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S6E51 – The 2026 BMW iX3 Global Debut with Chief Designer Oliver Heilmer
S6E51 – The 2026 BMW iX3 Global Debut with Chief Designer Oliver Heilmer
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About this episode
The global debut of the BMW iX3 marks a significant step for the brand as it transitions to an all-electric platform. Chief Designer Oliver Heilmer discusses how electrification influences design, emphasizing that styling will remain consistent across different drivetrains. The conversation explores the evolution of BMW's kidney grille, the integration of technology like AI in the design process, and the importance of a diverse design team. Heilmer highlights the balance between maintaining BMW's heritage and adapting to modern requirements, showcasing the iX3 as a representation of the brand's future direction.
Topics:
electric platform
design evolution
kidney grille
AI in design
diverse design teams
Neue Klasse
technology integration
surface treatment
form language
proportions
In this episode, we’re in Munich for the world premiere of the 2026 BMW iX3, the first model of the Neue Klasse, signaling the future of BMW design and technology. Oliver Heilmer, Head of BMW Design, takes us behind the scenes to explain how this new era came to life.
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Welcome to the Total Car Score Podcast.
Bringing you the world of cars from inside the car.
And now your hosts, Carl Brower, Lauren Fix and Javier Mota.
Well, today I'm here in Munich, Germany for the global debut of the BMW iX3,
which is the first model of the new class, the 100% electric platform from the German luxury brand.
I've got a chance to sit on the round table with Oliver Helmer,
who is the head of design, and he's going to explain how all the new technology,
requirements and the actual electric platform influence the design of these new cars.
So let's take a listen here.
Well, Oliver, this is really a new era for BMW.
So tell us about how that being all electric and all that influences the design of the cars.
So first of all, for BMW, electrification started quite early.
For the group, even earlier with Mini.
But as you know, I think we introduced, in 2009, we introduced two concept cars to the world,
the i3 and the i8 concept.
So this was the first time where we have been discussing electrification.
So there's a lot of, let's say in that time, we built up a lot of knowledge,
not just in terms of technology, but as well in terms of design.
And step by step, we decided to go into the direction that we say,
the drivetrain is not the difference.
We need to take care of each of our characters within our BMW portfolio,
which as a result, we say there's no differentiation in terms of styling
between combustion engine, hydrogen engine, or electrified engine.
So this is all, let's say, the same form language.
What we wanted to achieve is a big leap forward in terms of form language, but for all BMWs.
But you might find differences that are coming, whether from, let's say,
the architecture of the car or from, let's say, technical requirements.
And that's what we take as an opportunity.
And as you see, the upper part of the front is entirely closed.
There's just the intelligence in there, but no antics or something like that.
So this is what we took as an opportunity.
To what extent, you were mentioning, just before we started about the radar no longer
being behind the kidney grille, to what extent does design have to follow
to get the function in?
How much freedom do you really have?
So I would say there is always, let's say, it's a journey.
Normally, regardless of radar or other technologies that are being implemented
the first time, it's more that all of us need to understand the technology.
We are really careful in terms of, let's say, the safety behind it.
And for instance, the radar normally is in the center.
So what we have learned a lot, and that's something we achieved from a design perspective,
together with the engineers, we were able to take that radar out of the center,
which wasn't possible in the very beginning of those different,
there's different types of radars.
And then honestly, especially in terms of radar, there is physics behind.
So we are aware of that fact, right?
So we know the size more or less.
We know the indications, the angles on all of that.
It's something that we know.
But what we are doing in parallel always is together with our innovation partners
and free development partners and suppliers to improve, to give more freedom,
to, let's say, getting more sharknose, for instance,
getting more from a plant-shaped point of view,
more kind of what is pylon, more angle into the front.
That's something that is happening step by step.
You're still going to be producing combustion cars.
How much design here has to consider the fact that there might be a related
combustion car version?
So as I mentioned before, we don't make any differences between combustion engine
and electrified engines in terms of design.
