EV and straight-six options
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EV and straight-six options

BMW sports saloon lineage to diverge as Neue Klasse EVs arrive

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Electric M3 will use four motors and trick torque vectoring to boost agility.
Electric M3 will use four motors and trick torque vectoring to boost agility.

The BMW M3 will return for a seventh generation with the choice of either a straight-six turbo petrol engine or a high-tech EV powertrain with huge power and unprecedented dynamic ability.

Due by early 2028, the next M3 is being engineered for both powertrains in a bid to maximise its appeal and in line with BMW's ongoing commitment to combustion power. The current car's S58 twin-turbo 3.0-litre straight six has been made compliant with upcoming emissions regulations, meaning the petrol M3 can -- for as long as customer demand dictates -- remain on sale alongside the all-new electric version, which will be based on BMW's Neue Klasse platform.

New petrol M3 will be an updated version of today's generation.

New petrol M3 will be an updated version of today's generation.

In a wide-reaching interview with Autocar, BMW M CEO Frank van Meel has laid bare his priorities and plans for the electrification of the storied performance division. At the centre of those plans is the new generation of its seminal sports saloon -- overhauled from the ground up to take the fight to EV and ICE rivals including the Mercedes-AMG C63, Porsche Taycan and Hyundai Ioniq 5 N.

Asked if the electric and ICE M3s will wear different badges, van Meel said: "Do we need to set them apart An M3 is a promise, not an engine." That strongly suggests that electric car will not adopt the iM3 moniker, despite BMW having trademarked it.

The EV version will be derived from the next generation 3 Series, due on sale from next year, while the ICE car is likely to be a heavily updated version of today's G80 M3, with Neue Klasse design influence.

XM is very far away from what BMW normally does, but is in demand.

XM is very far away from what BMW normally does, but is in demand.

"We're also working on the newest emission regulations on combustion engines. We're planning to keep up our combustion cars as well," said van Meel, who is adamant that the M3 will retain its signature pace and dynamic agility, irrespective of powertrain. He conceded that the first generation of BMW's electric performance cars will be heavier than their combustion forebears, because customers want their EVs to have a usable range and that -- until solid-state packs arrive -- means big, weighty batteries.

However, he suggested that with the proliferation of public EV chargers comes the ability to install smaller battery packs and thus reduce weight -- important for sports cars, particularly.

"It's the hen and egg principle," he told Autocar. "The way I see it in the end is it's going to be all-electric. Once you can make high-performance cars – and we will in the future -- all-electric, then the next question is what about charging infrastructure.

"That is the key question and it's not a question that a car manufacturer can answer. So in the beginning, the cars will be heavy because they will be equipped with batteries that allow a long range to avoid range anxiety in environments where charging infrastructure is still not widely spread."

As an indication of what an electric BMW supersaloon might weigh, the closest thing to a full-fat M EV currently on sale is the top-rung i5 M60 xDrive, which is a heady 2.3 tonnes, compared with 1,930kg for the previous generation, pure-petrol M5.

Van Meel likened this phenomenon to the rise of the iPhone: "When it came out, you just wanted to throw away your old phone. I had a Nokia 6210, the classic one. It had a standby time of 84 hours. Then the iPhone came and didn't have a standby time of 12 hours. It could do huge things, but actually I went to the Geneva motor show and by 12.30 I ran out of battery. I couldn't call anyone!"

He added: "But the batteries became better, everyone has a charging cable, in every hotel and car there is a plug… so now you're used to it. You can plug it in everywhere and it's no hassle any more."

The M division's priority in the medium term, then, is to ensure its EVs remain as agile and engaging as its current cars in spite of the inevitable extra bulk.

Hyundai Ioniq 5 N.

Hyundai Ioniq 5 N.

Van Meel says the new M5 -- now a plug-in hybrid that weighs around half a tonne more than its pure-V8 predecessor -- illustrates how the division will use innovative power management technology to mitigate the impact of this added weight. He recalls that when the sports saloon went four-wheel-drive for its previous generation, there was concern about what that would mean for the model's trademark rear-biased handling balance, but he had been impressed by prototypes and was confident in the car's dynamic credentials.

He said: "I already knew how it was going to drive, but I couldn't tell anyone or explain, so I had to just wait until the car came out and everyone could drive it, and then it was fine. And now it's the best M5 ever…"

Van Meel said he feels the same now, having spent time at the wheel of test mules for electric M cars: "I've driven our cars and I know what we're doing, and they're really cool -- but either I don't want to say right now what we're doing, or I can't transfer the message because you come from what you know, and you don't know what we're doing."

Crucial to appeasing the keen driver will be the new quad-motor powertrain arrangement that M engineers are testing in prototypes. This allows for full four-wheel torque vectoring that means "you can have a perfect line and the precision you know from an M car".

But, van Meel added, "to get the precision, it does not help only to have four electric motors: you need a central control unit and that's what we used to call the Hand of God". This is the central computer BMW M cars use to vary power delivery to each wheel and it has been renamed the Heart of Joy for its electric performance cars.

"It seems more complicated, but it's also more interesting if you control them with one 'hand' -- not only in regards to accelerating or cornering but also braking and stabilising," he said. "Then you have the possibility to create a new dimension of vehicle dynamics, and then you can counteract the increase in weight."

Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé EV.

Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé EV.

His comments echo those of Alpine CEO Philippe Krief, who has said torque vectoring between multiple electric motors can create a feeling of "perceived lightness" that masks the true weight of an EV.

Importantly, each major component in a BMW M electric drivetrain will be bespoke to the sporting division. Much as it has always used heavily reworked versions of standard BMW engines, it will continue to use parts from its parent company as the basis for higher-output, performance-focused electric systems.

Van Meel said: "In the past, we had special engines like the S58. BMW had a B58 and we took the base engine, made modifications -- new cylinder head, new production processes -- and we can assemble it on the lines where the B58 engine is assembled, and the same was true with the S63 and N63 V8 engines.

"We use the same ideas and logic for developing our high-performance engines. We are in close cooperation with BMW AG to use their bases as a basis for what we are making at M." Autocar

Porsche Taycan 4S.

Porsche Taycan 4S.

What the electric M3 will have to beat

Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Power: 641bhp Weight: 2,235kg 0-100kph: 3.4sec

Top speed: 260kph Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé EV Power: 1,000bhp (est) Weight: 2,500kg (est) 0-100kph: Less than 3.0sec (est)

Top speed: 250kph (est) Porsche Taycan 4S Power: 536bhp Weight: 2,395kg 0-100kph: 3.7sec

Top speed: 260kph

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