The next-generation of BMW M3 is going to be an unusual one, because, for the first time ever, BMW will be offering two completely separate powertrain options. There will be two different M3s: one with an internal combustion engine, and one with a fully electric powertrain. However, BMW M boss Frank van Meel clearly says that there won’t be any in between option.
“It won’t be hybrid, as we’re sticking with the perfect combustion principle. Here [with the Neue Klasse M3] we will go to the extremes, not the in-between,” he told Piston Heads.
A lack of hybrid options should be music to piston-powered ears, as fans who aren’t into the idea of an electric M3 won’t have to deal with electrification in their combustion car. Instead, the newly revised S58 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six, which has been updated to meet Euro 7 emissions regulations, will be unburdened by electric motors and batteries. OK, so it’ll have a tiny, mild hybrid system, much like you’ll find in the M440i, but it’s really just a starter generator and doesn’t act as a typical hybrid. So it won’t come with the weight or complexity of a proper hybrid system.
If that excites you, just wait, there’s more. BMW wants to keep the manual transmission for the gas-powered M3. While it isn’t set in stone just yet, van Meel says that BMW wants the manual to stick around. “We want to do it for the driving emotion,” he said. Manual transmissions are getting harder to justify, as they’re less fuel efficient, harder to source from suppliers, and typically sell in far fewer numbers. But it seems that BMW will try to hold on as long as possible.
Electric M3 customers will be happy to know that BMW focused on handling and dynamics before power, so it shouldn’t be a straight-line missile without classic M car handling. While it will have four motors, the Neue Klasse M3 will be heavily rear-biased, only using the fronts to help put power down and keep things steady through corners. “The front electric motors will be there to help when they’re needed rather than make the car fully all-wheel drive,” B MW M head of development Alexander Karajlovic told Piston Heads.
We know that BMW wants to simulate engine noise with the electric M3, as it recently showed off the process of creating such noises. But it won’t stop there, as BMW also wants to simulate a gearbox, but not exactly like Hyundai does so in the Ioniq 5 N. Instead, van Meel says the M Division wants to simulate gearing as an indicator of speed “On the track with gears you know how quick you are going into each corner. Simulated ratios will help this be maintained in the electric car. I won’t say we’re fully copying a gearbox [characteristics] as then we’d copy the negatives. We need to find the good things and then use those to enhance the driving experience.”
I’m not exactly sure what that means, but Karajlovic says it won’t have torque interruptions as you’d have when shifting gears in a combustion car. Instead, it will “separate the torque, but it will be the same torque throughout.” Whatever that means.
Regardless, it’s nice to know that BMW is fully leaning into both versions of the M3. The internal combustion version will be purely internal combustion and might even come with a manual, to satisfy the old-school purists. While the electric version will be the most extreme electric version possible. The BMW M5 Touring and XM have been the only M Division hybrids so far, and they also might be the last.