But talking about, let's say, form language of Neue Klasse,
our focus is on, let's say, emphasizing each of our characters in the future.
You might have seen a little bit of an indication in the i3 already today.
It's a form language that matches perfectly to a sporty sedan.
And it's Neue Klasse.
But there is no difference between combustion and electrified engines in the future.
So the grill has been a point of controversy in the past few years.
Too big, too aggressive, too much.
How can you explain this new interpretation of it, including the lights,
which has already been in previous models.
But people talk about that a lot.
Right. So first of all, what we as designers really appreciate,
that the kidneys are the most important part in the front of BMW.
So what I mean with that is that there is a lot of emotion,
a lot of awareness from fans, from the audience.
And to be honest, kidneys, since 100 years,
always, they always change their form.
And it's always a discussion.
That's one aspect.
And to be honest, it's a part of the fact that we are remaining relevant,
right, in terms of discussion now.
I could look back into, let's say, the reasons why the size were increased.
Some of these reasons were like functional reasons.
And here, in terms of technology, as I was mentioning the radar,
technological enablers helped us to focus again on, let's say,
a new old BMW phase.
When we started to think about the story,
this was kind of the initial slogans for us.
Let's say the term was always clear, Neue Klasse.
And then it was clear to look back into where we have been starting.
And this was kind of our, let's say, emotional blueprint for the future of BMWs,
where it was clear that it's not just the kidney alone,
it's the entire front end that kind of represents BMW in the future.
And that gave us the opportunity to say,
okay, let's make it smaller, narrower, but let's keep it high.
So this is something that is exclusively for our SAVs,
having more vertical oriented kidneys,
whereas the sedan is going to solve it differently.
You're going to keep it more uniform now, because I was saying the last five years,
you've had a bit of kidney confusion, because you've had a few cars,
the iX, the i4 with really massive kidneys,
but the i5 was back to kind of more modest size.
And if you go before that, there was more uniformity in the kidneys.
Are you going to go back to having a kind of definable, standard-ish size?
I would say that it always depends on the proportion of a front end, right?
A car that is like way lower, a sedan, for instance.
We understand that maybe, let's say, a horizontal orientation might make more sense in terms of,
you know, arrangements, whereas as I mentioned for an SAV, we could play with that.
But there's no uniformity that we're going to keep, because as it's so important,
we're looking, for instance, they talk about the iX3 has a specific purpose.
It's a different purpose than the iX3, so i3 and iX3.
And based on that purpose in front of the customer, we are, first of all,
playing with rough proportions.
So what is the appearance? What would be the first appearance when we approach the car?
And it might be different in an iX5, because it's a different audience, it has a different size,
so, but something that we take care of is that the kidney is not the center of the front,
so it's a part of everything.
And I believe during the press conference, they mentioned that they have like
14 new updated models coming out.
So I assume there's a lot of design involved in all of those new models,
but that being said, in terms of overall design language,
are we sort of looking at the future of BMW design when we see this car right here?
So what I can say is, let's say the reduction of elements, the reduction of,
let's say, unnecessary shut lines, that's something that you're going to find in
each of our new models in the future.
What we remain is, let's say, this kind of interplay between like emotional soft surfaces,
as you can see it on the shoulders around the wheel arches,
but then combined with like really precise lines.
So that's something you're going to find in the future models as well.
You will find areas in the front end, for instance, as you see that
we don't talk necessarily about a headlight, and then there is another element,
and there is an intake, so everything is kind of flowing into each other.
So we say in the beginning, we said, okay, let's try to find functional areas
that are at the same time representing BMW in the future.
So in terms of surface treatment, form language,
it's representing, and that's something you've seen in the showcast,
previous showcast as well.
It's kind of representing that what we're going to do in the future.
And then the other question is in regards to the IX3 here,
what were some important design elements when you guys were putting it together
that you thought that you really wanted to get home?
Is it, I mean, obviously we have a throwback to the 1962 BMW
with the kidney grille, the vertical thin kidney grille, which is quite pretty.
