BMW has finally settled one of the biggest questions surrounding its upcoming electric performance sedan. The brand's first battery-powered M3 will not wear an iM3 badge.
Instead, it will 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 signals that its electric performance sedan is not a separate branch but an equal successor to the badge's long history.
If the electric M3 had adopted the naming logic applied to electric versions of the non-M 3-series and other BMWs, it could have been called iM3.
However, BMW appears confident that what defines an M3 goes beyond its power source.
Quad-Motor Powertrain Promises Record Power
The electric M3 is expected to be the most powerful M3 ever produced.
BMW's new four-motor drivetrain architecture can theoretically support outputs approaching 1,341 hp (1,360 PS / 1 MW), though production versions are expected to generate considerably less.
Even a modest output like 700 hp (710 PS / 522 kW) for the base car would see it comfortably eclipse every previous M3.
But M engineers appear focused on more than headline figures.
Christian Karg, head of vehicle dynamics for BMW Group, told Auto Express: "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, which debuted at Le Mans in June and appeared again at Goodwood.
The concept builds on the chiseled look of the stock i3 sedan revealed last year and on sale this fall.
It is lower than the i3, with much wider fenders, a hood vent, yellow DRLs that could become an M hallmark, and a split rear trunk-lid spoiler with a huge diffuser.
While production details will be toned down, the show car offers a strong indication of where BMW M3 design is heading.
The good news for traditionalists is that a new gasoline-powered M3 with 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.
