Tag Archives: BMW

News

BMW’s Big Reset: EVs, Straight-Sixes, and Playing Both Sides

BMW is sharpening its knives for the next big brawl in motoring history. The Bavarians are about to bring back Neue Klasse—that fabled name from the 1960s that saved the brand’s bacon and cemented its rep as the thinking driver’s carmaker. But this time, it’s not about boxy sedans with chrome grilles and wooden dashboards. It’s about electric revolutions, billion-euro gambles, and keeping the straight-six alive while the industry’s busy digging the petrol engine’s grave.

Yes, the Neue Klasse isn’t just a handful of shiny new EVs—it’s an entire reboot of BMW’s lineup. Think of it as Ctrl+Alt+Delete for Munich. The company calls it its biggest single investment, ever. And that’s saying something when you’re in an industry where R&D bills could fund small countries.

Leading the charge is the new iX3, debuting next week, effectively the Model Y fighter with a Hofmeister kink. Hot on its heels in 2026: the i3 sedan (not the quirky city car, but a proper 3 Series–sized EV) and the iX5. There’s talk of an iX7 the year after, and even a rugged SUV aimed at those who think a Defender isn’t posh enough. Wagon nerds? You might get an i3 Touring. Coupe crowd? Maybe an iX6. Entry-level punters? BMW’s toying with an i1 or i2 before the decade closes.

The goal? By 2030, EVs should make up half of BMW’s sales. Reality check: last year, that figure was just 17.4% across BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce combined. That’s a long way to go, even with Munich’s marketing muscle.

And yet—here’s the kicker—BMW isn’t going “all in.” CEO Oliver Zipse told Spiegel that in this business, “you can’t afford to make mistakes.” Translation: Tesla can afford to muck about, legacy players can’t. BMW’s hedge? While Neue Klasse goes electric, the inline-six and V8 are safe, and yes, the trusty four-pot isn’t going anywhere either. Petrolheads can breathe easy knowing that the next 3 Series (2026) will still burn dinosaur juice, as will the upcoming X5 and X7.

What we’re really seeing here is BMW’s attempt to straddle both sides of the fence—EV evangelists on the left, combustion die-hards on the right. Neue Klasse will drag the brand into an electric future, but Munich isn’t about to torch its petrol heritage just yet.

Is that bold strategy or cowardly fence-sitting? Depends on how you look at it. If EV adoption keeps stalling, BMW will look like the clever kid who didn’t ditch their parachute. If the electric floodgates burst open, Munich will have to sprint just to keep up. Either way, the Neue Klasse is BMW’s moonshot. The brand’s future could hinge on it, just as it did six decades ago.

And if history has taught us anything, it’s that betting against Bavarians with straight-sixes is usually a mistake.

Source: Spiegel

SOCIAL MEDIA

Crypto Creator Rants About His $120K BMW M4’s “Missing” Park Button

By now, TikTok has taught us a few things: how to hack a Stanley cup, how to perfect a viral dance, and—apparently—how to put a $120,000 German sports coupe into park.

The latest lesson comes courtesy of Tiger Trades (@tradertigers), a crypto content creator who usually spends his time hyping meme coins and high-risk bets. This week, however, he shifted gears (sort of literally) to vent about his brand-new 2025 BMW M4—a car whose 473 to 503 horsepower twin-turbo inline-six can shred rubber and crush lap times, but, in his view, falls short on something far more mundane: finding “P.”

@tradertigers like bruh #bmw #m4 #m4competition ♬ original sound – Tiger Trades

In a TikTok video bluntly titled “like bruh,” Tiger is seen lounging in the passenger seat of his M4, rocking sunglasses and bewilderment. His gripe?

“Bruh, whoever designed this and that [expletive] M4 is actually like, can someone actually explain to you why there is no [expletive] parking mode…? Like, bro, hey, look at this [expletive]. It’s [expletive] reverse, neutral, and drive. Like, how do I put the car in park while the car is running without turning it off? This is actually probably the most annoying thing about this car.”

