BMW has officially unveiled the design of the iX3 Long Wheelbase (LWB) variant in China ahead of its global debut at Beijing Auto Show 2026.
As shared on BMW China’s Weibo, the BMW iX3 LWB looks mostly identical to the standard wheelbase variant but there are a couple of differences. This includes the door handle design to comply with China’s EV regulations.
What you’re seeing here is the BMW iX3 50L xDrive, which is the China-market developed model that offers a longer wheelbase. This version has a wheelbase of 3005mm which is 108mm longer than the global iX3 which has a wheelbase of 2897mm. As a comparison, the BMW iX has a wheelbase of 3000mm.
From what we can see from the exterior, the design mostly remains unchanged with the same Neue Klasse light signature and narrow kidney grille. The same goes for the rear as well with its thick vertical light bar.
As shown in the side by side comparison below, the BMW iX3 50L comes with traditional door handles which looks somewhat similar to the current BMW iX1, iX2 and i5, as opposed to the new flush pop-up handles on the global iX3.
While the normal door handles do appear flush without additional protrusion, it would be interesting to see if this design change would affect the overall drag coefficient rating of this EV.
During the preview of the prototype, the iX3 LWB is said to offer over 900km of CLTC-rated range. As a comparison, the global iX3 has a WLTP-rated range of 805km and a drag coefficient rating of 0.24Cd.
Another new addition is an extra rear-facing camera that’s mounted on the roof. As shown below, there’s an additional camera module on the roof spoiler which could potentially be used for digital rear-view mirror or ADAS.
The iX3 LWB still gets a panoramic glass which takes up more than half of the roof.
We expect the full details of the BMW iX3 LWB to be unveiled at the end of this month in Beijing.
As confirmed by BMW Group earlier, this long wheelbase electric SUV assembled in Shenyang will be making its way to Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and India around the second half of 2026. At this point, it isn’t clear if BMW would retain flush door handles for the iX3 LWB for overseas markets outside of China.
In case you missed it, we recently gotten the opportunity to test drive the BMW iX3 LWB prototype in Chengdu, China. You can read our first drive impressions and watch the video below:
BMW iX3 LWB design unveiled, drops flush pop-up door handles
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