Just when you thought the classic petrol-powered sports saloon was officially on life support, BMW has stepped up with a beautifully chaotic solution: they are going to build two entirely different M3s and let us fight it out in the showrooms.
The German car giant has just pulled the silk sheets off the BMW M Concept Neue Klasse. While they aren’t officially calling it the new M3 just yet, let’s be real—this is absolutely the blueprint for M Division’s first-ever all-electric halo car.
And the numbers attached to it are nothing short of terrifying.
The 1,000bhp Electric Monster
The upcoming “Mi3” EV is set to feature a massive 100kWh battery paired with a quad-motor setup pushing an eye-watering 1,000 horsepower.
BMW is throwing everything but the kitchen sink at this thing to make sure it drives like a true track weapon, not just a heavy battery on wheels:
- The “Heart of Joy”: That is the literal name of the handling supercomputer running the car’s drift modes and torque vectoring.
- Fake Gears: It features “Emulated Shift” tech (similar to Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 N) to mimic physical gear changes and engine revs.
- Eco-Carbon: The roof and sills are built using a natural flax-fibre composite, slashing manufacturing emissions by 40% compared to normal carbon fibre.
Visually, it is a wild mix of the future and the past. You get an aggressive, shark-nosed front end, quad endurance-racer running lights, and solid-topped flared wheel arches that pay a massive homage to the legendary E30 M3 from the 1980s.
The Twist: Petrol Lives!
For a lot of car purists, a silent, heavy, 1,000bhp digital M3 sounds less like a dream and more like a complete tech-overload nightmare. BMW knows this. They are fully aware that moving away from the internal combustion engine is viewed by some corners of the internet as an absolute automotive hate crime.
Which brings us to the best piece of news to come out of Munich all year: BMW is going to build a next-generation petrol M3 alongside the EV.
Instead of forcing everyone into an electric future, BMW is taking a hugely expensive, dual-platform gamble. The next-gen petrol M3—which will likely feature some form of hybrid assist to keep the emissions regulators happy—will look and feel different from its electric sibling.
BMW is essentially letting the market decide. If the EV sells like hotcakes, great. If everyone panics and scrambles for the petrol engine, they’ve got you covered.
It’s an incredibly brave (and ridiculously costly) move, but it’s the only way to keep both tech-heads and old-school petrolheads smiling.
What do you think, Waffle readers? Would you take the 1,000bhp silent spaceship, or are you sticking with the petrol hybrid? Let us know in the comments!