But what were some, from your perspective,
some important design elements for this new model?
So maybe to the front, first of all, I think it's not just the Neue Klasse.
You can look into then the history of the 3 Series, for instance,
you see how close we are coming,
that we are coming closer to that, how we started.
The most important thing for BMWs is always the proportion.
And we are paying a lot of attention to the fact that we don't want to have,
let's say, the front overhang too long, that the wheels are at the right position
in terms, in reference to the rest of the body.
We are looking into, let's say, the Y-series section.
How does it appear?
Does it have a certain dynamics?
Does it have a certain presence?
So that's how we always start.
That's always important for each of our BMWs.
And this takes a lot of energy because it kind of influences the entire package of the car.
So there's a lot of shareouts with the engineers to get that point done pretty well.
Surface treatment, believe it or not,
it's something that is sometimes magical.
We are still working with clay modelers.
And a couple of years ago, we had an experiment,
having a section made out of the computer and then asking a modeler to do,
to do, let's say, the same section more or less.
And we have two sides.
And one of this side and the side of the modeler appeared,
let's say, perfect in terms of highlights and light and shadow.
And the other side was somehow dull in that.
And at that moment, we understood that the manual skill set, the craftsmanship,
is even more important in the early design phase,
not just in building the car, but in that segment.
So believe it or not, that's something that is so important for us at BMW.
So it's not a specific element, but it's the way how we're going to treat surfaces.
Can you talk a little bit about the team behind the creative process,
because a lot of brands are using much younger designers,
because you're appealing to a newer generation and all that.
And that's really interesting to see from different parts of the world even.
You can see things, different ideas and all that.
So how was that?
So here's some team members from design representing today as well, the IX3.
Our teams are, so for me, what's important for me actually is to have
a diverse and creative team, regardless of the age.
I think that's really important because it doesn't matter necessarily that
or it's not said that if a young designer is more creative than an old one, that's not true.
But on the other hand side, it's good to have a fresh perspective from young designers,
because they know different tools in terms of design,
which leads into different solutions sometimes.
They do have, let's say, another perspective on technology.
They do have their own community.
They see things differently.
But for me, it's important to have both perspectives.
Let's say, even more perspective, not just to, not just young and old.
There's many more.
And having then the discussion within the team in order to get the best result out of it.
I think it's important that, because if you are just talking to someone that is
exactly, has your opinion, there's no benefit.
You both can say each other, yeah, we are right, but we don't know if we are right.
So I think that's the key in the future, to really have this kind of diverse conversation.
It's even in design, it's more important than ever before,
since we're talking about a hard competition, right?
So on that note, I was an auto-China in April and I was very pleased to see that the only
non-Chinese manufacturer that was really focusing on the technology inside the car was you guys.
You had a massive display showing iDrive panoramic.
Everybody else was going back at the heritage and you were looking at
how much has the focus on this car as a technology product influenced the way you've
designed it?
Actually, something magic happened there in parallel.
What I mean is that, let's say with that claim Neue Klasse and with Mike Reichelt as,
let's say, head of Neue Klasse, he was really keen to open up, let's say, a discussion in
both ways. So drivetrain proportions is all that that came from engineers, all that what you're
reading in terms of facts and figures. On the other hand, looking into the panoramic vision,
it came out of, let's say, a pretty old idea from BMW. I think 2014 we have been showing our
BMW Vision X100 where we, first of all, it was the first time we were saying like,
hands on the wheel, eyes on the road. And in that car, we had a really clean dashboard and we
just had the windscreen and that's it. So times passed by, we were kind of developing our
head up technology further and further. And then in this case, and it's so hard to say who started
that discussion again, right? But it happened somehow within the design department, but not
only design. And then they asked, well, we wanted to, we said, we wanted to have a clean dashboard,
but there's way more information, there's way more in terms of interaction in the future
how do we gonna solve it? And then the team has been looking into the past and said, past.
Oh, well, what is if we are mirroring something into the windscreen? So that's how it started.
