BMW M Boss Confirms Next-Gen M3 With Gas Engine

BMWBLOG was the first publication to report about a next-generation M3 with a gasoline engine. We’re happy to officially confirm the sports sedan will keep its inline-six engine through our German sister site Bimmer Today. The M man himself, Frank van Meel, revealed the S58 engine is here to say. A moment of applause. The engineers are already working to tweak the twin-turbo, 3.0-liter mill and meet upcoming Euro 7 regulations.

The mayor of M Town mentioned BMW has no intention to retire the six-cylinder engine anytime soon. Hooray! It plans to keep it in M’s portfolio for as long as regulations allow it. Frank van Meel went on to say the punchy straight-six is sticking around until customer demand drops off to a point where it’s no longer feasible to sell an M3 with this powerplant.

It effectively means there will be a seventh-generation M3 with a gasoline engine. Likely called the “G84” within the gates of Munich, the conventionally powered sports sedan will be sold alongside a fully electric M3. The latter, already confirmed by BMW, is believed to be called “ZA0” internally. The EV will use the dedicated Neue Klasse platform instead of the ICE model’s CLAR architecture.

It is believed another gas-fueled M3 wasn’t initially in the works as BMW’s original plan was to launch only the electric model. We’re glad there’s been a change of heart among the higher-ups, and we’ll get what will likely be the final M3 with an “old-school” powertrain.

Frank van Meel also said the manual gearbox is sticking around but we’re not so sure the next M3 will have three pedals. In addition, our sources say there won’t be another 4 Series with ICE power, so no more M4. A moment of silence. It’s unclear whether BMW intends to do a second-generation M3 Touring with an inline-six. For what it’s worth, a regular 3 Series Touring is planned with the “G51” codename. It’ll be available alongside a 3 Series Sedan “G50″ upon which the next M3 will be based.

When to expect the new models? The G50 is likely to enter production near the end of 2026, with the G51 not far behind. The G84 M3 should hit the market in either 2027 or 2028. Around the same time, we’ll also see the ZA0 M3, giving customers the freedom to pick between gas and electric power.

Attached below is Bimmer Today’s full interview with Frank van Meel. If your German is a bit rusty, you can turn on the auto-translate feature.

Source: Bimmer Today