Tag Archives: BMW

News

BMW’s First Electric M Cars Are Coming—And They’re Not Hiding Anymore

The world didn’t end when BMW put the Ultimate Driving Machine badge on a front-wheel-drive minivan. Nor did the sky fall when the 3-Series briefly flirted with a three-cylinder engine. So forgive us if we’re not clutching our pearls now that BMW’s M division is inching toward its first production EV. Based on new spy footage, judgment day isn’t here—but something big is coming.

Electric M, the Full-Strength Kind

BMW has been selling “M Performance” EVs for a few years now, but a genuine, capital-M electric M car has remained conspicuously absent. That changes soon. Fresh spy video from Tenerife shows a convoy of heavily camouflaged prototypes, including what insiders believe to be the M3 EV and X3 M EV, leading the brand’s upcoming electric assault.

Here’s the interesting part: despite being battery-powered, neither model appears to be adopting the “i” prefix. BMW seems determined to tell the world that these cars are M cars first, EVs second. But with a gasoline M3 continuing alongside the electric version, Munich will still need to find a way to distinguish the two without causing badge chaos. The X3 M, however, has a cleaner runway—BMW has no plans for another gas-powered generation.

Under the Camouflage: Production Shapes and Serious Hardware

Both prototypes look like they’re wearing their production bodywork, just buried under layers of camouflage thick enough to make a winter parka jealous. The headlights seem final on both, while the X3 M EV already carries production taillights lifted from the standard iX3. Oddly, both vehicles have swollen rear bumpers bulging with extra cladding, as if BMW doesn’t want us to know what’s happening back there.

But the wheels tell the real story.

  • M3 EV: 20-inch rear alloys wearing 295/35 ZR20 rubber.
  • X3 M EV: 21-inch fronts with 275/35 ZR21 tires.
    Both are running drilled brake rotors all around—no surprise, considering the mass they’ll have to control when pushing nearly 700 hp.

The crossover is almost certainly AWD. The sedan? Likely RWD to start, because BMW knows its audience.

How Much Power? Plenty.

BMW hasn’t released numbers yet, but logic—and a few leaks—paint a clear picture. The current iX3 50 xDrive tops out at 470 hp. Rumor has the iX3 M60 coming with about 620 hp, leaving room for the full M version to reach into the high-600s, maybe more.

With more motors on board, the X3 M EV may actually out-gun the M3 EV on paper. Whether it will out-gun it in the corners is another question entirely.

Gasoline Isn’t Dead Yet

Interestingly, not all prototypes caught in Tenerife were electric. BMW is also testing the next-gen 3-Series with combustion engines, and despite mixing ICE and EV platforms, the brand’s Neue Klasse design language keeps them visually aligned.

One camouflaged test car sported quad exhausts, but don’t call it an M3. That’s actually the upcoming M Performance model, likely to be renamed M350, powered by an updated six-cylinder B58 packing over 400 hp. The proper S58-powered M3 will follow later with more than 500 hp, a mild-hybrid assist, and likely an automatic-only, xDrive-only setup.

The Roadmap

Here’s how the timeline shakes out:

  • 2026: Next-gen 3-Series debuts, right after the new i3 sedan.
  • 2027: Electric M3 EV arrives first, followed by the X3 M EV.
  • 2028: The new combustion M3 bows as the last ICE hero from M division.

BMW’s electric M future isn’t a matter of if—it’s already on the roads, wrapped in swirls of black-and-white vinyl. And while purists may mourn the quieting of the M3’s signature bark, these prototypes make one thing clear: Munich isn’t entering the electric era timidly. It’s coming in hot, heavy, and with the kind of numbers that make even skeptics raise an eyebrow.

Let the new era of M begin.

Source: NCars via YouTube

NEW CARS

BMW Gives Mexico an Electrified Birthday Gift: The 330e “50 Jahre Edition”

BMW has been in a celebratory mood all year long, and for good reason. The brand’s most important model—the 3 Series—turns 50, and Munich has been rolling out birthday presents in the form of special editions for markets around the world. The latest candle on the cake lands in Mexico, where BMW is launching a limited-run 330e 50 Jahre Edition, adding an electric twist to the festivities.

