BMW has a fairly steady recent track record of models being leaked to the press around the world. The Toyota Supra's Z4 cousin, the revised X6 SUV coupe, the svelte 8 Gran Coupe, and a bunch of others were all leaked early over the last two years.
And another looks set to be added to the list; the fully electric BMW iX3.
BMW's relationship with electric cars is a complicated one. We love its oddball looking i3, but sales on the quirky hatch worldwide have been thoroughly pasted by a lot of other compact competitors. The i8 hybrid supercar has just bitten the dust.
On the flip-side, they've revealed the ... umm ... striking looking i4. The German firm has also doubled down on its desires to have 25 new electrified cars in its line-up by 2025. And slotting somewhere in the middle of all that is the iX3.
It's been two years since the iX3 Concept was first revealed at the Auto China motor show, with many citing the fact it looked production ready (and the fact that it was based on an existing model, the X3) as signs it would soon join the BMW range.
Fast forward to 2020, and the iX3 is still not in production. But going on the uncovering of these sneak peak images online, it appears that it soon will be. The images aren't confirmed, but neither were the other leaks we mentioned at the top of the story at the time.
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Much of what we saw on the concept remains on the alleged production model. It retains BMW's signature blue highlights, and a slightly tweaked version of the aerodynamic wheels. But, there appears to have been a few changes, too. The charging port has shifted from the left-front guard, and the front bumper has lost its rounded-off look.
But the biggest apparent change is with, you guessed it, the BMW grille. After all the chat around the i4's new face (which appears set to be replicated on the upcoming 4 Series replacement), BMW perhaps decided to go with a safe option for the iX3; trading away the reasonably good looking connected-kidney look on the concept for a more traditional twin-kidney look.
The iX3 will feature a 74kWh battery pack that'll be good for 210kW of power, 400Nm of torque, and a 400km range. Those are smaller figures all round than the i4, but it's worth remembering that the iX3 will have a more mainstream audience in mind. Plus, it'll undoubtedly also weigh a lot more.
Production of the iX3 was set to be kicked off in China later this year. But, considering the Covid-19 pandemic's impacts on the Asian nation, one expects that will be under review.