Electric BMW M3 takes to the Nurburgring for the first time

BMW has been testing its next-generation M3 for a while now and while the car isn’t scheduled to be launched until 2027, the development of the all-electric version has just reached a milestone after taking to the famed Nurburgring circuit. 

These spy shots don’t reveal too much about the new car’s design, although this model has shed a few aerials and sensors that were on previous prototypes seen undergoing winter testing. 

We’ve recently experienced the new electric M3 to a certain extent after spending some time with BMW’s rolling laboratory, the Vision Driving Experience. We’ll have to wait and see what technology from that concept will make production, but we’ve been told previously that it uses four electric motors and could develop as much as 1,341bhp. However, the production electric M3 is likely to produce less than that maximum figure. 

While we have high hopes for BMW’s electric super-saloon, it may struggle to clinch the Nurburgring lap record for an electric four-door saloon. This category has heated up recently with chinese electronics giant Xiaomi setting a lap time of 6:48:87 with a prototype SU7 Ultra, knocking the Porsche Taycan Turbo from the top spot in the process. 

In terms of design, the electric M3 is clearly based on the Neue Klasse 3 Series coming in 2026, although there are some differences, such as larger wheelarches, which allow a wider track, plus deeper side skirts. 

The graphics around each wheel indicate this prototype is powered by a quad-motor powertrain, as you’d find in the Rimac Nevera hypercar. BMW has been working on this set-up for some time, which should differentiate the electric M3 from the standard 3 Series EV that’s likely to get single or dual-motor set-ups.

BMW’s development boss Frank Weber told Auto Express back in September 2024 that an M3 EV – which could be called the BMW ‘iM3’, based on a recent trademark filing – will be based on the brand-new Neue Klasse platform. It has a projected on-sale date of 2027, “not too far away from the initial launch of the Neue Klasse as a product line”, according to Weber. Whether or not these plans extend to an all-electric M3 Touring estate is yet to be established.

The petrol-powered M3 won’t be killed off however. Auto Express understands a new M3 will sit alongside the all-electric model and Weber outlined that BMW has developed the current 3.0-litre turbocharged straight-six engine to comply with Euro 7 emissions regulations. That means the combustion-engined M3’s lifespan will most likely overlap with the all-electric model arriving in 2027.

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Speaking at the launch of the new 5 Series and i5 electric saloon, and musing on whether BMW needs a halo model once a production saloon car based on the Neue Klasse platform goes on sale from 2025, Weber confirmed: “The next M3 will be fully battery electric – and will have ‘the heart of joy’ [referring to a new ECU package].

“This ECU control unit was designed for four independently operating electric motors up to one megawatt [1,341bhp] and therefore yes, it needs a lighthouse project,” said Weber. 

BMW’s new ECU combines controllers for the stability control, powertrain/battery and chassis software into one hardware unit as part of the biggest investment in the firm’s history – the Neue Klasse platform. According to M division boss Frank van Meel, it will unlock new dynamic capabilities. “We call it ‘hand of god’, like we had on the M5 with the M xDrive system,” he said when referring to the new ECU tech.

“In the future, when you talk about four electric motors for instance, you need the hand of god to be even stronger. Then you don’t just need the lateral and longitudinal dynamics from a chassis point of view [as with the M xDrive system], but also the engine. It has to be one centralised logic because on track you want to decelerate at up to 1G or more, but at the same time you want to recuperate and have the right stability,” van Meel added.

“It doesn’t matter if I do ABS braking or brake with the motors, because the motors are faster than the hydraulics anyway, but it is a prerequisite for going into a new era with M and electric high-performance vehicles. It means you can drive this car in a way you never have before.”

Electric M3 driving dynamics and rivals

While van Meel outlined that the platform has up to one megawatt of power at its disposal, the M boss believes that it’s not all about power and that vehicle dynamics will define how electric M cars drive in the future, differentiating BMW’s products from its rivals. 

“We don’t need a megawatt of power, but of course we are installing this because we don’t only think about the M3,” he told us. “We will go up to maybe XM or X5 M, and if those cars have some weight, we need that power for the typical M driving feel. But it is all about vehicle dynamics, the overall vehicle concept.”

Driver interaction will be key to future M division EVs as well, van Meel believes. Asked if the firm would look to simulate gearchanges to boost involvement, the exec said: “If you have just one gear and you have no feedback at all, you don’t know how fast you are [going] and you cannot look down at the speed. It’s a little bit like a motorcycle, third gear and you hear the revs. So actually you do know if you’re doing one hundred and thirty, a hundred thirty five, and then you have the shifting lights that you can see from the corner of your eye. So you don’t need to look down. You always know how fast you are, and that’s missing if you have no acoustic feedback, also no haptic feedback. We are looking into different ways of giving you that feedback.”

The all-electric BMW iM3 won’t have the performance EV saloon market to itself. Not only is there the Tesla Model 3 Performance, Alfa Romeo is also working on an electric Giulia (possibly with a hot Quadrifoglio version) and we wouldn’t be surprised if AMG makes a hot version of the next-generation Mercedes CLA saloon. A production version of the Lexus LF-ZC concept is also due in the next few years.

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