BMW’s newest concept car — the BMW i Vision Circular — is its most radical and forward thinking in ages. It isn’t only a slick, high-tech concept car for the future, as every brand has such things. The i Vision Circular is designed to be entirely recyclable, with a focus on secondary materials. Its exterior is so funky it makes the i3 look tame and its interior looks like something out of Minority Report. Its circular manufacturing; using either recycled materials or materials that could be recycled into new ones; makes it as sustainable as it is radical looking.
The exterior of the i Vision Circular looks unlike any other BMW before it. The kidney grilles and headlights are digital, the taillights are built into a rear glass panel, and its body isn’t even painted. The latter is the funkiest of its exterior design quirks. Rather than paint the body shell, the i Vision Concept’s aluminum panels get light gold anodized finish, which BMW calls Anodized Mystic Bronze. Snazzy.
Inside, it looks like a Phillip K. Dick fever dream, with interactive glowing crystal pieces on the dashboard that have nerve-like lighting elements, making the look like they’re thinking. Its seats are thick and plush, made from recycled fabric. It even features a line of the aforementioned crystal material that accentuates the car’s Hofmeister Kink from the inside. The i Vision Circular truly has the most ambitious interior ever fitted to a BMW, for better or worse.
At the 2021 IAA, we just had the chance to see the i Vision Circular in person and it’s one of the more thought-provoking BMW concept cars ever made. Its material cleverness is only matched by the strangeness of its cabin and design. We’re intrigued to see if any of the ideas in the i Vision Circular actually ever make it to a production BMW in the near future.
