BMW held a series of technical sessions on Neue Klasse and used the iX3 to explain how the new control system works. Most of the time was spent on braking logic, torque flow, and how the car manages energy and grip. It was a dense presentation, but once you piece it together, you see how different the underlying decision-making is compared to current models.
BMW Driving Dynamics History
The first part was mostly history. BMW explained how, for decades, driving dynamics systems ran independently — ABS, stability control, traction management — each doing its own job with only occasional communication between them. Later models connected those systems more tightly, but they still made decisions separately. With Neue Klasse, BMW has folded everything into a single controller called Heart of Joy, which handles propulsion, braking, regeneration, torque distribution and slip control in one place. No hand-offs. No priority fights. Just one decision-maker.
The Heart of Joy – How It Works
The easiest way to understand it is through the cornering example we were shown. In the simulation, the car approaches a turn and slows using rear-motor recuperation rather than friction braking. That keeps the front end from loading early and lets the steering work naturally. As the car turns in, the controller monitors yaw and shifts recuperation forward if needed, not as a correction, but as a way of settling the car mid-corner. If the driver calls for more slowdown than regen can provide, the friction brakes add quietly to the effort — you don’t feel a switch; you just keep turning.
The second demonstration repeated the scenario, but on a lower-grip winter surface. The motions were the same — rear regen first, then front bias, then a controlled blend of friction where necessary. When the car straightened, torque went back to the rear and the maneuver finished cleanly. There was no moment where the vehicle had to be “saved.” It simply never reached a point where saving was needed. One of the engineers made a point that stuck with me: most drivers would think they handled the move well themselves, when in reality the car did most of the work in the background.
Braking Regen On Steroids
Braking behavior works along similar logic. Regen remains active deeper into a stop than in most EVs, even during ABS events. It only gives way to friction when the motors max out their recovery capacity, which BMW placed somewhere around three-tenths of a g depending on temperature and tire condition. If the battery is fully charged or too cold to accept energy, friction steps in earlier. Otherwise, the system continues to recover energy instead of abandoning regeneration at the first sign of increased braking demand.
This is why the car stops smoothly. There’s no noticeable handover at low speed, no bump or shift as the final few kilometers per hour bleed off. In flat conditions, regen carries the car to zero, with friction only holding the vehicle once stationary or on an incline. BMW said the easiest way to notice it is to close your eyes — most people can’t tell when the car comes to rest.
All of this relies on a chassis that behaves predictably, and the engineers didn’t pretend otherwise. The battery sits low and centrally, contributing to structural stiffness rather than acting like a block of mass. Unsprung weight is controlled through wheel sizing, the wheelbase is long enough for high-speed stability, and the rear suspension uses a uniball camber link for more direct lateral response. These choices aren’t headline-grabbers, but they form the base that allows the software to work cleanly. If the platform reacted inconsistently, no amount of control logic would hide it.
It’s also worth noting that Neue Klasse won’t create one uniform driving feel. Other Neue Klasse models will be tuned differently from the iX3. The point isn’t to standardize behavior. It’s to give BMW a control system that can support different personalities without rewriting the foundation each time. We will learn more about that in Spring 2026.
More Supercomputers
A second ECU handles driver-assistance and environment interpretation separately from the dynamics controller. One brain moves the car; the other understands what’s happening around it. They run in parallel, reducing latency and allowing decisions to be made quickly without multiple modules negotiating priorities. BMW didn’t dwell on this portion, but the architecture suggests they’re building toward more capable assisted-driving behavior without restructuring how motion is controlled.
By the end of it, the story wasn’t how much power the iX3 makes or how quickly it charges. It was the way the car decides what to do with traction, braking and torque before anyone has to react. In the end, you won’t notice the code behind it. You’ll just notice that the car feels settled and how fun it can be, even on the track.
First published by https://bit.ly/3sM6JoH
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