BMW held a sequence of technical periods on Neue Klasse and used the iX3 to clarify how the brand new management system works. More often than not was spent on braking logic, torque move, and the way the automobile manages power 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 programs ran independently — ABS, stability management, traction administration — every doing its personal job with solely occasional communication between them. Later fashions related these programs extra tightly, however they nonetheless made selections individually. With Neue Klasse, BMW has folded every thing right into a single controller known 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 simplest solution to perceive it’s by means of the cornering instance we have been proven. Within the simulation, the automobile approaches a flip and slows utilizing rear-motor recuperation moderately than friction braking. That retains the entrance finish from loading early and lets the steering work naturally. Because the automobile turns in, the controller displays yaw and shifts recuperation ahead if wanted, not as a correction, however as a means of settling the automobile mid-corner. If the motive force requires extra slowdown than regen can present, the friction brakes add quietly to the trouble — you don’t really feel a swap; you simply maintain turning.
The second demonstration repeated the state of affairs, 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 mandatory. When the automobile 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 a degree the place saving was wanted. One of many engineers made a degree that caught with me: most drivers would suppose they dealt with the transfer effectively themselves, when in actuality the automobile did a lot of the work within the background.
Braking Regen On Steroids
Braking conduct works alongside comparable logic. Regen stays lively deeper right into a cease than in most EVs, even throughout ABS occasions. It solely offers solution 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 just accept power, friction steps in earlier. In any other case, the system continues to recuperate power as a substitute of abandoning regeneration on the first signal of elevated braking demand.
This is the reason the automobile 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 circumstances, regen carries the automobile to zero, with friction solely holding the automobile as soon as stationary or on an incline. BMW mentioned the best solution to discover it’s to shut your eyes — most individuals can’t inform when the automobile involves relaxation.
All of this depends on a chassis that behaves predictably, and the engineers didn’t faux in any other case. The battery sits low and centrally, contributing to structural stiffness moderately than appearing like a block of mass. Unsprung weight is managed by means 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 cover it.
It’s additionally value noting that Neue Klasse received’t create one uniform driving really feel. Different Neue Klasse fashions will likely be tuned otherwise from the iX3. The purpose isn’t to standardize conduct. It’s to present BMW a management system that may assist totally different personalities with out rewriting the muse every time. We are going to study extra about that in Spring 2026.
Extra Supercomputers
A second ECU handles driver-assistance and setting interpretation individually from the dynamics controller. One mind strikes the automobile; the opposite understands what’s taking place round it. They run in parallel, lowering 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 conduct with out restructuring how movement is managed.
By the top of it, the story wasn’t how a lot energy the iX3 makes or how shortly it prices. It was the way in which the automobile decides what to do with traction, braking and torque earlier than anybody has to react. In the long run, you received’t discover the code behind it. You’ll simply discover that the automobile feels settled and the way enjoyable it may be, even on the monitor.
