials used throughout the cabin feel high-quality. Recent Mercedes-Benz interiors have gotten a bit plasticky; BMW is happily bucking that trend.

What's to hate about the interior? Two things. First, that steering wheel. Second, the air vents. I don't understand why automakers keep on trying to literally reinvent the wheel, but these feel like questions to answers no one asked. 

Happily, the rest of the interior impresses with plush, comfy seats, and the panoramic glass roof has electronic opacity that blocks out the sun to keep you from frying on a hot day (something more automakers need to do). The cabin looks cool, too, matching the edgy vibe of the iX3's exterior, which I absolutely think looks better in person than in photos and is really color- and wheel-size-dependent.

The iX3 raises the bar

Perhaps you've heard the term "Neue Klasse" before — it's the verbiage BMW uses to describe its next wave of vehicles, pioneered by the technologies found in the new iX3. We'll soon have both gas and electric 3 Series models riding on the same architecture, and the Neue Klasse learnings will go on to support larger sedans and SUVs as well.

Based on my experience with the iX3, that's a good thing indeed. This electric SUV is proof of BMW getting its groove back, putting great driving dynamics at the forefront of its cars once again. Assuming the pricing and range estimates hold up, the iX3 won't just be another electric luxury SUV for the masses — it'll be a benchmark.