This is what BMW reckons BMWs will look like in 2040

And you thought the new BMW M3 had overly large kidney grilles. Check out the face of the BMW i Vision Circular concept. Some moustache that.

The i Vision Circular is what BMW predicts a compact, all-electric luxury car could look like in the year 2040. Apparently the aim is to use 100 per cent recycled materials in its construction, with 100 per cent of the resulting car able to be recycled at the end of its life. Circular, get it?

There’s no mention of any powertrain details (this is a rather futuristic concept after all) although BMW does say that a solid-state battery would also be fully recyclable and that it’d be manufactured ‘almost entirely using materials from the recycling loop’.

On the outside, the lower parts of the i Vision Circular are made from recycled plastic with a kind of marble-effect look. The main surfaces are a mix of aluminium and steel and are coloured in gold and that bluish purple thanks to the heat treatment process that is used to mould them. Rather nice, we reckon. 

The badges are all lasered on to the surfaces to avoid using any additional parts, and those kidneys are now a ‘digital surface’ that include the headlights and a nifty pinstripe pattern. The tyres barely have any sidewall but are apparently made from sustainably cultivated natural rubber.

The interior is very concept-like, with two comfy-looking lounge chairs up front and a bench seat in the rear. The upholstery is made from recycled materials (obvs) as are the carpets. The steering wheel is 3D printed from wood powder, and that ginormous crystal on the centre console has also been printed. Apparently it reacts to hand movements by lighting up in different areas, and all the infotainment is instead displayed at the bottom of the windscreen. 

Thoughts on the i Vision Circular concept as a whole then, folks?