M3 EV (ZA0) in Neue Klasse Body Spied Winter Testing in Sweden (Jan 16, 2025)

[NickyC]

Originally Posted by M3JetPilot

Is this an argument in favor of the big grille? The pic is grotesque, even for a video game. Either way, the big grille is still ugly.

All they had to do was make the G8x cars look like that, or like a baby M8. It's just mind boggling to me still how they got it so bad.

I'd still have my G82 I took a chance on when they first came out if it looked like that.

[zinner]

Welcome to the new BMW co///Mpromise.

Hope the new M3 can do an 8 hour open track day. I might fill up 3-4 times a day with 93 octane, it takes about 3 minutes a fill up.

[M3JetPilot]

Originally Posted by NickyC

All they had to do was make the G8x cars look like that, or like a baby M8. It's just mind boggling to me still how they got it so bad.

I'd still have my G82 I took a chance on when they first came out if it looked like that.

If the G80 had looked like this can you imagine the drop in sales?! And the calls from the BMW enthusiasts to make the grille larger and more aggressive. It would have been a disaster😜

[M3EATERS]

Originally Posted by Ragged Edge

Good looking shape! I’m glad it’s not too much of a departure from the existing M3… as far as we can tell from these pics. I hope there is a manual version!😋🙄

If this is an EV, do you expect a single speed manual version… 🙃

[robopp]

Originally Posted by M3JetPilot

I wasn’t saying you were walking your statements back, just that I’ve had many G80 owners do that. And sales have never indicated how iconic a car’s design will be. BMW reported M sales have reached record levels. I would argue that lessens the M brand. I agree that the design could go any direction in the future but are you so open minded that BMW could issue any design and you’d go with it? Where’s the line? i4, XM, i3…nothing? Just open minded, and everyone will warm up to it, and what are the sales?

I’m not in a F8x echo chamber, I just think BMW is represented better by some designs and not others. Wouldn’t you agree?

Unpopular opinion here, but I think the E9x design is one of the most boring designs BMW has ever made.

[Bimmerfun82]

Originally Posted by robopp

Unpopular opinion here, but I think the E9x design is one of the most boring designs BMW has ever made.

I think that was part of what made it desirable, at least for me. Understated. Which was a good thing in the Great Recession. And in fact most BMW designs up to that point - apart from the bulky bodywork of the e30/36 - were conservative.

E9x was a sleeper car, but if you knew you knew. The conservative design belied its intentions with a potent, special engine and greatly enhanced DCT (supplanting the problematic SMG) and more modifications available to damping (EDC), steering, throttle response, and shifting.

But the specialness of the design was the intricacy - you’d sit there in the purposeful cockpit looking at the curves, hood vents (1 of which was useful design for induction), lovely interior - and think it was worth every penny. You weren’t overwhelmed with buttons like the f8x or a massive screen with severe lack of ergonomics like the G8x. It fit like a glove.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by M3JetPilot

If the G80 had looked like this can you imagine the drop in sales?! And the calls from the BMW enthusiasts to make the grille larger and more aggressive. It would have been a disaster😜

I am not a fan of the G80 front... but that is basically an M340i w a slightly wider body... that front would need to be way more aggressive... maybe they realized this and went w the big grills as a result.

[e46e92love]

And people wonder why my every day cars are BMW and fun ones Porsche…..slush boxes, power with no control…..///M has become the German muscle car.

I said what I said.

Cheers,
e46e92

[M3JetPilot]

Originally Posted by robopp

Unpopular opinion here, but I think the E9x design is one of the most boring designs BMW has ever made.

Originally Posted by ASAP

I am not a fan of the G80 front... but that is basically an M340i w a slightly wider body... that front would need to be way more aggressive... maybe they realized this and went w the big grills as a result.

You both bring up an interesting discussion. What is the styling signature of BMW? Has BMW been known for outside-the-box, aggressive styling? I would say no. One of the main reasons I like BMW is their conservative, understated design language. At least that’s how I would describe it up until they decided to slap all these ugly grilles on some of their cars. If someone wants exciting, outlandish designs, why buy BMW? What do you both think of the new M3? From what we’ve seen so far, do you think the cars styling hints about being aggressive? It seems to me it is significantly less aggressive than the G80.

By the way, the E9x platform is my favorite of the M3. What is yours?

[robopp]

Originally Posted by M3JetPilot

You both bring up an interesting discussion. What is the styling signature of BMW? Has BMW been known for outside-the-box, aggressive styling? I would say no. One of the main reasons I like BMW is their conservative, understated design language. At least that’s how I would describe it up until they decided to slap all these ugly grilles on some of their cars. If someone wants exciting, outlandish designs, why buy BMW? What do you both think of the new M3? From what we’ve seen so far, do you think the cars styling hints about being aggressive? It seems to me it is significantly less aggressive than the G80.

By the way, the E9x platform is my favorite of the M3. What is yours?

E46 without question. Just like Audi’s B5 S4/RS4. Absolutely gorgeous cars being produced in early 2000’s.

[yousefnjr]

Originally Posted by M3JetPilot

If the G80 had looked like this can you imagine the drop in sales?! And the calls from the BMW enthusiasts to make the grille larger and more aggressive. It would have been a disaster😜

If that were the G80 the level of whining would be about the same imo. It’s just how it is with people now. There would be a group of guys saying it looks like a 340i or a Camry. Another group would whine about some new-ish design detail that they moved away from — “BMW has lost their way!” A wannabe-British guy from SoCal (raised exclusively on Top Gear episodes) would openly muse “… but is it a proper BMW? What’s it like on a B-road?” 24 year old 335i drivers everywhere would declare “well, Porsche here I come!” We’d have YouTube thumbnails like the pic below, captioned “How did they get it so wrong?!”. And of course all the crying over the usual stuff — weight, sound, etc. “Look at that tacked-on screen, the E90 was best! COST CUTTING!!”

