BMW held a sequence of technical periods on Neue Klasse and used the iX3 to elucidate how the brand new management system works. More often than not was spent on braking logic, torque stream, and the way the automotive manages vitality and grip. It was a dense presentation, however when you piece it collectively, you see how totally different the underlying decision-making is in comparison with present fashions.
BMW Driving Dynamics Historical past
The primary half was largely historical past. BMW defined how, for many years, driving dynamics techniques ran independently — ABS, stability management, traction administration — every doing its personal job with solely occasional communication between them. Later fashions related these techniques extra tightly, however they nonetheless made selections individually. With Neue Klasse, BMW has folded every part right into a single controller referred to as Coronary heart of Pleasure, which handles propulsion, braking, regeneration, torque distribution and slip management in a single place. No hand-offs. No precedence fights. Only one decision-maker.
The Coronary heart of Pleasure – How It Works
The best strategy to perceive it’s by way of the cornering instance we have been proven. Within the simulation, the automotive approaches a flip and slows utilizing rear-motor recuperation relatively than friction braking. That retains the entrance finish from loading early and lets the steering work naturally. Because the automotive turns in, the controller displays yaw and shifts recuperation ahead if wanted, not as a correction, however as a approach of settling the automotive mid-corner. If the driving force requires extra slowdown than regen can present, the friction brakes add quietly to the trouble — you don’t really feel a change; you simply maintain turning.
The second demonstration repeated the situation, however on a lower-grip winter floor. The motions have been the identical — rear regen first, then entrance bias, then a managed mix of friction the place needed. When the automotive straightened, torque went again to the rear and the maneuver completed cleanly. There was no second the place the automobile needed to be “saved.” It merely by no means reached some extent the place saving was wanted. One of many engineers made some extent that caught with me: most drivers would assume they dealt with the transfer nicely themselves, when in actuality the automotive did a lot of the work within the background.
Braking Regen On Steroids
Braking habits works alongside related logic. Regen stays energetic deeper right into a cease than in most EVs, even throughout ABS occasions. It solely provides strategy to friction when the motors max out their restoration capability, which BMW positioned someplace round three-tenths of a g relying on temperature and tire situation. If the battery is totally charged or too chilly to simply accept vitality, friction steps in earlier. In any other case, the system continues to get better vitality as a substitute of abandoning regeneration on the first signal of elevated braking demand.
That is why the automotive stops easily. There’s no noticeable handover at low pace, no bump or shift as the ultimate few kilometers per hour bleed off. In flat situations, regen carries the automotive to zero, with friction solely holding the automobile as soon as stationary or on an incline. BMW stated the best strategy to discover it’s to shut your eyes — most individuals can’t inform when the automotive involves relaxation.
All of this depends on a chassis that behaves predictably, and the engineers didn’t fake in any other case. The battery sits low and centrally, contributing to structural stiffness relatively than performing like a block of mass. Unsprung weight is managed by way of wheel sizing, the wheelbase is lengthy sufficient for high-speed stability, and the rear suspension makes use of a uniball camber hyperlink for extra direct lateral response. These selections aren’t headline-grabbers, however they type the bottom that enables the software program to work cleanly. If the platform reacted inconsistently, no quantity of management logic would disguise it.
It’s additionally price noting that Neue Klasse received’t create one uniform driving really feel. Different Neue Klasse fashions will likely be tuned in another way from the iX3. The purpose isn’t to standardize habits. It’s to offer BMW a management system that may help totally different personalities with out rewriting the muse every time. We are going to be taught extra about that in Spring 2026.
Extra Supercomputers
A second ECU handles driver-assistance and surroundings interpretation individually from the dynamics controller. One mind strikes the automotive; the opposite understands what’s occurring round it. They run in parallel, decreasing latency and permitting selections to be made shortly with out a number of modules negotiating priorities. BMW didn’t dwell on this portion, however the structure suggests they’re constructing towards extra succesful assisted-driving habits with out restructuring how movement is managed.
By the tip of it, the story wasn’t how a lot energy the iX3 makes or how shortly it costs. It was the way in which the automotive decides what to do with traction, braking and torque earlier than anybody has to react. Ultimately, you received’t discover the code behind it. You’ll simply discover that the automotive feels settled and the way enjoyable it may be, even on the monitor.
