The BMW X3 M, the hottest version of the brand’s best-selling SUV, reportedly won’t be renewed with petrol power for the model’s latest generation – instead, it’s going electric in the coming years.
After launching the X3 M nameplate in 2019 as the outgoing-generation SUV’s flagship performance model, BMW was expected to keep it going with the new recently revealed X3, providing customers with a high-riding alternative to the M3.
However, BMW Blog reports this is no longer the case, with sources telling the specialist publication there will be no new X3 M.
X3 M Competition
This is despite information posted on the Bimmerpost online forum by user ‘ynguldyn’ – who has compiled BMW insider information, with near perfect accuracy – claiming the petrol-powered X3 M will remain, even going as far as to add its ‘G97’ internal model code.
What both publication and poster can agree on though is that there will be an electric iX3 M, codenamed ‘ZA5’ and expected to produce at least 447kW, significantly more than the 375kW of the current X3 M Competition’s twin-turbo six-cylinder engine.
As with the upcoming BMW iX3, it’ll be based on the company’s upcoming Neue Klasse electric vehicle (EV) architecture, unlocking greater driving range than the brand’s current crop of battery-powered models.
Unfortunately we’ll have to wait a while longer to see the new iX3 M, as it’s set to debut a year or two after the second-generation iX3, which itself isn’t expected to be revealed until later this year or early 2024.
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