By ATN Editorial Team
Summary: FORVIA HELLA has developed the world’s first Front Phygital Shields, now in series production for the all-electric BMW iX3 — the inaugural model of BMW’s Neue Klasse platform. The large-format front-end modules integrate LED headlamps, illuminated kidney grille elements and radar sensors with heated, radar-transparent covers into a single scalable unit.
Key engineering takeaway: The Phygital Shield exploits the packaging space freed by eliminating the traditional radiator grille on BEVs, combining lighting, decorative and sensing functions into one highly integrated module. Of particular note is the heated radar-transparent cover, which maintains reliable radar performance in adverse weather by preventing ice and contamination build-up — addressing a known limitation of front-mounted radar installations in conventional bumper designs.
Why it matters: As BEV front-end architecture diverges from ICE-derived designs, the vehicle face becomes available for functional and brand-differentiating integration that was previously constrained by cooling requirements. A single supplier module that consolidates headlamps, signature lighting and ADAS sensors reduces front-end assembly complexity for OEMs and establishes a new component category that is likely to become standard as more manufacturers redesign their BEV front ends around similar integration principles.
FORVIA HELLA develops the world’s first Front Phygital Shields
International automotive supplier FORVIA HELLA has developed and brought into series production the world’s first Front Phygital Shields for the new all-electric BMW iX3. With these large-scale, highly integrative modules for the vehicle front, FORVIA HELLA is decisively shaping the design language of the iX3, the inaugural model of BMW’s Neue Klasse. Development and production of the Front Phygital Shields take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, FORVIA HELLA’s global competence center for car body lighting.
What Is a Front Phygital Shield? A New Category of Front-End Module
New product category: integration of lighting technology, design elements, and sensing
FORVIA HELLA’s Front Phygital Shields are designed as a scalable platform that integrates lighting functionality, decorative elements for vehicle styling, and sensor technology. “With our Front Phygital Shields, we address three automotive market trends at once: electromobility, automated driving, and the demand for differentiating lighting solutions. At the same time, we reduce development and front-end assembly complexity for manufacturers,” says Juan Manuel Mollá, who as a member of the Management Board is responsible for FORVIA HELLA’s global lighting business. “This creates an entirely new product category. Within our lighting portfolio, it will become a fundamental element and grow even more relevant for us in the future.”
Lighting, Design and Radar Sensing in One Integrated Unit
Reinterpretation of the distinctive brand look: sharply contoured, vertical BMW kidney grilles and striking horizontal LED headlamps
Front Phygital Shields are specifically designed for electric vehicles. They leverage the design and functional space at the vehicle front that becomes available when the traditional radiator grille is eliminated, transforming it into a defining, differentiating design feature. In reference to the Neue Klasse of the 1960s, the BMW kidneys within the Front Phygital Shields are smaller yet more sharply contoured and now oriented vertically; they can also be optionally illuminated with Iconic Glow. The Front Phygital Shields also integrate the two full-LED headlamps, which have been redesigned from their previous rounded appearance into a more distinctive, horizontally oriented form.
In the BMW iX3, FORVIA HELLA’s Front Phygital Shields also integrate radar sensors with a heated, radar-transparent cover. This protects the sensors from weather and contamination and ensures reliable radar performance even in severe winter conditions. The integrated heating function makes the radar sensors a truly weather-independent technology for environmental perception.
Juan Manuel Mollá: “With our Front Phygital Shields, we are setting a true milestone in design language and vehicle styling. Together with the BMW Group, we have developed a sophisticated, highly integrated front-end module that elevates brand-defining elements into a new era. Being able to help shape and carry the appearance of the new iX3 – flagship of the Neue Klasse – into the future makes us proud and powerfully demonstrates our strong development and industrialization capabilities.”
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