Electric 2027 BMW M3 could be a 1000kW quad-motor powerhouse

Expected to arrive shortly after the all-new BMW 3 Series in 2026, the next-gen M3 will offer a whole new level of driving dynamics, according to BMW bosses.

Based on the same Neue Klasse underpinnings as the 3 Series, BMW board member and development boss Frank Weber has high hopes for the all-electric M3 due in 2027.

"The next M3 will be battery-electric – full battery-electric", Weber told Autocar [↗], before describing how the Neue Klasse platform’s ‘Heart of Joy’ on-board computer – the ‘Hand of God’ i8 chassis controller’s successor – will make this the fastest and most capable M3 ever.

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New 'Neue Klasse' BMW i3 M50 electric sedan, imagined by Theottle | © Wheels Media

"This is a controller that has taken the last 20 or 30 years of our experience into a control unit. Everything that is driving-performance related, chassis-control related, propulsion- [and] powertrain-related is now in one integrated control unit.

"It’s almost the history of how you control a vehicle that is in that thing. We do it ourselves – we don’t buy it. The software is proprietary. This is why we talk about it. We say, see, this will enable driving-dynamics functions that you will love”, Weber said.

He went on to describe that the Heart of Joy, able to control four electric motors individually and deliver up to 1000kW, will allow new-gen M cars to perform “far above what people are used to today”.

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New 'Neue Klasse' BMW i3 M50 electric sedan, imagined by Theottle | © Wheels Media

There won’t be a long wait between the start of 3 Series production and an M car this time either – unlike the E36 generation 3 Series which had a four-year gestation period for its straight-six M3 – with Weber wanting to exemplify the capability of EVs as soon as possible.

Those who love the raspy sound for which M cars are famous shouldn’t be too worried, though. Weber confirmed that there will be “a coexistence” with the next electric M3 and the current car, with its ‘S58’ inline six staying in production until at least 2030.

Additionally, a plug-in hybrid powertrain built around a petrol V8 will arrive in the new M5, likely in 2025, and production of the XM PHEV will continue as BMW returns to the LMDH category of endurance racing.

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The plug-in hybrid BMW M5 spied testing in Munich

Conjecture also surrounds the naming conventions of BMW’s most powerful series, with BMW member of the board for sales Pieter Nota telling Autocar that the promised quad-motor 3 Series may not be called the M3, rather a derivative of that name, leaving the combustion lineage to exist separately to the EV.

Any further details will be confirmed much closer to the Neue Klasse platform’s launch under the next-gen X3 expected in 2024, with the eight-gen NK-based 3 Series sedan and wagon due in 2026.