BMW i3 2026 review | The best premium EV you can buy

What is the BMW i3?

The latest BMW i3, an electric BMW 3 Series alternative, is not to be confused with the original BMW i3. That was a pioneering but quirky electric small car made from carbon fibre – a machine arguably ahead of its time. Today’s BMW i3 aims to make the premium electric car a more everyday proposition – and become the obvious alternative to a petrol-powered 3 Series.

The BMW i3 is the firm’s second ‘Neue Klasse’ car, after the BMW iX3. It has distinctive styling, a radical interior and, underneath the surface, a new way of engineering the architecture that’s both more efficient and makes it more responsive. Unlike the larger BMW i5 and 5 Series, there won’t be a petrol-powered version of this architecture; BMW’s optimised it as an EV (and updated the existing 3 Series so car buyers still have an alternative).

For many, the key draw of the BMW i3 will be its standard-setting range. There are two battery sizes, and even the 82.8kWh in the entry-level BMW i3 40 xDrive has a 441-mile range. The larger 108.7kWh battery in the BMW i3 50 xDrive has an astonishing range of up to 566 miles – the equivalent of driving from Greater London to Inverness in Scotland.

The BMW i3 joins a steadily-growing range of rivals. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class Electric is an obvious rival – although its range is shaded by the BMW i3 – as are the Polestar 4 and Polestar 4 SUV. The Tesla Model 3 is still a competitive challenger, while the Hyundai Ioniq 6 is an interesting alternative too. It’s surprising that Audi doesn’t yet have an alternative to the BMW i3, though.

BMW i3 prices start from £47,925. This is less than £3000 more than the cheapest BMW 3 Series petrol (the i3 has 155bhp more power, too, and is a full two seconds faster in the 0-62mph dash), making the electric i3 a genuine rival to its petrol counterpart that may already be the preferred choice on merit. Time to find out how it stacks up on the road.

How practical is it?

Refreshingly for an electric car, the BMW i3 has quite a low-slung feel behind the wheel. This makes it feel sporty, very much in keeping with the BMW brand ethos (you will notice the floor feels rather close, though). The seats are supportive and beautifully upholstered, with M Sport Pro versions adding an adjustable thigh cushion. Visibility is good, with a clear view across the low dashboard, although taller drivers might find the windscreen header is a touch low. We love the soft, plush headrests in the front, too.

The BMW i3 has a unique interior architecture. The centre touchscreen is shaped like a parallelogram, which BMW says makes it easier to reach the far corners. It also has the BMW Panoramic iDrive system, which uses a trio of screens displayed below the windscreen. They use special tech that makes it seem as if they’re located deep within the bonnet, which makes them easier to read at a glance. The displays are fully configurable, as we’ll explore in the infotainment section.

The BMW i3 is packed with appealing details. There’s a section of the dashboard trimmed in a knitted textile material, behind which are illuminated sections. This too is configurable. In the centre console, the BMW i3 has a MagSafe wireless charging device, storing your smartphone securely even during eager cornering. The column stalks have a nice positive action and BMW has stuck with proper buttons for the door mirrors and electric windows. It uses a new type of space-saving flip-up interior door handle – and the exterior door handles are retractable.

The BMW i3’s steering wheel will take some getting used to, though. The shape is decidedly odd, with spokes at the top and bottom, along with ‘floating’ spokes where your hands naturally rest. It’s the most over-styled part of the car and we’re still not sure about it. The touch-sensitive buttons are fairly intuitive to use, though, with the cruise control section on the left-hand spoke able to change colour from white to green when it’s engaged.

Interior stowage space is good. The cupholders are well-located, with spring-loaded grippers to keep smaller items in place. Behind this is the gear toggle, which could be more intuitive, and in front of it is a rubber-lined stowage area including that ingenious MagSafe holder. There’s a useful stowage area beneath the centre console, too. BMW has, however, retained its hands-free air vent setup, which you have to adjust through the touchscreen. In fairness, the system on ‘auto’ does a good job of working in a fuss-free manner, but some may still prefer a bit more manual control.

