BMW i3 50 xDrive First Edition Opens for UK Orders From £57,905

BMW has opened the order books for the new i3 50 xDrive First Edition, giving UK buyers their first chance to secure the brand’s electric saloon ahead of its official showroom arrival in autumn 2026. The launch edition is priced from £57,905 on the road, and it represents the second model built on BMW’s Neue Klasse architecture, the platform the company is using to reset its entire electric range.

For anyone who has followed the BMW 3 Series over the past five decades, the i3 badge will take some getting used to. This is not the small, carbon-bodied city car that wore the i3 name in the previous decade. The new i3 is a full-size electric saloon that BMW positions as the direct successor in spirit to the petrol and diesel 3 Series, and the First Edition is simply the version that reaches customers first.

What the First Edition Brings

The i3 50 xDrive First Edition is based on the M Sport specification and stacks a further layer of standard equipment on top of it. That means M Sport exterior and interior design elements as standard, joined by BMW Iconic Glow, the illuminated treatment for the brand’s kidney grille, and the BMW 3D Head-Up Display that projects driving information into the lower part of the windscreen.

The most useful addition for day-to-day ownership is AC Charging Professional, which lifts the car’s alternating-current charging rate from 11 kW to 22 kW. For drivers who can access a three-phase supply at home or at work, that doubles the speed of a top-up on AC power, turning an overnight charge into something far quicker. Orders are open from today, with the First Edition priced from £57,905 OTR.

“The new BMW i3 is a groundbreaking car for us,” said Jochen Goller, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG for Customer, Brands and Sales. “As a fully electric model, it will be competing in a high-volume segment and is therefore extremely significant for the BMW Group. At the same time, we can already tell from the high level of interest in this model that it will be very well received by our customers.”

Range, Charging and the Numbers That Count

Range is where the i3 makes its strongest case. BMW quotes a WLTP combined figure of 471 to 563 miles for the First Edition, with energy consumption of 16.1 to 13.4 kWh per 62 miles and a CO2 rating of zero, placing it in the A efficiency class. The standard i3 50 xDrive that follows at launch goes further still, with a quoted single-charge range of up to 567 miles. Those numbers put the car at the upper end of what any electric saloon currently promises, and well clear of the everyday driving needs of most owners.

The xDrive part of the name confirms all-wheel drive, with an electric motor on each axle delivering traction in poor weather and the kind of effortless acceleration buyers expect from a performance-leaning BMW. Combined with the 22 kW AC charging on the First Edition, the package is built around the reality of living with an electric car rather than the headline numbers alone.

A New Take on the 3 Series Shape

BMW has been open about the i3’s role. “The BMW 3 Series has been an icon of our brand for seven generations and therefore more than five decades,” said Mike Reichelt, who heads the Neue Klasse programme. “With the Neue Klasse and its technology clusters, we are literally skipping a vehicle generation. This is the DNA of our sporting saloon in a completely new vehicle concept as we write the next chapter in the BMW 3 Series success story.”

The styling follows what BMW calls a 2.5-box design, with the long wheelbase, glasshouse set well back and short overhangs that have defined its saloons for years. The kidney grille and twin headlights now merge into a single light signature at the front, while horizontal rear lights adopt an L-shaped design that stretches into the car’s shoulders. Inside, the cabin is built around the new BMW Panoramic iDrive and Operating System X, a display and control setup arranged around the driver rather than the centre of the dashboard.

Price, Timing and the Rivals

The First Edition is on sale to order now from £57,905 OTR. When the standard i3 50 xDrive reaches showrooms in autumn 2026, it will start from £53,005 OTR, which gives early buyers a clear sense of the premium they pay for the launch car’s extra equipment and earlier delivery. At this price the i3 saloon squares up to the Tesla Model 3 in its higher-output forms, the Audi A6 e-tron and the Polestar 2, though its quoted range advantage and badge appeal give BMW a strong hand.

For buyers who have waited for a properly sized electric BMW saloon rather than an SUV, the i3 finally answers the brief. The First Edition lets the keenest customers jump the queue, while those happy to wait until autumn can save almost £5,000 by choosing the standard car once it arrives. Either way, the long-running 3 Series story now has an all-electric chapter, and the order books are open.