► BMW i Vision Dee unveiled at CES show
► Previews 2025 Neue Klass tech
► E Ink can switch between 32 colours
You’re looking at the future of BMW. Called the i Vision Dee, it’s a radical new concept unveiled at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show, and sets out a dramatically different – and cleaner path – for Munich’s upcoming Neue Klasse.
It’s one of the trio of influential concept cars that culminated in the BMW Vision Neue Klasse shown at the 2023 IAA Munich motor show.
Penned to pull existing BMW fans to a new world of digitalization, mixed reality and electric power – it pairs classic proportions and emotive design touches with cutting-edge tech. And at the same, it plots an exciting, fresh course for BMW’s 2025 Neue Klasse – and the next 3-series as a result. To find out more about Munich’s next chapter, CAR spoke to the head of BMW i Design, Kai Langer.
Featuring chameleon-like, colour-changing E Ink paint technology and a focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR), the BMW i Vision Dee also showcases some tech that’ll certainly be on our roads soon. The new concept previews an evolved head-up display that’ll be seen on the upcoming Neue Klasse due mid-decade.
Secrets of the BMW Neue Klasse revealed
E Ink technology?
Most of the talk around I Vision Dee has centered around the i Vision’s chameleon-like, colour-changing E Ink paint technology. An extension of the tech first shown in last year’s CES concept: the iX Flow, the Vision Dee offers up to 32 colours instead of black and white – and can even change sections of bodywork independently.
However, more significant is the super-clean design language the new I Vision Dee previews; it looks like the Neue Klasse will be just as utilitarian as the iconic models it’s named after. That’s no accident; BMW wants to stop provoking us and start tugging on our heart strings. Aggressive, gaping maws are out – a friendlier, classic design is in.
Emotive design
Technicolor body panels aside, the i Vision Dee is a world away from some of the fussier, overdone designs that’ve rolled out of Munich recently. Pared down and smoothed out, it’s got all the key strands of BMW DNA – from the Hofmeister kink in the rear side windows to those symbolic twin headlights hidden in a widescreen kidney grille.
‘It’s like really looking at what is the core, what the essence of BMW is actually, and it all comes from what we did back then with the Neue Klasse,’ says Kai Langer, head of BMW I Design. ‘We want to show people that we are not losing our identity. So that whatever people really like about BMW and trust us for, that they’ll also will find that in the future, added with the value of all digital functionality.’
In order to take customers into a new land of digitalization, BMW is going back to its classic BMW. In practice it’s had stunning results; the car behind Langer is changing colour every few seconds – but take a quick glance and its three-box design is eerily familiar.
In addition to minimal overhangs and a three-box design, the I Vision Dee also features kidney grilles and a Hofmeister kink. Only here, the kidney grilles no longer serve as air intakes, but rather customizable displays that can serve a range of functions.
Still, despite the tech this is a very different direction compared to the iX or the XM. ‘There’s not much “kung fu” around on the design side,’ Langer agrees. ‘Dynamism doesn’t have to be aggressive you know. Cars don’t have to look like they kill people and stuff like that. So, this is what BMW already had with the Neue Klasse back then, and we’ll have it in the future. This is what you see there.’
BMW i Vision Dee: augmented reality tech galore
As well as touchpoints – touch-sensitive areas which can be used without moving your eyes off the road – the i Vision Dee also uses an advanced head-up display (HUD).
Unlike other HUD systems, Munich’s latest development stretches the entire width of the touchscreen, adding even more screen real-estate than before – but importantly allowing the driver to keep their eyes on the road for longer.
The amount of information shown on the windscreen can also be tailored using the car’s Mixed Reality Slider. There are five levels, from driver-focused, all the way to the augmented virtual worlds beamed onto the windows.
But the best bit? A version of the technology will appear across BMW’s forthcoming range of Neue Klass models from 2025 onwards, says BMW.
CAR is reporting live from the 2023 CES expo, so stay tuned for more news in the coming days.
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