It will take a while until 2025 and the next BMW X3, but the first information about the Bavarian mid-range SUV is already gathering. That’s what we know about hybrid engines, the M40i, the interior and the price. First Erlkönig photos!

In the booming mid-size SUV segment, the BMW X3 is a real top seller and is set to remain so beyond 2025: in the important markets of North America and China, the X3, built in the BMW plant in Spartanburg, USA, is even selling better than the competing models from Audi and Mercedes. And: The SUV is also available as a fully electric version iX3, which rolls off the assembly line in China. In 2021, the X3 series, which has been available since the end of 2017, has received a facelift. For 2025 we expect the new model generation, for which there are two scenarios: Either the X3 is based on the further developed Cluster Architecture (CLAR) for models with longitudinal engines and rear-wheel or all-wheel drive or it already uses the new class architecture, which BMW for 2025 has announced. The focus of this completely new and almost infinitely scalable platform – from compact cars to luxury SUVs, everything should be possible – is on purely electric drives, as Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, has already announced. To this end, the brand is working intensively on new electric motors and 800-volt technology. More detailed information on the new class architecture, and thus on a BMW X3 (2025) that may be based on it, is not yet available. However, the first photos of prototypes speak in favor of the CLAR solution.

First photos: HYBRID, M40I, price, interior of BMW X3 (2025)

If the next BMW X3 (2025) is based on the modified CLAR platform, combustion engine versions in the form of mildly hybridized four- and six-cylinders should also be considered set. One of the prototypes confirms its classic drive with four clearly visible tailpipes. The long bonnet also points to the advanced cluster architecture. The upcoming X3 will then also benefit from the new generations of plug-in hybrid drives – with significantly higher battery capacities for a purely electric range of up to 100 kilometers. It is quite possible that the sharp M version of the BMW X3 (2025) and the M40i positioned below it as a part-time electric vehicle rely on the combination of in-line six-cylinder turbo petrol engine and electric motors and thus advance into new performance dimensions. As far as the interior is concerned, the future X3 will take another step in the direction of digitization by introducing the curved display from the i4, while the rotary pushbutton may have to go. A look at the current model, which is available from 52,800 euros (as of June 2022), helps to estimate the price of the mid-range SUV of the future.