The NA0-generation BMW i3 50 xDrive rolled into the Athens Auto Show this week wearing Space Silver paint, a color that finally breaks the monotony of Alpine White and Le Castellet Blue press cars BMW has been circulating for months. It sat alongside the iX5, the facelifted 7 Series, and a teased iX4 debut scheduled for October 8.
This is the first fully electric 3 Series. Not the quirky carbon-bodied city car from 2013 that also carried the i3 badge. BMW apparently has no qualms about recycling nameplates when it suits the marketing calendar.
The car on display carried the M Sport Package and 20-inch 1065 M cross-spoke wheels in a silver-and-black finish. In the U.S., Space Silver runs $650 as a metallic option. The matte Frozen Space Silver version costs $2,350.
Under the skin, two motors deliver a combined 463 hp and 476 lb-ft of torque, one motor per axle. BMW claims 4.7 seconds to 62 mph. The 108.7-kWh battery pack uses new cylindrical cells integrated into the body structure, a departure from the bolt-in modules of previous generations.
Range numbers are where this car makes its real argument. The WLTP rating reaches up to 912 km, or 567 miles, for the standard i3 50 xDrive. The better-equipped First Edition comes in slightly lower, between 471 and 563 miles on the same cycle.
Those figures will shrink on the EPA test, but even with the usual transatlantic haircut, the i3 should land well above 350 miles in real-world American driving.
The 800-volt architecture allows DC fast charging at up to 400 kW. BMW says ten minutes on a capable charger adds 263 miles of WLTP range. That is the kind of number that starts to erode the refueling convenience argument for gasoline.
BMW Group Hellas priced the i3 50 xDrive at €65,500 including Greece’s steep 24 percent VAT. The First Edition lists at €75,293 and bundles the M Sport Package, illuminated kidney grille, 3D head-up display, Harman Kardon audio, three-zone climate, and 22-kW AC charging. Strip out the VAT and the Greek car actually undercuts the German equivalent by roughly €2,550.
In Germany, the lineup is wider. Buyers can opt for the i3 40 xDrive starting at €59,900, which makes 369 hp and covers up to 441 miles on the WLTP cycle. A hotter i3 M60 xDrive is slated for 2027.
American pricing starts at $61,500 before the $1,350 destination charge. U.S.-spec production is scheduled to begin in November from BMW’s Munich plant, which started series production of the i3 back in August.
The i3 is the second Neue Klasse model after the iX3 and rides on an entirely different platform from the combustion-engined G50 3 Series, which stays on BMW’s older CLAR architecture. That split means BMW is running two parallel 3 Series lineups with no shared bones, a costly bet that the electric version can stand on its own sales volume without cannibalizing its gas-powered sibling.
AUTO ATHINA runs through October 11. The iX4 reveal on October 8 will tell us whether BMW plans to carpet-bomb this show with Neue Klasse metal or save something for the next stop on the circuit.
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