It’s no secret BMW is working on a battery-electric next-generation M3, but what will the four-door beastie look like?
The short answer is an angry version of the Vision Neue Klasse concept shown in 2023, as previewed in December last year by an exuberantly wrapped prototype known as the ‘M HP BEV’ – a ballistic quad-motor super sedan primed to give supercars nightmares for months.
Using the teasers as a guide and some creative license inspired by the current model, the first (unofficial) production-spec renders of the electric 2028 BMW M3 have surfaced online and are sure to cause just as bigger stir as the G80 did.
Unlike its predecessor though, the G84’s point of controversy isn’t its face, it’s the rear.
We’re hoping and praying the actual car doesn’t adopt this detail, but the rendered vehicle’s rear end is defined by an extravagant tail-light ensemble seemingly designed to replicate the illuminated kidney grille and headlight clusters up-front.
We have no major gripes with the front end – we’ve probably just accepted the M3 will forever be a controversially-styled performance offering – nor the new M3’s stance on the road, its bronze CS-style wheels or its M5-style lower intake.
A key detail missing from the render however are the prototype’s exacerbated rear wheelarches that’ve become something of a signature for German performance models.
EV-specific details we can expect include retracting door handles, an enclosed upper grille and a synthetic six-cylinder engine noise.
If BMW makes good on its hints of a quad-motor powertrain, the next-gen M3 – aka iM3 – could pump out more than 746kW in its most potent form and obliterate competition from Mercedes-AMG, Audi Sport and even Porsche.