Guarantee you all of these will come to pass when the new one is revealed. Does not matter what it looks or drives like.

[LuckyBrand]

Originally Posted by chicagofan00

https://www.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=901686

NA0/NA1 i3
In production 11/26-6/35
Model range: 20, 40, 40 xDrive, 50, 50 xDrive, M60 xDrive
Will be made in Germany and SLP (SLP starts with one year delay).
Will include ZA0 M3 and ZA1 M3 Touring.

Wow. A 9 year run. Crazy.

[chicagofan00]

Originally Posted by LuckyBrand

Wow. A 9 year run. Crazy.

Yeah, pretty long run for the 3 series in general. Guessing the M3 will end up being around 7.5-8 years then?

[LuckyBrand]

Originally Posted by chicagofan00

Yeah, pretty long run for the 3 series in general. Guessing the M3 will end up being around 7.5-8 years then?

I guess with costs and development of shared gas/electric platforms it makes business sense but I hope they keep the refreshes up cause it could get boring after 5 or 6 years.

Also, wonder what everyone think this new electric M3 is gonna cost? Will it be Porsche money or something we all can still obtain?

[chicagofan00]

Originally Posted by LuckyBrand

I guess with costs and development of shared gas/electric platforms it makes business sense but I hope they keep the refreshes up cause it could get boring after 5 or 6 years.

Also, wonder what everyone think this new electric M3 is gonna cost? Will it be Porsche money or something we all can still obtain?

I guess it depends upon what the development costs are for this model but given that a decent amount would be shared alongside the regular 3er that should help keep the costs fairly inline and hopefully won’t see a large premium compared to previous gen M3s. Time will tell I guess, especially depending upon what EV incentives are taken away and what potential tarrifs are looking like in a few years. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[LuckyBrand]

Originally Posted by chicagofan00

I guess it depends upon what the development costs are for this model but given that a decent amount would be shared alongside the regular 3er that should help keep the costs fairly inline and hopefully won’t see a large premium compared to previous gen M3s. Time will tell I guess, especially depending upon what EV incentives are taken away and what potential tarrifs are looking like in a few years. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Excellent point on incentives for EVs and potential tarrifs. Guess we’ll see in a bit.

And in the mean time we’ve all got time to save our Pennie’s before it debuts. Hoping for an epic gas and electric version to come!

[chicagofan00]

Originally Posted by LuckyBrand

Excellent point on incentives for EVs and potential tarrifs. Guess we’ll see in a bit.

And in the mean time we’ve all got time to save our Pennie’s before it debuts. Hoping for an epic gas and electric version to come!

Yep, plenty of time right now and really looking forward to the reveal of both versions! Really curious to see how the improve upon the engine for the ICE version and integrate it with the mild hybrid setup.

[WWM3]

Originally Posted by chicagofan00

Yeah, pretty long run for the 3 series in general. Guessing the M3 will end up being around 7.5-8 years then?

This is one of the reasons I passed on the G80. Despite changing the headlights, I think it looks long in the tooth. It’s well past time for a new M3 IMO.

[WWM3]

Originally Posted by robopp

Unpopular opinion here, but I think the E9x design is one of the most boring designs BMW has ever made.

Have you seen BMWs prior to the early 2000s? Design is subjective, but IMO the E9X are not boring compared to what BMW did previously.

[LuckyBrand]

Originally Posted by chicagofan00

Yep, plenty of time right now and really looking forward to the reveal of both versions! Really curious to see how the improve upon the engine for the ICE version and integrate it with the mild hybrid setup.

Yeah I really think both will be unreal power wise. The full electric obviously will be insane but adding the mild hybrid set up as long as they keep the weight down on the ice it should be brutal as well. I mean I think the G80 already can do what, 2.9ish no helper?

[chicagofan00]

Originally Posted by LuckyBrand

Yeah I really think both will be unreal power wise. The full electric obviously will be insane but adding the mild hybrid set up as long as they keep the weight down on the ice it should be brutal as well. I mean I think the G80 already can do what, 2.9ish no helper?

Agree. If they manage to eliminate some of the lag in the current G8x, the new setup will be absolutely amazing. Not that I found my G80 to be particularly laggy but it was definitely noticeable at times.

[M3JetPilot]

Originally Posted by yousefnjr

If that were the G80 the level of whining would be about the same imo. It’s just how it is with people now. There would be a group of guys saying it looks like a 340i or a Camry. Another group would whine about some new-ish design detail that they moved away from — “BMW has lost their way!” A wannabe-British guy from SoCal (raised exclusively on Top Gear episodes) would openly muse “… but is it a proper BMW? What’s it like on a B-road?” 24 year old 335i drivers everywhere would declare “well, Porsche here I come!” We’d have YouTube thumbnails like the pic below, captioned “How did they get it so wrong?!”. And of course all the crying over the usual stuff — weight, sound, etc. “Look at that tacked-on screen, the E90 was best! COST CUTTING!!”

Guarantee you all of these will come to pass when the new one is revealed. Does not matter what it looks or drives like.

Hilarious! And some truth to this but there is precedent for consensus among the BMW community. E46, E9x and even the F8x didn’t have near the level of controversy and division the G80 created. Not saying it was perfect but there wasn’t widespread banning of people from the F8x forum because the E9x fans were too critical. Not directed at anyone specifically but we should all remember this——>