BMW has put prices on the electric 3 Series. The i3 starts at EUR 59,900, and the version that carries the range figure BMW has been advertising since March costs EUR 65,900.
What is actually new this week
The 900-kilometre claim is not. BMW published it on 19 March 2026, when it introduced the i3 as the second Neue Klasse model, and flagged the number as provisional because no binding WLTP values existed yet.
What arrived on 29 September is the part buyers can act on: the price list, the homologated figures, the battery and power specifications, and the rest of the 3 Series range around it.
| Variant | From | Power | Battery (net) | WLTP range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| i3 40 xDrive | EUR 59,900 | 275 kW | 82.8 kWh | 710 km |
| i3 50 xDrive | EUR 65,900 | 345 kW | 108.7 kWh | 912 km |
| i3 M60 xDrive | not announced | — | — | due 2027 |
Both charge at up to 400 kW, with 10 to 80 per cent quoted at 21 minutes. Series production started at BMW's main Munich plant in August, with deliveries from this autumn. New mild-hybrid combustion 3 Series variants were shown at the same time, and a plug-in hybrid follows in 2027 — the electric car is a member of the range, not a replacement for it.
The provisional number went up, not down
This is the detail worth noting. Manufacturers usually publish an optimistic pre-homologation figure and then quietly land below it. BMW said "up to 900 km" in March and homologated at 912 km. Whatever else is true of the i3, its range claim survived contact with the test cycle.
The 912 km belongs to the 50 xDrive and its 108.7 kWh pack. The EUR 59,900 car is the 82.8 kWh 40 xDrive at 710 km — still a long-range car, but 200 km short of the headline, and it is the headline that has been doing the advertising for six months.
Where it lands against a Model 3
Not on price. The i3 opens at EUR 59,900 in Germany, comfortably above where the Model 3 sits — Schmidt Automotive Research put Tesla's European entry pricing just above EUR 30,000 across many markets this year, which is a different part of the market entirely.
It lands on capability. 400 kW charging and 912 km are both ahead of anything Tesla currently sells in Europe, from a car in the Model 3's body style and from the manufacturer whose iX3 passed 100,000 European orders this month. Neue Klasse is now two models deep and both have arrived with charging figures Tesla has not answered.
What a European buyer should take from this
If the shortlist is a EUR 60,000 executive saloon, the i3 40 xDrive is now a specified, priced, orderable car rather than a press release. If the shortlist is a Model 3, the i3 is not a cross-shop on price and BMW has not tried to make it one.
The open question is the M60 xDrive, which BMW has dated to 2027 and specified in no other way. Until then, the i3 range is two cars, and the cheaper one does not do 912 km.