The signature BMW kidney grille design has had many visual iterations, some more successful than others. Now, though, the change is much deeper, literally bringing the kidney grille to life!
That’s right, and we’d like to present the BMW kidney grille that repairs itself.
Arriving in South Africa in the third quarter of 2025, the BMW iX marks a significant milestone in the future of the automobile. Design that feels familiar, yet confidently showcases the future of BMW’s design language. Lined with technology that seems almost improbable, yet it just works.
The iX, being an all-electric vehicle, doesn’t really need a grille. However, a BMW without its signature kidney grille is like a Porsche without a record Nürburgring lap time – it just doesn’t make sense. So, they came up with a plan: keep the kidney grille, make it from solid plastic, and stack it with sensors, cameras, and radar equipment. BMW is stating that the front grille’s “role has turned digital”.
For BMW, that’s a very subdued way of putting it, so allow us to elaborate.
On the new iX, the kidney grille will be more than a design showpiece; it will be a multi-layered polyurethane (PU) self-healing surface that repairs itself after minor scratches and damage by using the ambient heat of a warm day or a cosy garage. Yes, not only can it park itself, but it can also repair chip and stone damage.
And we’ve only just scratched the surface…
BMW continues… “In order to guarantee the greatest possible precision when using the radar sensor mounted behind the kidney grille, a nanoscale vacuum-based coating process is employed in its manufacture” further explaining, “here, the two-colour finish and visible 3D effects are produced by vaporisation using laser technology and by a plasma-fired application technique in a vacuum. A combination of the laser-based method developed specially for the production of the kidney grille on the iX and a precisely defined combination of material and layer thickness optimises radar performance.”
That’s just a fantastic combination of words to read.
BLUSHING BMW
The self-healing kidney grille and vacuum-generated radar sensors are not the only tech marvels debuting in the iX soon.
BMW uses the phrase “shy tech” when referring to tech like flush door handles, hiding fore and aft distance sensors in the black body edging and cleverly placing the rearview camera in the black ring of the iconic BMW logo, oh and that camera automatically gets cleaned by a water spray system that emerges from behind the BMW roundel. How convenient.
As an added option, you can replace your iX’s entire roof with a single pane of glass, BMW stating it is “the largest glass roof ever fitted in a model from the BMW Group.”
The glass pane consists of five layers: three layers of film and two layers of laminated glass panels, all enclosed within a steel frame.
Why mention this? The glass roof has voltage running through it, keeping liquid crystals in the film layers aligned, allowing natural light to pass through while deflecting harmful UV rays. When it’s time to park or you just want some ‘shade’ while cruising, with a push of a button, the voltage dissipates and the aligned liquid crystals fall into chaos, darkening and creating cool shade for the occupants of the BMW iX.
It’s fair to get excited about technology like this, but if it’s truly practical in the real world, we’ll just have to wait and see. Other than that, it’s a beautiful thing to look at.
Report by RUBEN VON STEEN
