BMW plans EV and ICE M3 pricing parity despite massive performance gap. Electric version could hit 800-1,000 hp, gas model will make less than 600. Manual gearbox and RWD options may disappear from combustion M3. BMW is about to do something unusual with its most famous sports sedan. When the next-generation M3 arrives, buyers will get two very different machines wearing essentially the same badge and, crucially, roughly the same price. According to a new report, BMW intends to sell the electric and combustion M3 side by side in the same price bracket. That might sound straightforward, but it gets interesting once you look at what each version actually delivers. Related: BMW’s Electric M3 Tries To Simulate Everything It Just Replaced The electric M3 could deliver close to 1,000 hp (1,014 PS) from its quad-motor setup, though base models are likely to deliver 700-800 hp (710-811 PS) at launch. Meanwhile, the combustion model will stick with an evolved twin-turbo straight-six boosted by mild hybrid tech to somewhere around 552 hp (560 PS). Visually, the two cars won’t stray far from each other either. BMW wants them to feel like siblings, not alternatives from different worlds. Expect shared design cues inspired by the Neue Klasse look, even though they’re based on entirely different platforms, the combustion car sticking with an updated version of today’s M3’s CLAR platform. Panoramic iDrive Inside, both should follow the same minimalist, screen-heavy direction. That means fewer physical buttons and a more digital-first cabin, incorporating BMW’s Panoramic iDrive tech, which may divide opinion just as much as the powertrain choices. Combustion M3 Sylvia Neubauer, BMW M’s sales boss, is adamant that both cars will deliver what buyers expect. “It’s not only about acceleration and power, it’s about drivability, manoeuvrability and that level of trust and connection between the driver, car and road,” she told Autocar. She also made it clear BMW knows not everyone will jump ship to electric overnight. “Obviously we will not convince 100 percent out of the petrolhead target group to buy an all electric BMW M3,” she admitted. “But out of 100 people that try it, we will be able to convince some.” That explains why the combustion version isn’t going anywhere just yet, though some elements of it might be. Reports suggest the manual gearbox option, currently only available on the non-Competition version of the M3, might be retired. If that happens, even the petrol M3 edges further away from its analog roots. Electric M3 Lead image BMW