And we had like really rough mockups there, simple displays, handy display,
mirroring and see, okay, what's the advantages, what needs to be solved, right? This double
picture, it's something that had to be solved. That's the normal effect.
So this impulse, for instance, came from a design perspective. And then our colleagues
in the engineering department, they kind of realized, let's say, the potential behind it.
And then we started a project together for that development. Bless you.
Yeah. And you guys had one of the first to have a head up display, right?
Or even the first, actually. We have been the first car manufacturer with a proper head up display.
I don't know when it was, but it was 2003, 2004, I don't know, quite early. It's something,
a nice here is that it's really, it's kind of supporting us as a BMW that is standing for
shield driving pleasure, focusing on that, that's a core vision, having these layers even further
away. There's another positive aspect that the instrument cluster is so close that
the older you are getting, you know, that the more difficult it is to adapt your eyes. So
everything that is coming further away will really help to being less distracted by driving.
So it's, I have to say, I am starting already. It's, it's, it's normal. It's coming.
To what extent in the design of designing the, the IX3? Obviously, the last few years,
we've seen the rise of AI and what it can do with such a wide portfolio to 10 to 40 models
before 2027. Have you used AI to help design the IX3? And if so, in what areas?
So my question can tell them way more about how we used or how they used AI and let's say
developing the, let's say the, the technological parts. In design, we're working with AI. We're
training our own AI because there's a lot of questions around intellectual property
and you have to train it, right? Because it has to understand, we started a couple of years ago
already with AI from a design perspective. And it's kind of flowing into our design
process and step by step. You see, you know, there's so huge steps in terms of performance
each week. And this car, we started to development a couple of years ago. AI wasn't there yet.
So chat GPT-4 wasn't there. But chat GPT, for example, already knows what makes a BMW?
It knows the presence of BMW. And you can try it out. I have. I asked it to design a
3-series for 2030 and it has a kidney grill in and it has super slim lights. The question is,
if it would have come out with that front end before our showcase, now it's different,
maybe because there's, you know, sort of thing. Yes. AI is important. And I think it can help us
a lot in terms of coming closer to a point. But at the end, it's the job of the designer
who changed, by the way, right? So imagine that when I started designing, I had some pencils and
AD markers and, you know, and all that stuff and maybe baby powder or whatever. The designers now
are working differently. They are having blender models. They are understanding. So they're using
tools. And that process speeds up. Exactly. So it's not about removing the human from the
process. It's about making the process more efficient. Right. Because there's still,
let's say that the manual translation is still there. So they're still working manually.
To be honest, there might be a loss. Every tool that you're losing
is having a little risk that you're kind of losing that direct connection. But they're
really good already. We tried out 3D modeling tools with AR, which is kind of impressive as well.
So you're drawing in 3D, which is really nice. And AI then using as a tool, I think can help us
a lot in terms of visualizing. Right. Or, for instance, wheel design is, let's say,
a microcosmos. Wheels, it's not just about styling and driving performance. It's about
fresh. So the wheels in the IA3, for instance, are an important part in terms of fresh, how it kind
of, how you say, how it breaks. For this, you can use AI because you can say, okay, there's
specific kind of requirements or, how you say,
yeah, regulations. And you can feed the AI and say, okay, based on that,
let's give me some examples. And then the designer is curating that based on what the
AI is doing. Right. So with 40 cars coming by 2027, that helps you to get a little more
sleeping time, a little rest because you're like busy, 40 cars.
That's what I was hoping for since 25 years. But it's, you know, you know how it is, right?
Yeah. It's getting more, there's other ideas then coming up. And I think to answer that,
the chop has changed as well. Right. Regarding the IA3, we're talking about,
let's say this kind of symbiotic holistic approach. It's not adding components to each other. It's like
bringing them together. And this leads into, you have to, you have to pay way more attention
together into a topic. And this takes more time. Thank you very much for your time.
You're welcome. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
That's a wrap for this episode of the Total Car Score podcast.
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