No matter how good the 2028 M3 EV is, it’s going to be missing some of the current (and next) gas car’s calling cards, including the signature quad tailpipe setup. But one thing that won’t change is the M3’s ability to lay down a couple of big curling lines of rubber on a corner exit.

We know this because our spy photo guys were positioned at just the right spot to see an electric M3 prototype push a little harder than normal while hot-lapping at the Nurburgring. Why was the driver pushing harder? The yellow sedan closing in from behind might have something to do with it.

Related: The BMW M3 Is Going Electric, But Not Every M3

It’s a Chinese Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, which you might recall was for a while the fastest production EV at the Ring. The 1,526 hp (1,547 PS / 1,138 kW) sedan recorded 7:04.96 in 2025, but has since been relegated down the league table by the Yangwang U9 Extreme (6:59.157) and Manthey-kitted Porsche Taycan Turbo GT (6:55.53).

We don’t yet know how much power the electric M3 will make, though the base version probably isn’t going to match the SU7’s output, or the 1,341 hp (1,360 PS / 1,000 kW) of the 2025 Vision Driving Experience concept. BMW M boss Frank van Meel has even been quoted by Evo as saying it “makes no sense to drive with 1000 horsepower…because it’s not controllable.”

Trades Brute Force For Agility

Instead, the regular M3 EV is expected to generate far less power. The Hyundai Ioniq N makes 641 hp (650 PS), and no one who has driven one ever got out suggesting it could do with a bit more oomph. BMW will probably feel the need to move the needle, perhaps closer to 790 hp (800 PS). But still keep way below the four-figure outputs of EVs like the SU7 Ultra.

In a way, and I know this sounds perverse when we’re talking about a heavy EV, it’s like BMW is remembering what made the original M3 so much fun, and acknowledging that most EVs have got it wrong. The E30 wasn’t outrageously quick, even when new, but it was agile and felt real-world fast. And BMW’s M team wants the gas-free M3 to be, too.

So it’ll have four electric motors, allowing it to run in either rear- or all-wheel drive mode, and it’ll feature agility-boosting torque vectoring capabilities. Which should mean that even if you have to pull your M3 over to let one of those power-powered Chinese EVs past, you’ll probably be the one wearing the bigger grin.

SH Proshots

BMW’s all-electric M3 is just around the corner, debuting a couple of months ago as a concept and set to be sold alongside the combustion model we all know and love. While it’d be easy to assume the EV, perhaps badged the iM3, is only being built for regulatory compliance, the German brand insists that’s not the case.

The boss of BMW’s M division, Frank van Meel, says the electric M3 isn’t being built because BMW has to do it, but instead because it wants to give customers the choice of either an EV or a car using combustion power, hence why it’s still committed to its six- and eight-cylinder engines.

Read: BMW’s New Electric M3 Proves The Concept Wasn’t Kidding

“We are not doing this because it has to be done, but because we are convinced you can build a fast and even better car this way,” van Meel told Motor1 while speaking about the electric M3. “The timing has to be right, though. It only works if we can do it 100 percent the way we want to do it.”

A New Platform

The key enabler for the quad-motor M3 is BMW’s Neue Klasse platform, which allows the car to be developed from the ground up rather than relying on a pre-existing architecture that might have required modifications to support a large battery pack and powerful electric motors. “We said we could only make a high-performance M with four electric motors, torque vectoring, individual control, a central control unit, and our own software,” he added, noting the car has to feel “M-like.”

It’s possible some BMW M enthusiasts may feel like they’re being force-fed a high-powered EV they don’t necessarily want. However, van Meel says the company does “not decide for our customers what they have to drive,” but rather wants to “build cars that we ourselves love” and that buyers can choose whether they want an EV or a combustion-powered car.

The new model, previewed with the M Concept Neue Klasse, draws on the design of the standard i3 but includes all the upgrades you’d expect of an M car, including flared arches, new bumpers, distinctive wheels, and a custom hood. Chances are, the production model will look very similar.

In terms of power, BMW M has revealed that the concept includes four motors, and while horsepower hasn’t been confirmed, the production car is tipped to have between 700 hp and 1,000 hp. Expect to see the first-ever electric M3 presented in its final form next year.

BMW has finally settled one of the biggest questions surrounding its upcoming electric performance sedan. Contrary to some speculation, the brand’s first battery-powered M3 won’t wear an iM3 badge. Instead, it’ll simply be called M3.

The decision was confirmed by BMW M boss Frank van Meel during the Goodwood Festival of Speed, according to Auto Express. By keeping the legendary nameplate, BMW is signaling that its electric performance sedan isn’t being positioned as a separate branch of the family. Instead, it’ll sit alongside the next-generation combustion-powered M3 as an equal successor to the badge’s long history.

Related: BMW’s New M350 Wears i3 Looks Over A Straight-Six That Could Clear 400 HP

EVs often arrive with distinct names to help separate them from their combustion counterparts. And if the electric M3 adopted the naming logic applied to electric versions of the non-M 3-series, 5-series and countless other BMWs, it could have been called iM3.

BMW, however, appears confident that what defines an M3 goes beyond its power source. The electric model is expected to be the most powerful M3 ever produced. BMW’s new four-motor drivetrain architecture can in theory support outputs approaching 1,341 hp (1,360 PS / 1 MW), though production versions are expected to generate considerably less. But even a modest output like 700 hp (710 PS / 522 kW) for the base car would see it still comfortably eclipse every previous M3.

Not Just About The Power

The M engineers appear focused on more than headline figures, anyway. Christian Karg, head of vehicle dynamics for BMW Group, told Auto Express that “It’s not about the horsepower. That’s a part of the game, but the preciseness of M cars, that’s what’s unique.”

The upcoming sedan’s styling has already been previewed by the dramatic M Concept Neue Klasse (see gallery above), that debuted at Le Mans in June, and was wheeled out again this month for an appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Yellow DRLs An M Telltale?

The concept builds on the chiselled look of the stock i3 sedan revealed last year and on sale this fall. It’s lower than the i3, has much wider fenders, a hood vent that has also been spied on M3 prototypes (see below), yellow DRLs that could become an M hallmark, and a split rear trunk-lid spoiler and huge diffuser.

While production details will inevitably be toned down, the show car offers a strong indication of where BMW M3 design is heading, for both the electric and combustion cars. Because the good news for traditionalists is that a new gasoline-slurping M3 powered by a mild-hybrid six-cylinder engine is also in development. Though the ICE car will use an updated CLAR platform and the EV rides on BMW’s Neue Klasse architecture, they will look almost identical.

BMW, SH Proshots