Rear seat space in the BMW i3 is a little less accommodating than the front. The floor itself is high, which leads to a slightly perched feel for adults, with their knees in the air and only just enough space under the front seats. The rear door opening could be bigger too, and the sill is a bit high. The floor itself is flat, though, and headroom is decent. Top tip: be careful you don’t painfully bash your knees on the hard seat backs when you get in…

The BMW i3 has a roomy 460-litre boot. The aperture is a bit high, and the floor could be deeper, but it’s still practically-shaped and generously wide. There’s a limited amount of space under the boot floor to store charging cables, but BMW adds there’s a 31-litre front boot, or ‘frunk’, with a dedicated cable stowage compartment (it’s opened by pulling twice on a lever beneath the steering column).

What's it like to drive?

The BMW i3 is a superb car to drive. It is one of the most sophisticated electric cars on sale, with a sense of balance and fluidity that really marks it out as something special. In a back-to-back test with a BMW 320 petrol, it’s almost certain that most people will prefer driving the BMW i3, which is high praise indeed.

First impressions are of impressive comfort. The low-speed ride is plush, with a cushioned, well-oiled feel that makes it feel pleasant at city speeds. It’s able to deal with speed humps confidently, and takes the edge off nasty potholes better than previous BMWs. The ride can get a bit busier as speeds rise, and you’ll notice tyre noise as road surfaces change, but it rarely becomes harsh or crashy. BMW adds that optional adaptive dampers should help extend the i3’s low-speed plushness to faster-road driving when they become available next year.

The BMW i3 handles with confidence and cohesiveness. It has a well-balanced, natural feel through corners, with the small, thick-rimmed steering wheel offering precise, linear and confident turn-in. It’s a car you’ll really enjoy driving on twisting roads, as there’s no need to second-guess as you steer it through tight corners.

There’s minimal roll, helped by the BMW i3’s low centre of gravity. However, on more undulating roads, you will sense a degree of float and bobble, while hard acceleration will see the front end rise up more than you may expect. This, again, is where the adaptive suspension will help.

Performance is strong, as you’d hope of the 462bhp BMW i3 50 xDrive cars we drove at the car’s launch. 0-62mph in 4.7 seconds isn’t as explosive as some other EVs, but it’s perfectly fast enough. What’s more, the BMW’s centralised drive controller ensures power can be precisely distributed between front and rear wheels in a flash, for maximum traction and minimal hesitation. It feels really assured when, say, accelerating hard out of tight junctions. However, the BMW i3 doesn’t have steering wheel paddles to vary the amount of brake energy regeneration – you have to go into the touchscreen to alter this.

The brakes feel excellent too, with a reassuringly progressive and consistent pedal weight. Extra marks also for the BMW i3’s ‘chauffeur stop’, that automatically blends out the brakes just before you come to a halt, which makes for an almost imperceptible stop with no jolting.

Refinement is very good, particularly at motorway speeds, where the BMW i3 has minimal wind noise, low levels of road noise and excellent straight-line stability at 70mph. It’s a car you feel you could drive at high speed all day long – perfect for maximising its class-leading range.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

The BMW i3 is dominated by its screens, both the 17.9-inch touchscreen in the centre and the three sections of BMW Panoramic iDrive below the windscreen. There’s also an optional 3D head-up display, adding yet further screen area to the BMW i3. This means you can, for example, have sat nav mapping shown in three different sections of the dashboard – meaning you have no excuse for missing a turning.

Panoramic iDrive will take a bit of getting used to. It can be ‘themed’ using the ‘hamburger’ button on the right-hand steering wheel spoke, and there’s also an individual setting that lets you choose between literally pages full of settings. One to spend half an hour sat outside your house configuring (with the touchscreen itself offering further customisability). Once you become accustomed to the logic, though, it all starts to make sense, and the ultra-crisp displays themselves are very good-looking. It’s certainly something different, and a novel new way of displaying information.

The BMW i3 loses minor marks for not having any physical climate control buttons, though. Instead, this is adjusted through the bottom of the touchscreen, with the icons being just that bit too small to consistently hit without missing. There are shortcuts to disable the lane-keep assist and speed limit warning – but again, these are hidden by your left hand on the right of the screen.

The BMW i3 comes with the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant, which uses large language model (LLM) tech and Amazon Alexa+. The promise is of voice interaction that’s more natural than ever. It also has the BMW Digital Key Plus, which can become the preferred vehicle key on a smartphone or smartwatch, we’re told.

