{"id":35449,"date":"2026-06-12T16:43:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T16:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/35449\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T16:43:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T16:43:12","slug":"the-bmw-m-concept-neue-klasse-is-the-best-looking-m-car-in-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/35449\/","title":{"rendered":"The BMW M Concept Neue Klasse Is the Best Looking M Car in Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

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After months and years of teases from BMW<\/a> M of how its first electric M3 will perform, we\u2019ve finally gotten a decent glimpse at how it\u2019ll look. This is the M Concept Neue Klasse, taking the design direction forged by the new i3 sedan<\/a> and iX3 SUV<\/a> and applying it to a sport sedan for the first time.<\/p>\n

Before we go any further, it\u2019s important to stipulate that while this concept is intended to highlight the electric version of the next-gen M3, there will also be an internal-combustion one. Don\u2019t write the battery-powered option off immediately, though, because when it eventually debuts, it\u2019ll have electric motors on each wheel and a unique cell chemistry that allows it to charge and recuperate energy more quickly than conventional EVs. Sure, there are loads of fast electric cars out there, but there are reasons to believe<\/a> that the electric M3 will stand out among them.<\/p>\n

With all that said, we can now focus on the design, which is really what this concept is intended to show off. Initial impressions are positive. I like the dramatically flared fenders, and some of the racing-minded cues BMW is apparently going to lavish on future M models that are debuting here, like the square running \u201ctrack lights\u201d near the bottom of the bumper, and the yellow DRLs that call to mind endurance racing. The M Concept Neue Klasse debuted Friday afternoon in France ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, after all, so it\u2019s only appropriate.<\/p>\n

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As someone who never warmed up to the comedically long and narrow kidneys on the outgoing M4, the wider signature of combining the kidneys and lights in a single graphic works for me. Same goes for the massive apertures for cooling on the front and rear of this concept, with center pillars bridging the gaps to the splitter up front and the diffuser out back.<\/p>\n

M cars certainly haven\u2019t been lacking in aggression in recent years, but this concept manages to maintain that tenacity without sacrificing elegance, or venturing into the M2\u2019s blocky bulbousness. It\u2019s not just good\u2014I\u2019d go so far as to say it\u2019s BMW\u2019s best-looking M car in years.<\/p>\n

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\nBMW<\/p>\n

Inside, the cabin proudly plays up the M brand\u2019s tri-color motif with Bathurst Blue seats and Berry Red five-point harnesses. The dashboard wears what initially looks like a digital honeycomb pattern on a knit material, until you realize on closer inspection that it\u2019s actually backlit.<\/p>\n

The trajectory with interior ergonomics is a little concerning, because what BMW\u2019s done here is move any button that might\u2019ve been on the dash or center console onto the steering wheel, and also made them capacitive, rather than physical keys. Steering wheel controls are handy, but this one has so many functions that it\u2019s genuinely giving me agita just looking at it. The digital instrument cluster readouts also sit just below the windshield, as they do with other Neue Klasse models. It looks sharp in photos, but I can\u2019t weigh in on what it actually feels like to live with yet.<\/p>\n

With the normal i3 slated to hit U.S. dealers next year, this peek at M\u2019s take on the formula looks pretty safe for production. It\u2019ll be interesting to observe how the gas-powered version could deviate from it. Heck\u2014with Le Mans this weekend, I\u2019m already dreaming about the inevitable GT3 version.<\/p>\n

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Got a tip? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com<\/p>\n

Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site\u2019s slate of daily stories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The biggest car news and reviews, no BS Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20955],"tags":[6213,22273,24502,23850,21647,21409],"class_list":["post-35449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bmw","tag-bmw","tag-concept","tag-i3","tag-m3","tag-sedan","tag-sports-car"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}