An electric BMW M car is on its way. Putting aside all the inevitable furore that’s going to cause, a new model from BMW’s sporty division inevitably means a massively drawn-out programme of teasers and behind-the-scenes looks at the car’s development. Remember how long we were getting glimpses of the new M5 before we saw the end product?
In fact, for the M EV, that campaign’s been going on for over two years – it was August 2022 when we first got a look at a camouflaged i4-based prototype with a quad-motor powertrain capable of doing extremely smokey (but probably CGI-created) donuts.
That prototype is the main star of a new video put out by the German manufacturer, the first in a new docu-series charting the development of the first fully-fledged electric M car. There’s something else interesting that makes a couple of cameos, though.
It’s a first-generation M2 – an F87, for you chassis code enjoyers out there – which looks to have had its 3.0-litre turbo straight-six thrown out and replaced with an electric powertrain to aid the development of the new EV.
No mention is given to the mysterious development mule in the video, which mainly focuses on how M’s engineers are fettling the dynamics of the new car, which is set to be based on the same platform as BMW’s upcoming Neue Klasse EVs.
Instead, it just makes a few brief appearances testing alongside the main i4-based prototype, sporting a subtly altered front bumper and a larger ducktail-style spoiler, plus a conspicuous lack of exhaust pipes.
Exactly what it’s for, then, isn’t clear. It could be used for simply calibrating systems or serving as proof of concept, or BMW could have felt that an M2 was the best possible representation of the size, shape and weight distribution of the final car. Either way, it’s no small task to rip out the guts of a combustion car and replace them with batteries and motors, so there must be a specific reason for doing it to an M2…
Mysterious G87 BMW M2 prototype
Oh, and as some bonus content, right near the end of the video, during a scene at BMW’s top-secret testing facility (just off the N569 near Miramas, southern France), there’s a very brief clip of a current-gen M2 in full prototype camouflage. Is this the long-awaited Competition version? Answers on a postcard.
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