The BMW i3 is offered in three specs – base, M Sport and M Sport Pro. This is part of BMW GB’s desire to keep things straightforward for customers. All are well-equipped, with BMW expecting mid-spec M Sport to be most popular; its adds bespoke M Sport alloy wheels, sportier styling and perforated Veganza upholstery inside. M Sport Pro has dark styling elements, the BMW Iconic Glow grille and LED matrix headlights, M Sport seatbelts, a different steering wheel design and M bucket seats.

There are various option packs, and the Technology Pack Plus is likely to prove popular. For £1700, it adds a 3D head-up display, three-zone climate control (extending to the rear seats) and a premium Harman Kardon sound system.

The BMW i3 is available with the firm’s Motorway Assistant, a form of self-driving tech. This supports hands-free Level 2 driving assistance up to the motorway speed limit; it steers automatically, and keeps a set distance from the car in front. Impressively, it can also carry out automated lane changes, simply by the driver looking in the rear-view and relevant door mirror. We tried it and found it felt uncannily natural, which not all such systems do. We look forward to trying it some more to see whether it’s an option worth choosing.

The BMW i3 uses the firm’s latest Gen6 battery tech. This is key to it delivering both range and charging speed 30% faster than before (the system used on models such as the BMW i4). The BMW i3 40 xDrive has a DC rapid charge speed of 300kW, with the 50 xDrive raising this to 400kW. It means that both can go from 10-80% charge, at a suitably powerful rapid charger, in just 21 minutes. BMW adds it allows up to 263 miles of range to be added in as little as 10 minutes.

BMW says the i3 also has an ‘intelligent charging flap’, located on the right rear side of the car. Using AI, it detects triggers for opening, including the driver walking towards a known charger – after, say, reversing into a charge bay. If you don’t connect a charge cable, it closes automatically, and also shuts by itself once charging is completed.

BMW i3 running costs

The BMW i3 is a model company car drivers will automatically err towards, thanks to the beneficial Benefit-in-Kind tax rates electric cars enjoy. Compared to even the entry-level petrol-powered BMW 320, the savings are vast, aided further by the i3’s competitive list prices that help minimise the amount BiK tax is calculated from.

The very impressive range of the BMW i3 will help cut running costs by reducing the reliance of even high-mileage drivers on the expensive public charging network. Even the most affordable version has a range of more than 450 miles, stretching to well over 560 miles for the most efficient large battery version. Even if you do have to charge on the move, you probably won’t need to spend as much on electricity as you would in a car with less range than this.

The BMW i3 has been designed with sustainability and decarbonisation in mind, too. BMW reckons that it will have an overall carbon footprint similar to a petrol-powered version after just one to two years’ use. It is built in a fully-overhauled factory at Plant Munich, Germany.

Insurance groups start at group 37 for the BMW i3 40 xDrive, and group 40 for the 50 xDrive. M Sport models move up slightly, to group 41. This compares to group 28 for the entry-level BMW 320 petrol car, although models with similar performance are more in line with the i3.

The new BMW i3 uses condition-based servicing rather than fixed mileage or time intervals. It naturally also won’t require engine oil, spark plugs or belt changes, while heavy use of regenerative braking means brake pads and discs will last longer.

With this in mind, it’s well worth considering the £650 BMW Service Inclusive option when buying a new i3. This includes servicing up to the car’s fifth birthday – and there’s no mileage restriction either.

BMW i3 reliability

BMW has a strong reputation for reliability. Indeed, the previous BMW i3 is the most reliable electric car of all, according to the 2026 What Car? Reliability Survey. It has also been the top-ranked manufacturer for reliability in the influential FN50 survey – and the 3 Series is the most reliable car in the fleet sector.

Looking at electric cars, the previous BMW i3 is ranked the most reliable EV of all in the 2026 What Car? Reliability Survey, beating models such as the Nissan Leaf and MG 5. However, BMW as a brand performed less well, scoring 18th overall with a reliability rating of 89.5%. The firm’s score was pegged back here due to the unreliability of its petrol-powered SUVs.

The latest BMW i3’s new control layout, with fewer ECUs and less wiring to connect them all together, should also bode well for reliability.