Big Changes Are Coming To BMW In 2025

BMW fans have a lot to be excited about for 2025. There’s a new M5 that has already proven to be an absolute monster on the track and on the street. The new 2-Series continues its reign as one of the best entry level sport sedans on the market, and the X3 brings the same mass market appeal for a new model year. As good as the M5, 2-Series, and X3 are, those changes are to be expected and aren’t exactly what you would call monumental.

However, that doesn’t mean that BMW is content to rest on its laurels and just offer a few updates to the lineup here and there as 2025 continues. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. BMW’s biggest changes for 2025 come in the form of an entirely new electric car platform and concurrent architecture that has the potential to spread outside of a bespoke model to the rest of a future lineup and make BMW a much more serious player in the electric vehicle market.

The new class of electric cars

Back in March of last year, BMW unveiled the Neue Klasse X concept. On the surface, it looked a lot like a followup to the existing BMW iX electric SUV. That’s not the full story. While the iX rolls on its own platform that’s mostly just suited for that vehicle, the development that comes out of the Neue Klasse claims to be much more expandable and applicable to a number of different models in the future. Although details are a little scarce this early in the year, BMW is preparing to release an entirely new model on the new platform by the end of this year.

You wouldn’t be blamed for thinking it’s “pie in the sky” type promises, but there is a lot of evidence that BMW is serious about the potential of the Neue Klasse X models. BMW’s Bebrecen Plant in Hungary has already started making a few preproduction models for testing purposes. That’s a much bigger step to take than just making a few promises about a concept car. The plant itself is a new endeavor by BMW and is commissioned for the sole purpose of making Neue Klasse X architecture EVs for the European market.

Neue Klasse X features

The new Neue Klasse X-powered cars will, according to BMW, support bidirectional charging. That means that the vehicle can keep the lights on in the event of a power outage when it is plugged in, essentially “charging” the house. BMW is also working on technology with the Neue Klasse X that will allow owners to feed power back into the grid.

Bidirectional charging has already been seen on vehicles like the F-150 Lightning from Ford. BMW’s debut on a scalable platform, however, is a big deal for the company, further bolstering the brand’s electric vehicle credentials and showing an extra use case scenario for electric cars, proving BMW can think outside the box when developing the Neue Klasse X and subsequent future vehicles.

If all goes according to plan, the Neue Klasse platform will reach high enough production numbers to lower the cost. As it stands, BMW EVs have no issue eclipsing six-figures. A dedicated mass produced electric car platform will do wonders to the cost. Of course, it won’t lower the cost enough to besmirch BMW’s name in the luxury segment.

The new generation of iDrive

In addition to the debut of a new electric car platform, BMW is producing a new version of BMW iDrive and its accompanying infotainment system, by the name of BMW Operating System X. The new iteration of iDrive is a triple-tier display that consists of the main infotainment display, a display that BMW is calling “BMW Panoramic Vision” that stretches across the entirety of the bottom of the windshield, and an option 3D Heads Up Display.

All of these displays are controlled through the steering wheel. All of the displays, according to BMW, are highly customizable and can show anything from directions to whatever music or podcasts you are listening to. Whether or not this will all work in execution is yet to be seen, but it makes sense for BMW to debut its new vehicle operating system at the same time as the Neue Klasse X instead of shoehorning in an old interior and previous generation infotainment system.

BMW’s future

There are still a lot of unknowns to what the Neue Klasse X-based cars and subsequent EVs will look like. Range, battery size, and performance figures are only educated guesses at this point. There are only a few test models rolling around and, as of now, BMW has only announced plans for the European market. However, the other side of the world shouldn’t despair. BMW is clearly making moves that have the potential to shake up the luxury electric car segment and maybe electric cars as a whole. It would behoove any EV maker to get a leg up on Tesla and a new dedicated electric car platform is a step in the right direction.

Powerful sport sedans like the BMW M5 are certainly cool and show the brand’s prowess in building its namesake “Ultimate Driving Machine,” but like it or not, electric cars are the future of transportation and platforms like the Neue Klasse X are exciting glimpses at that future.