What does McLaren P1 designer Frank Stephenson think of the BMW iX3?

Frank Stephenson is a car designer with more hits than the Beatles, including the Escort RS Cossie, first BMW Mini, Maser MC12, numerous Ferraris and the McLaren P1. These days he runs his own consultancy – Frank Stephenson Design. Here he shares his views on the BMW iX3.

Following its much maligned design direction of recent times, BMW has decided to tone things down a bit. Save for the new/old beaver toothed grille graphic, it’s a welcome departure from what’s gone before. From the front, a conventional ICE-looking lower bumper air intake area appears overly busy for an EV vehicle’s reduced cooling needs.

The new classically proportioned and illuminated kidneys are daintily styled, but too pinched, almost puckered up. The headlamps cleverly create a new lighting signature for the Neue Klasse, the angel eyes now replaced with snake eye graphics.

From the side, large wheels offset the blocky side volume, helping to give an impression of stability. Angled fender creases around the wheel openings are really the only design features in side view that inject any sense of surface entertainment. And yet, they’re a bit visually jarring and don’t quite work with the otherwise subdued side view.

Beyond that, smoothly surfaced body sides and an absence of protruding doorhandles contribute to a very low and respectable 0.24 drag coefficient – great for performance, not so good for visual fanfare.

At the rear, the iX3 has a well planted stance, albeit a bit generic. Long gone are the memorable days of BMW’s signature L-shaped taillights, replaced here with two horizontally positioned units, proudly providing a recessed area for the badge – a similar solution to the bonnet. The registration plate floats below the tailgate within a larger depressed area than needed. This solution stops the flow of the neighbouring surfaces, creating a harshly chiselled zone instead of a smoothly blended in form language.

Nice try, but better luck next time.

Verdict: NOT