OpinionTop Gear
Is the new electric BMW M3 a surefire hit... or a miss? Have your say
But before you do, allow Top Gear's editorial team to have an argument first
Ollie Kew: “This is the right side of innovative. Handsome, even”
I might have to join BMW’s designers in their witness protection programme for this, but I like it. Could’ve been a whole Luce worse. Cover the badges and it looks like a BMW. There’s a tasteful amount of historic nods without going retro or pastiche. And all the while, the haters can be pacified by the fact there’s still going to be a similar looking version with a straight six behind that shark snout.
Compared to some of the utter horrors perpetrated by the BMW design haus this decade (iX, XM, 2 Series Gran Coupe, M4, 7 Series, X7...) this is the right side of innovative. Handsome, even. And more interesting – more experimental – than the Taycans and EQEs of the world.
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Greg Potts: “I can’t say I’m spying many links to the neat little E30”
BMW’s M department has thrown the clean, Bauhaus-spec Neue Klasse design book in the bin and gone all in with, well... everything for its first electric M3. I’ve seen London buses narrower than that diffuser, and I can’t say I’m spying many links to the neat little E30. Still, at least the interior will appeal to those who used to wrap the slats of their kidney grilles in M Sport colours.
On that note, presumably the combustion-engined car will get a reworked front end for cooling purposes, and hopefully BMW sees fit to stick on a normal set of wheels at the same time. It’s that version that everyone will buy too, even if the production EV does get 1,000bhp.
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