Hey folks, it gets even more confusing over here in BMW Land. Recently, BMW revealed the 3-Series, which has a bunch of gas-powered vehicles with new names I am sure I’ll never memorize or fully understand. The series is now called the G50 3-Series for whatever reason, and the M340i has become the M350. I’m not sure why the number is bigger or why the “i” is dropped.
It’s fine, it’s fine.
However, we’re not done yet! Soon after, BMW announced a more aggressive and powerful version of the i3: the i3 M60 xDrive M Performance. Say that three times fast.
What we know about the BMW M60
The 3-Series has gas-powered models, including the M350 and stuff. It also has electric cars, including the i3 50 xDrive and i3 40 xDrive. Now, there’s the M60.
BMW is calling the M60 an “ultra-potent” electric performance car. However, there’s currently no word on how much power it will have. We can make a few guesses, however, since the i3 50 xDrive has 469 horsepower and a 0-60 miles-per-hour sprint of 4.7 seconds. The M60 M will clearly be quicker than that.
In terms of appearance, the M60 has a more sinister look. There are black performance wheels rather than the i3 50’s metallic wheels, as well as much sharper headlights with the “M” badge and glowing yellow LED lights. It also has a largely black interior with red and blue stitching, red accents, and mood lighting. This is the perfect BMW to scream along to Hawthorne Heights on your ride to work.
BMW’s new design theory
As you can see, the BMW G50 3-Series i3 M60 xDrive M Performance (….) has a look pretty similar to the gas-powered 3-Series vehicles. It’s a bit of a new concept, since sometimes EVs will have a very distinct look. Or, well, blander look in most cases.
BMW Designer Adrian van Hooydonk recently stated that the automaker believes EVs have to look much more like their gas-powered counterparts if people are to spend a bit extra on an electric vehicle in this day and age. I mean, there’s no longer any money incentive. For this reason, BMW wants every vehicle to take on its Neue Klasse design.
“At the same time, we don’t want to split the portfolio through the middle,” van Hooydonk said. “So, the design language that you’ve seen will be applied to combustion engine vehicles as well. BMW has spoken about technology openness and that will remain so. We want to offer Neue Klasse design, Neue Klasse user interface, and Neue Klasse technology to the combustion-engine cars, [too].
“Because with Neue Klasse as a kickoff, we want to change the look and feel of the entire brand, and leave the choice of drivetrain up to our customers.”
Basically, you either want a gas-powered BMW or an electric BMW. The appearance will be the same, taking away that element of the selection process.
