New Entry-Level iX3 Introduced - Saves Money with Few Compromises

Earlier in the month we bought you details of the new BMW iX3 as it launched, with 500 miles of range, 10 minute rapid charging, and an abundance of technology.
And Jim was fortunate enough to be handed the not-a-key for the day where he gave you his verdict over at the Definitely Not A Guru channel. Worth a watch if you haven’t seen it already.

That car was the launch iX3 50 xDrive M Sport Pro Package and was priced in that particular trim at £62,162, however, the lower trim 50 xDrive cost £58,755 and also came with 500 miles of range.

However, BMW are now offering a less rangey BMW iX3 40 - a 320 hp rear-wheel drive variant with 395 miles of range (WLTP), adding 186 miles of range in just 10 minutes, or a 10% - 80% charge in 21 minutes, which is very competitive.
This is all achieved from a 82.6 kWh battery pack using BMW’s new cylindrical cells which are 20% more energy dense than their prismatic cells used for Gen5 electric BMW’s.
Another new addition to BMW is utilising cell-to-pack technology, where the battery pack also forms a part of the cars structure, meaning less weight, and more space for batteries.

As with the iX3 50, it has an onboard AC charger rated at 22 KW, ideal if customers have or use, a three-phase supply regularly.

Performance drops a little hitting a 0-62 mph run in 5.9 seconds, which remains decent for a large SUV and perhaps has more than enough power.

Inside, it’s a new familiarity expected from Neue Klasse with the same the multimodal operating system of BMW’s new Panoramic iDrive that combines touch, haptic and voice-based interaction. BMW’s Intelligent Personal Assistant can operate the windows, air conditioning and seating comfort, manage phone calls, control in-car entertainment and more via voice commands.

But it can do more as BMW offers an upgrade adding Amazon Alexa+ AI for additional functionality that uses Large Language Models (LLM) which understands natural language and can even respond back making for conversations.

The new BMW iX3 40 will be available in the UK from summer 2026 priced from £53,250.

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About the Author

Graeme Cobb is a lifelong car enthusiast with a passion for writing about cars, EVs, industry updates and more.

You can find Graeme on 𝕏 at @graeme_cobb or YouTube @REV-EV.