BMW i3 Design: A Radical Break from the Past

Oliver Heilmer, head of BMW Design for the compact class, Neue Klasse, and M models, describes the creation of the new BMW i3 as a process of radical rupture. The design team was instructed to abandon incremental development and instead create a caesura, akin to the original Neue Klasse models of the 1960s. The process began not with a brief or market research, but with a single word from the board: 'Neue Klasse.' Designers delved into the archive, finding sketches of the original Neue Klasse that lacked the iconic double kidney grille, reduced to a single clear gesture. This became the guiding principle for the i3's front end, which was not to be a sum of recognizable BMW elements but something entirely new. The team met daily at 7:30 AM solely to discuss the front, a practice Heilmer says had never occurred before. A recognition test initially showed only 30% of viewers identified the front as BMW, but after repeated exposure, recognition reversed. The final design features a forward-leaning nose, wheels pushed to the corners, and a sharknose silhouette not seen on BMWs for generations. The process left behind fragments: sketches discarded for being too concrete too early, critical voices that ultimately pushed the design forward, and a model that resembled the past but felt like concrete—immobile and dead. The finished i3 does not show this struggle outwardly, but knowing the struggle changes how one sees the car.