This isn’t just a sticker-and-badge job. Built at BMW’s San Luis Potosí plant, the 50 Jahre Edition is based on the rear-wheel-drive 330e but dresses up with some of the prettiest hardware in the catalog. The car rides on 19-inch two-tone Individual wheels, internally tagged “1038”—a design that first appeared on last year’s refreshed 4 Series. Add in the M Sport Pro Package, a blacked-out kidney grille, and the whole thing looks more shadowy and aggressive than your average plug-in 3er.

BMW Mexico didn’t stop there. The mirror caps and window surrounds get the blackout treatment, while red M Sport brake calipers pop loudly against the bodywork. A trunk-lid spoiler and standard sunroof round out the exterior tweaks. Open the door and the birthday theme continues with “3 Series 50 Jahre Edition” sill plates, complete with M-colored accents.

Inside, the enhancements are tasteful rather than tacky. There’s carbon-fiber trim across the dashboard, power-adjustable front seats, and 3-zone climate control to keep the cabin civilized. A wireless charging pad and a special commemorative plaque on the center console—right atop the cupholder cover—remind you why this car exists in the first place.

Mechanically, however, BMW leaves the candles unblown. The powertrain is unchanged: a turbocharged 2.0-liter four paired with an electric motor for a combined 289 horsepower and 420 Nm (310 lb-ft). That’s still enough to shove the plug-in 3er to 62 mph in 5.9 seconds, with a 143-mph top speed. In EV mode you’re capped at 87 mph, which is probably enough to stay ahead of traffic while feeling smugly efficient.

A 19.5-kWh usable battery provides up to 53 miles (85 km) of WLTP-rated electric range. Plug it into a 7.4-kW wallbox, and you’re looking at about 2.5 hours for a full recharge—just enough time for a long lunch break.

BMW dealers in Mexico have already started taking orders. If you want this electrified birthday edition, you’ll need MXN $1,439,900, or roughly $78,300. That’s a steep price for a plug-in 3 Series, but hey—turning 50 only happens once, and BMW clearly wants the party to last.

Source: BMW

News

Million-Mile Mythbuster: The BMW 325is That Lived in a Lab for Four Years

Back in the 1990s—an era of fax machines, lime-green windbreakers, and peak German engineering—Mobil 1 decided it needed a stunt. Not a flashy marketing blitz or a celebrity cameo. No, the company wanted something far nerdier: a long-term endurance test that would prove the value of sticking to the maintenance schedule. The guinea pig? A BMW 3 Series E30 325is with the M20 inline-six. A legend, even before the experiment began.

After a modest 1,000-mile break-in on public roads, the car disappeared into a laboratory, where it stayed for the next four years. Literally. Day and night, the little red 3 Series lived on a dynamometer, humming away through a test cycle designed to simulate a lifetime of highway use.

By the end of the ordeal, this humble E30 had racked up 1,000,000.5 miles—yes, the half mile was included, because engineers are engineers. For the entire test, the car drank Mobil 1’s super unleaded plus gasoline and bathed in the brand’s fully synthetic oil. Every 7,500 miles, the inline-six received a fresh oil change, exactly as BMW prescribed.

The first 50,000 miles were monotonous: a steady 55 mph, the driving equivalent of a treadmill set to “brisk walk.” The rest was more dynamic—an endless loop of acceleration from 40 to 85 mph and back, an artificially constructed highway commute repeated thousands of times until the odometer finally ticked over to seven digits. Not once did the schedule deviate. Not once did the car pause except for maintenance.

When the four-year grind finally wrapped, the M20 engine was hoisted out and torn down for inspection. What the engineers found bordered on comical: minimal wear, healthy internals, and most components still within original factory tolerances. After a million miles, this thing looked like it had barely finished college.

Now, does this prove the M20’s bulletproof reputation? Mobil 1’s chemical wizardry? Or simply that running an engine in a climate-controlled lab without heat-soak cycles isn’t exactly “real life”? All valid arguments. A million miles on a dyno isn’t the same as winter in Wisconsin or summer in Nevada. But even with the controlled environment, four straight years of nonstop combustion is nothing to shrug at.

As a marketing exercise, it was brilliant. As an engineering experiment, it was fascinating. And as a reminder that regular maintenance matters—well, consider the evidence overwhelming.

Fast-forward to 2025. That same 35-year-old 325is is still alive, still driving, and now under the care of a new owner who fully intends to push the odometer even further. Because if one thing was proven back in that Mobil 1 lab, it’s this:

Take care of your engine, and your engine will take care of you—even for a million miles and then some.

Source: xLibelle via YouTube