Watch out Nurburgring, BMW’s first electric M car is coming for you

BMW’s first pure electric full-fat M model will assert its position as a bonafide high-performance driving machine by toppling all Nurburgring records set before it by petrol powered M-power machines.

While a fully electric M car is many years away from a production line – as per BMW's global launch strategy – the German powerhouse is already busy developing potent electrified drivetrains, poised to infuse genuine track ability into an E-M model once the technology reaches its zenith.

Enter BMW's Neue Klasse family – the vanguard that will pave the way for an all-electric M experience spawning a car that embodies the very essence of BMW's high-performance ethos – demonstrable, says BMW, through Nurburgring record demolition.

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Recently revealed BMW Neue Klasse sedan

BMW's high-performance division head said that a battery-powered M-asterpiece won't receive any preferential treatment on the gruelling Nurburgring track, and it’ll only make its grand entrance when it's ready to break every company lap record before it.

"We just had four new records on the Nurburgring with the M2, M3 Touring, M3 CS, and the prototype car, so this one (electric M) has to top that," said BMW M CEO Frank van Meel. "We are quite optimistic that it will be able to do that, because it has to."

Van Meel described the current Nurburgring champions as 'quite good' but minced no words in asserting that their recent lap records in various classes would pale in comparison to BMW's electric pioneer.

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As significant as the record claims are, BMW’s electric M marvel will be armed with a game-changing innovation in the form of a singular electronic control unit – a technological leap that'll redefine the driving experience not just for M models, but for the entire line-up, says BMW.

According to van Meel, the electronic innovation, announced during the Neue Klasse international reveal in Munich, consolidates the drivetrain, stability, and dynamics control into one centralised unit, creating what BMW CEO Oliver Zipse dubbed the ‘heart of joy.'

This advancement in technology offers BMW a multitude of new possibilities. “It’s a different balance of performance but with new tools,” says van Meel.

A year ago, the world caught a glimpse of a mysterious BMW M prototype tearing up the track, serving as the test bed for this revolutionary system. Fast forward to today, and a production version is tantalisingly close to reality.

"We have a concept car on the road with four independent electric motors, and they are run by this electronic architecture in the car," confirmed van Meel. "We can run from one to four engines with this architecture, which gives us a lot of things to play with, and that's what we're working on right now to find the right setup for our M vehicles.”

Van Meel compared the new system and approach with the company’s first all-wheel drive M-car but said the game had moved on significantly since then.

“We already did it a little bit with the X5 M where everyone said you can’t do a four-wheel-drive with M but we said, yes we can, if we have a centralised logic that we call ‘hand of god’. This is quadrupling that principle.”

But don’t reach for the cheque book just yet; the first electric M isn't slated to be one of the six models launching in the 24 months following the debut of the inaugural Neue Klasse model in 2025. BMW is taking its time to ensure that the M badge stands for nothing less than perfection in the realm of electrified power.

“Since it is Neue Klasse, which means new class, also M has to be part of the future of the new class. Obviously it will be, and we’ve been working on the architecture of the new class and driving dynamics and a lot of other things so we can make a pure M out of Neue Klasse.”

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“Of course, M always comes a little bit later – that is the strategy of M.

"First we start with the regular cars, although ‘regular’ might be the wrong word for these cars. We’ll do something on top later on.”

And that puts the debut of the first proper electric M car at a date no earlier than the latter part of 2026.