If you’ve ever driven a BMW M car with a dual-clutch transmission (DCT), you probably already know the answer. Unlike a traditional automatic, BMW’s DCT (and its newer automatic setups) often skips a conventional “P” button. Instead, the procedure goes something like this:

  1. Bring the car to a stop with your foot on the brake.
  2. Engage the electronic parking brake (that little switch near the center console).
  3. Hit the START/STOP button.

At that point, the M4 slips itself into park and flashes a “P” on the cluster. Simple, once you know. But if you’re coming from literally any other automatic car on sale in America, it can feel unintuitive.

Tiger’s rant quickly drew a mix of sympathy and mockery. One user tried to patiently explain:

“Soon as u put the handbrake on and out in N turn car off it’ll go into park, its just a way to tell difference between DCT and reg auto.”

Another went straight for the jugular:

“Skill issue.”

Whether Tiger Trades ever gets fully comfortable with his M4’s quirks is beside the point. His video taps into a larger truth about modern performance cars: as much as they dazzle with numbers and Nürburgring times, sometimes it’s the simplest, most everyday features—like putting the car in park—that trip people up.

And maybe that’s the price of progress. The M4 doesn’t need to bow to convention; it just needs to annihilate apexes. But if you’re expecting a big, obvious “P” button? Well, like bruh…this isn’t that kind of BMW.

Source: @tradertigers via TikTok; Motor1

News

BMW iX3 Prototype crashed into a bus

There are a few things in life you can rely on: the sun rising in the east, politicians forgetting their promises, and a BMW driver finding the quickest way into your insurance premium. And now, thanks to Hungary, we’ve got yet another headline confirming the stereotype.

This time, however, it wasn’t your average M4 driver on a Friday night proving his turn signals are decorative. No, this was an official BMW test driver, behind the wheel of an iX3 prototype from the upcoming Neue Klasse lineup — the very future of BMW’s electric ambitions. And instead of whispering through the countryside on electrons, it ploughed head-on into a bus full of passengers.

Yes, a bus. Not exactly the ideal crash-test dummy.

According to Hungarian media, the iX3 decided that staying in its lane was far too mainstream and swerved straight into oncoming traffic. The result? The bus front looked like it had gone twelve rounds with Mike Tyson, seven passengers (including a child) were injured, and the BMW itself was catapulted into a ditch, presumably where it could sit and reflect on its life choices.

The bus operator, MÁV-csoport, said the driver “did everything he could to avoid the collision,” which is corporate-speak for: our man swerved, prayed, and braced, but the Bavarian battering ram still came straight at us. The bus was destroyed, fuel spilled across the road, and windows shattered as passengers were hurled about.

And the BMW? Well, it’s a prototype, so BMW will shrug, scribble “data collected” on a clipboard, and roll out the next one. That’s the point of testing, after all. But still — one wonders whether “excessive enthusiasm” is baked into BMW DNA.

Because really, what is it with BMWs and speed? They could be building an electric family crossover, supposedly as harmless as a Labrador in slippers, and somehow it still ends up driving like it’s auditioning for Fast & Furious: Autobahn Drift.

Now, before we get too cynical, it’s worth remembering this: the Neue Klasse is the most important BMW project in decades. It’s their shot at redefining the electric SUV — a car to fight Tesla, Mercedes EQ, Audi e-trons, and every Chinese EV you’ve never heard of but will in five minutes. The iX3 prototype was part of that mission, undergoing road trials in Hungary before production starts in Debrecen.

Unfortunately, instead of glowing headlines about range, tech, or driving feel, we’re here talking about a headline collision. Literally.

So, is there a secret connection between BMWs and their drivers’ urge to push harder, faster, further? Maybe. Or maybe it’s just that Bavarian test drivers, like BMWs themselves, refuse to settle for “normal.”

Still, the next time you see one of those camouflaged prototypes on a Hungarian road, maybe give it a little extra space. After all, it might be collecting more than just test data.

Source: Gyongyosi via Facebook