Yahoo Autos 2021 BMW M3 and M4: Everything We Know
With a new 3-Series on the market for a little under a year now, and a new 4-Series coupe on the way, it's about time for BMW M to roll out the latest versions of its icons—the M3 and M4. We're not 100-percent sure what the cars will look like, but we do know a lot about them. Here's what we've learned so far about the G80 and the G82.
They'll Debut This Year
In a press release touting record sales in 2019, BMW M confirmed that the world debut of the new M3 and M4 would be held sometime this year. We expect it to be later in 2020, so don't be surprised if March's Geneva Motor Show comes and goes without a new M3 and M4. BMW M boss Markus Flasch previously confirmed to Motoring.com.au that the M3 and M4 won't go into production until late 2020, with the car arriving at dealers in early 2021. Flasch also confirmed the photo above, which first leaked in mid-October on Facebook, is of a pre-production M3.
Here's a Manual Version Testing on the Nurburgring
The new M3 has been spotted testing during the Nurburgring's industry test pool sessions all year, and this latest video shows a manual version of the car getting pushed to the limit. Turn the sound up, and you can clearly hear the delay between shifts. It's still in full camouflage, but this prototype gives us a good look at the body lines, as well as the fender flares, exhaust setup, and lip spoiler.
They'll Receive a New 3.0-Liter Straight-Six
As with their predecessors, the new M3 and M4 will be powered by a 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six. It's not the same engine, though. Instead, they'll get BMW M's new S58 engine, which made its debut in the X3 and X4 M. The engine is based on the regular BMW B58 straight-six that's been around since 2015, notably powering the new M340i and the fifth-gen Toyota Supra. Our colleagues at Car and Driver point out that the S58 has a larger bore and shorter stroke than the B58, for more revs.
In the standard X3 and X4 M, the engine makes 473 horsepower and 442 lb-ft of torque, while in the Competition, it makes 503 hp and the same amount of torque. We expect those figures to be similar in the M3 and M4.
Expect Competition, CS, and CSL Versions
Two years ago, then-current BMW M head Frank Van Meel told Road & Track that BMW M would adopt a four-tier model strategy. We expect at launch that the M3 and M4 will launch in standard and Competition guises—a strategy BMW has employed with the new M8, X3/X4 M, and X5/X6 M—and eventually, there will be a CS version, then a CSL.
The Competition will offer a bit more power than the standard version, while the CS will bring even greater track focus and various weight-saving measures. The CSL will bring back a storied BMW nameplate to replace the old GTS models. Think hardcore track monsters, with coilovers, more power, more aero, stickier tires and less weight. BMW might only offer an M4 CSL—not an M3.
The Manual Option Has Been Confirmed
In 2018, BMW R&D head Klaus Frolich promised R&T that the next M3 and M4 would offer a manual transmission option. A clearer picture emerged a few months later, when Britain's Car magazine reported that BMW has a rear-drive, manual-transmission version of the next M3 and M4 in the pipeline. The magazine said this model was called the "Pure," though the name wasn't final.
This is the entry-level version of the M3 and M4, expected to carry the lowest price tag of the model range. Of course, the significance of a rear-drive manual-only version of the M3 and M4 means the rest of the lineup will be different.
