An updated BMW X3 is expected later this year, and an image of the new model has leaked on the internet, as per tradition. The leak looks to be a screenshot from an automaker-produced marketing video, and shows a heavily revised SUV with all of the controversy we’ve come to expect from new BMW designs.
The blue-green X3 in the image features a unique grille pattern that combines diagonal and vertical lines. It borrows some design elements from the XM SUV, including the boxier front-end look and prominent lower air dam, but it thankfully misses the XM’s weird pig-nose look in the front. Its headlights are a one-piece design instead of the XM’s split light units, but nobody’s going to see them once their gaze is fixed on that grille. The SUV’s vibe is somewhere between sporty and digitally-inspired, and the new model has a smoother shape than the outgoing X3.
BMW is expected to offer four- and six-cylinder engine options, and we will see hybrid or PHEV models after the initial release. The all-electric iX3 will arrive later with BMW’s Neue Klasse architecture, and it’s unclear how much of the gas X3’s styling it will share. The automaker previewed the electric SUV in early 2024, but the leaked image of the gas model hints that the two could diverge in the design department.
The SUV does not look to have an M Sport Package or be an M-tuned version of the X3, and it appears that we’re looking at a plug-in variant from the additional “fuel” door on the fender. Beyond the refreshed design, the updated X3 has flush door handles and will ride on a wider track than its predecessor. We don’t have any interior images yet, but we expect a clean design with large screens and BMW’s latest iDrive infotainment software.