Quote:
Originally Posted by hooked
So, potentially, an electric M3 replaces the G80 ICE M3 in March 2027. Then an electric M4 replaces the G82/G83 ICE M4 in July 2028 leaving the G87 M2 as the only small ICE M car from July 2028 - July 2029.
Hard to see the G87 M2 NOT getting M xDrive [as rumored/speculated for 2026] and a significant bump in power to remain competitive in this space as time marches on and the M3 & M4 get even faster by going electric.
If it plays out this way, the future of the M2 looks very promising but BMW should keep building the ICE cars alongside the electric ones and lets sales dictate when the ICE cars go away. I think they may be surprised by how many people will prefer to continue buying "slower" ICE cars. Many of them already prefer to buy the "slower" manual versions of their ICE cars so the emotional part of the driving experience still sells a lot of cars.
I've driven an i4 M50 several times now and while it is a touch faster than these M cars, it doesn't leave me with the same feeling after stepping out of a M2/M3/M4. It's not even close.
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I think you are slightly misinterpreting the product plan but overall your point is spot on around there being significant demand and interest in the an ICE M3 and in that timeframe further enhanced versions of the M2.
in the next gen, 2028+ there will be an ICE 3 series on an evolution of the current ICE chassis. With potential (probably likely at this point given how EV growth/adoption trends have slowed somewhat) production of an ICE/hybrid M3 model based on that chassis.
There will also be concurrently an i3 based on a completely new electric only chassis with electric only M models. So its not exactly a replacement for the ICE M3 as the vehicle design will be distinctly different than the ICE 3 series.