BMW M Concept Neue Klasse First Look: The Electric M Future

During this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, amid the sound and fury emanating from its race cars screaming down the Mulsanne straight, BMW is rolling out its latest concept car dubbed the M Concept Neue Klasse. Officially, BMW is calling this car a bellwether for the future design language of its M brand vehicles. Unofficially, you’re probably looking at a prototype M version of the all-new, all-electric i3. And from the looks of it, the BMW Ms of the future are moving in an exciting—and almost certainly controversial—direction.

One of the first things you’ll notice about the M Concept Neue Klasse, aside from its striking Monza Red paint, is its distinctive forward yellow lighting integrated into the car’s kidney grille elements. The hues were cribbed in part from BMW’s GT race cars and the BMW M Hybrid V8 hypercar, which employ a similar glow while racing through the night. The new lighting signature will be one of several key differentiators between BMW road cars and its next M vehicles.

A Front Nose Borrowed From Sailing Boats

BMW M’s stylists also took inspiration from another form of racing for the car’s bumper apron. The three-part design, augmented by a shark nose style feature, draws from trimarans and high-speed multihull sailing boats, and it acts as structural support for the front splitter. This new apron and bumper design is flanked by two pairs of Track Lights, another new three-dimensional feature that will appear on future BMW M vehicles.

Air from the openings in the front bumper is directed upward through a distinct V-shaped vent in the hood, serving as a functional air outlet. While you might not think cooling is as critically important when it comes to an EV like the presumed i3 M (or iM3, the name is still under wraps), it still plays a role during hard driving, especially on track days.

Quad-Motor Powertrain

And the concept will need that additional cooling. Rather than utilizing a single motor per axle, BMW says the M Concept Neue Klasse employs the automaker’s new quad-motor BMW M eDrive setup based on its Gen6 technology that’s intended for its coming all-electric BMW M vehicles. The motors will work with the BMW M Dynamic Performance Control, which manages not only each motor but each brake caliper as well. In theory, this would help a driver carve through each corner with a level of precision and speed unlike any M before it.

It’s all powered by an 800-volt system with an estimated 100-kWh capacity battery pack, ensuring they’ll get the power they need during hard driving. The pack itself is structurally integrated with the front and rear axles, adding rigidity to the chassis and further improving driving dynamics.

In true motorsports fashion, the M Concept Neue Klasse uses a set of center-lock wheels that push all the way out to the edges of its bulging fender flares. Although BMW doesn’t say so outright, the wheels appear to be inspired by the iconic basket-weave design of the E30 M3. The center-lock nuts are finished in red and blue to match BMW’s motorsport and M colors.

See All 35 Photos35

You’ll also find “reinterpreted” M aero exterior mirrors that come straight from the motorsports world as well. The new design is more aerodynamic while still allowing the mirrors to function as intended, one of numerous elements designed to improve overall airflow. They also feature the BMW M tricolor on the ends, which might remind you of a race car wing endplate.

An All-Natural Weight Loss Diet

Taking a quick view from above, we can see that the roof is constructed using a composite panel. But instead of carbon fiber, M has utilized what BMW is calling natural fiber, which is also used on the front splitter, hood air outlet, and rear diffuser. This roof replacement is finished with the BMW M tricolor just ahead of the rear window glass.

See All 35 Photos35

A Floating Diffuser

At the rear is where things get a little more adventurous or strange depending on your point of view, with the decklid and upper ends of the widened rear quarter panels flowing into a ducktail spoiler. But the spoiler is split in the middle, forming a valley for the rear BMW roundel. The rear bumper fascia features elements like the front bumper, including the trimaran-inspired element that allows the rear diffuser to float above the surface. We also see the rear set of Track Lights with the same 3D bumper housings, but with red lenses instead of the front’s white ones.

A Neue Klasse of the Driver’s Office

Inside, the M Concept has the kind of cockpit you’d expect from BMW M model. It’s completely driver-focused while still incorporating elements that preview the next generation of M-tuned EVs. A quartet of newly designed bucket seats are built to support the kind of performance this high-output quad-motor sedan promises. Their structures are also made from all-natural composite materials rather than carbon fiber. Representing M’s colors are Bathurst Blue and Berry Red Merino leather, while red five-point harnesses immediately signal that this is all sports car business.

See All 35 Photos35

The steering wheel features a new material for BMW M called nubuck leather. This is leather that has been lightly sanded or buffed to create a softer, more microsuede-like texture, and it appears on the steering wheel, door panels, and roll bar. Additionally, the steering wheel features a set of red shift paddles that match the gear selector in the center console.

The floating dashboard still uses cloth materials with ambient backlighting, but that lighting is rendered in an M-specific hexagonal pattern and color treatment. The digital displays which look to be lifted from the i3 also remain, though they now feature sportier highlights and performance-focused graphics.

Is It the New i3 M?

Although several of the design elements mentioned throughout are headed to future BMW M vehicles, in the end, the M Concept Neue Klasse has concept in the name for a reason, and there are certainly several features that will need to be toned down or changed before it reaches production.

But it appears as though most of the bodywork, wheels (we doubt the center locks would carry over, for example), and interior could very easily transfer onto a production car with the coming quad-motor M eDrive setup and Gen6 drivetrain. Prototypes of the first all-electric M model are already well into development with the same basic shape and style as the concept, and the production vehicle is expected sometime in 2027. However it ultimately shakes out, M’s electrified future is almost here, and the new concept has us even more intrigued for what’s to come.