2027 BMW i3 Touring Spy Shots Reveal Longer, Sloped Tail
A prototype of the 2027 BMW i3 Touring (NA1) has been spotted testing in Black Sapphire paint, wearing camouflage wrap only at the nose and tail. It’s the first real look at BMW’s electric 3 Series wagon since the automaker teased its silhouette at the i3 sedan’s March debut, and even with the disguise, the body tells its own story.
BMW’s engineers wrapped the usual suspects this time around: the front bumper, the kidney grille surround, and the tailgate. Everything in between, including the doors, greenhouse, and most of the roof, is left in exposed. When BMW leaves the flanks uncovered on a prototype this early, it usually means the silhouette isn’t the sensitive part. The sedan’s proportions from the A-pillar forward are already public knowledge, so there’s nothing left to hide up front beyond the exact shape of the bumper intakes and the kidney’s finish.
The rear is where it gets more interesting, because that’s the one area BMW clearly still wants concealed. The tail, camouflage and all, appears to stretch out longer than the sedan’s rear end, and the roofline looks like it slopes down toward the taillights rather than dropping straight off. It remains to be seen whether this is BMW chasing efficiency at the expense of outright cargo-box volume.
The front-end shouldn’t bring any huge surprises. We expect the same headlights and kidney grille as on the i3 sedan, along with similar sport and non-sport package. Even the color lineup should stay pretty much unchanged. Of course, the interior will follow the same story with the Neue Klasse design, including the new 17.3″ central display and the Panoramic Screen spread across the entire windshield.
What We Still Don’t Know
BMW hasn’t confirmed cargo figures, exact exterior dimensions, or which of the four expected trims, i3 30, i3 40, i3 50, and i3 M60 xDrive, this particular prototype represents. Given the ride height and the absence of any visible dual exhaust tips (irrelevant on an EV, but a habit worth checking anyway), there’s nothing here pointing to the M60 specifically. Expect more prototypes, less camouflage, and a clearer read on that roofline as testing continues through the rest of 2026.
The Numbers We Already Have, Courtesy Of The Sedan
Because the Touring shares its underpinnings with the NA0 i3 sedan that just went on sale in Europe, the i3 50 xDrive’s figures are a solid preview of what sits under this prototype’s camouflage: 463 hp, 645 Nm of torque from two motors, a 108.7-kWh net battery, and 400 kW peak DC charging fast enough for a 10-80% top-up in 21 minutes. The sedan is rated at 906 km WLTP in First Edition trim and 912 km in standard form, and there’s no obvious reason the Touring would fall far short of that once BMW finalizes its own aero and weight figures. The i3 M60 xDrive, rumored at around 630 hp, previews the electric M3 (ZA0) still to come, though with the sedan’s M60 not entering production until around March 2027, the wagon version is realistically a later addition to the range.
Pricing isn’t set either, but the sedan’s i3 50 xDrive starts at €65,900 in Germany once its First Edition launch run wraps up, undercutting the equivalent iX3 50 xDrive by nearly €9,000. Expect the Touring to land close to that number plus whatever premium BMW typically charges for the wagon body.
[Photos: Stefan Baldauf]
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