There is an unwritten rule that people shouldn’t buy a car in its first year of production because it may still have undiscovered problems. There’s truth to this, as in many cases automakers need extra time to iron out bugs, even after assembly begins. This is especially relevant in 2025, when software has completely taken over our cars. There are multiple examples of new models, especially from luxury brands, riddled with software gremlins.
With that in mind, it’s understandable that some are reluctant to buy a car the moment it goes on sale. This is particularly true for all-new vehicles developed on a platform that hasn’t been used before. The iX3 doesn’t share anything with its predecessor or any other model in BMW’s lineup, for that matter. From iDrive X and Panoramic Vision to sixth-gen electric motors and batteries, the “NA5” is a truly all-new product.
Even so, BMW is confident its first “true software-defined vehicle” won’t be plagued by bugs at launch. Mike Reichelt, head of the Neue Klasse program, told Autocar the 2026 iX3’s software has been developed entirely in-house. That gave BMW complete control of the crossover’s “brain” and allowed the company to eliminate issues along the way.
The new technology pioneered by the iX3 wasn’t created by a separate team but rather by the entire group of people involved in the project: “Every engineer at BMW is dealing with this new technology. For me, it’s a failure when you believe you can take digital development outside the company or to another part of the company.”
As with other BMW products in the digital age, the iX3 will improve over time. Already, more than 60 models support over-the-air updates, which have been rolled out to about 10 million cars. Owners have applied over 15 million updates to date, and for the Neue Klasse models, the process will become even more straightforward.
The electric crossover has an Automatic Update function that, once activated, does all the work for you. The driver only needs to confirm they want the update installed. BMW claims even the biggest updates won’t take more than 20 minutes to perform.
Reichelt argues that “every engineer has to go into the digital world,” underscoring that the good old days of analog cars are gradually becoming a distant memory. BMW is far from the exception. Virtually all automakers are now taking the same route of putting software at the center.
Source: Autocar
