BMW will build the first fully electric BMW M3 at its main plant in Munich. The same plant has produced BMW M's one-millionth vehicle, a BMW M3 in Fire Orange III paint.
Plant head Peter Weber handed the milestone car to Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW M GmbH, at a ceremony, according to BMW Group. Van Meel said the milestone shows buyers still value M's mix of road and racetrack ability with everyday practicality. It arrives four decades after the first BMW M3 reached the market. He added that this response pushes BMW M to keep developing its range on Neue Klasse technology, electric models included.
BMW says Munich will be the only site to build the electric BMW M3. It frames the choice as a commitment to its historic home base, a plant with more than a century of production behind it. The company calls the car the first high-performance model with BMW M Neue Klasse technology. It would be the second Neue Klasse model built in Munich, after the electric BMW i3. BMW attaches no launch date, price or power figures to the car.
The plant itself is changing around the car. BMW says it will build only fully electric vehicles there from 2027. The company remodeled the site during ongoing production, putting a new body shop and vehicle assembly, with new logistics areas, on about a third of its area. BMW puts the total investment at around €650 million (about $730 million). That figure covers the whole conversion, not a single model.
The combustion BMW M3 has a deadline. Munich began building this generation in 2020, and on BMW's own timetable a plant that makes only fully electric vehicles from 2027 has no place for it.
