BMW M has been hard at work getting the first-ever electric M3 ready. It’s a huge moment for the brand, and the industry as a whole, as it will be the first all-electric M3. Hell, it’s the first all-electric M car of any kind. And since the BMW M3 has always been the quintessential compact sport sedan, it going electric is a big deal. So BMW needs to get it right, and it’s been putting the new electric car through the same rigorous tests as every other M car.
“Every M vehicle as to go on the Nurburgring and drive for 8000 kilometers before it gets the final sign off,” said BMW M CEO Frank van Meel. For we ‘Mericans, 8000 km is something like 20,000 bald eagles or around 6600 football fields. So it’s a lot. “And it is the toughest test you can do to a car under racing conditions.”
It’s also a new experience for Jörg Weidinger, BMW’s in-house hot shoe and the man who’s typically behind every M car Nurburgring record. Weidinger is normally behind the wheel of something with a loud, violent engine. This time, though, he was testing an electric M car for the first time.
BMW
“Yes, this is a cool new world,” he said after lapping the electric M3 at the Sachsenring. “It inspires a huge amount of confidence right from the start.” As odd as it might be for him, Weidinger seems mightily impressed. “We got it just right with the first shot.”
Interestingly, while watching Weidinger at the helm, you can hear the artificial engine noise but if you listen carefully, there’s an audible gear shift in there. While we knew that it was going to have some sort of simulated gear shifts, it’s interesting to hear it in action. In the video, Weidinger doesn’t pull one of the paddles, so it “shifted” on its own.
BMW brought some of its board members to Miramas, the track where the M Division often tests its cars, to let them take the electric M3 for a spin. While there weren’t any Ford v Ferrari moments, scaring the pants off of executives (at least on camera), they did seem thrilled with what it was capable of.
When the electric M3 finally hits the market, it will be fascinating to see what customer response is. There’s no doubt that the car will be incredibly fast, capable, and likely fun to drive. But will it be able to capture the same passion and driving pleasure as the countless brilliant gas-powered M cars of the past. This isn’t a Tesla or a Lucid, cars without any heritage to honor. The electric M3 has decades of motorsport and road car excellence that it has to live up to, so it will interesting to see how it measures up. So far, it seems, so good.
