Autobayng News Team
- An electric BMW M3 was spied with its production body for the first time while testing; previous sightings were all mules.
- It looks like an M3 only with the particularities of an EV, so it has a closed-off grille and no exhausts in the back.
- It was spotted alongside what is very likely the hot M variant of the recently unveiled iX3.
We’ve been seeing electric BMW M3 mules for months. Even BMW itself shared photos of what looked like a regular i3 (the upcoming electric 3 Series) with bolt-on fender flares, which wasn’t representative of what the actual production M3 EV would look like. But now we just got our first look at the car’s production body, and it is very promising, at least visually.
The vehicle, which we’re fairly certain is an M3 EV prototype wearing its production sheetmetal, appeared in a video posted by NCars on YouTube. You can see that the widened fenders are now integrated and flow into the body much more naturally than on previous prototypes.
The front fenders stick out considerably more than on the non-M i3. The same goes for the rear, where it looks like BMW has yet again not bothered to give the M car bespoke doors to match the more muscular rear haunches. This is the same as on the current gas-powered M3 and many people have criticized this and attributed it to BMW cutting costs, but the company has said this is intentional and meant to allow you to “see the power.”
Up front, we see what are likely the final production headlights, but mostly covered by a camouflage wrap. In the rear, the prototype appears to have placeholder lights, even though non-M i3 prototypes have recently had production taillights, albeit hidden by camo. This could suggest BMW wants to do something special with the electric M3’s rear lights, but, then again, it could also mean nothing.
There’s still some additional padding under the camouflage, especially around the bumpers, so we can’t see the exact outline of its fascias. However, just like with the current 3 Series and M3, you will very easily be able to tell them apart by the M car’s chunky widebody, more aggressive bumpers and unique wheels. The wheels on the prototype in the video are not representative of what the car will launch with.
Equally important to the way it looks will be the electric M3’s driving experience. BMW has not made it a secret that it wants to give these cars up to four motors, which would not only allow for very high horsepower outputs but would also give very precise control of the torque delivery to each wheel. Having individual motors will allow engineers to give the car the kind of slightly naughty handling that M car fans have grown accustomed to.
BMW has demonstrated the kind of performance and waywardness the electric M3 will be capable of through its Vision Driving Experience (VDX) vehicle. It’s purely a technology demonstrator for what a quad-motor BMW EV with the new Heart of Joy powertrain management computer can do, and its driving dynamics are very impressive. More On This
They had better be because BMW’s current EVs, even the most powerful ones, just aren’t very fun to drive. That’s why the manufacturer a high-performance electric M model yet, although it does offer some warm M-badged models. The manufacturer is confident that cars like the electric M3, and its crossover equivalent based on the new iX3, will be compelling enough to sway combustion car buyers to pick them. The ideal scenario for the manufacturer would be for buyers to pick one of each.
The video also shows what appears to be a prototype for the iX3 M, which will likely be revealed ahead of the hot sedan model, since the stanard iX3 has broken cover and we’ve already driven it. The initial prototype drive was very impressive, and we expect the sedan to be even sweeter to handle, especially in M guise. We want your opinion! What would you like to see on Insideevs.com? – The InsideEVs team
