BMW has sampled the sound of a V-10 engine so that the next all-electric iM3 will make a noise that’s more emotive than the whine of its motors.
In a new video looking behind the scenes at the development of the 1000-hp we see a prototype vehicle in an anechoic chamber alongside a normally-aspirated V-8 E92 M3, and a turbocharged straight-six F82 M4 GTS, as well as an E63 M6 with its thundering V-10.
Carsten Wolf who looks after Integration Vehicle Characteristics (whatever that may be) says, “It is crucial to have a very powerful range, particularly in the lower frequencies. We can learn a lot from teh combustion engine sounds that already are present in this range and re-use them here. However, only as an addition, as a bonus, as something that symbolizes additional power and then mix that together with the actual electric motor sound to create a harmonious whole.”
The video shows Wolf’s team recording BMW’s modern classics, and then we see the iM3 on a test track echoing the exhaust note of its predecessor.
Of course the electric iM3 has no actual exhaust so the car’s audio system is employed to pipe sounds into the cabin for aural stimulation to match its speed. That’s something the iM3 will not be short of thanks to four electric motors, two for each axle. Unlike the Porsche Taycan the iM3 will use single-speed gearboxes.
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The iM3 can operate with all four wheels under power or the front motors can be decoupled for rear-drive sideways shenanigans. There’s also torque vectoring at each corner and the most powerful regenerative braking system BMW has ever offered. The battery pack will be more than 100 kWh in capacity.
The synthesized sounds could also be matched to synthesized gearshifts, as in the Hyundai Ioniq 5N, with BMW M boss Frank van Meel recently telling Auto Express, “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. You should always know how fast you are going, and that’s missing if you have no acoustic feedback and no haptic feedback. We are looking into different ways of giving you that.”
The iM3 is being developed in the same facility and by the same team that’s working on the combustion car, so hopefully they’ll find a solution that works. We’ll know in 2027 when the iM3 sheds its camouflage and goes on sale.