BMW Future Cars

When BMW launched the Vision iNext concept at the 2018 Los Angeles Motor Show, it took the world by surprise. It was supposed to be the next big thing to come out of the company’s stable, but all people could talk about was that gaudy grille that eclipsed everything else.

The crossover with the Bavarian DNA is designed to combine advanced autonomous systems, connectivity, and electrification blended into one recipe that is touted to be the company’s flagship electric product. The model sits on a new platform and will provide the building blocks for the automaker moving forward. Is this a preview of what we can expect from BMW 10 years down the line?

After the turn of the decade, we reported that BMW would be one of the last automakers to drop the internal combustion engine. In that same report, we explained more about what that meant and that while the four- and six-cylinder engines would be in play for a while, BMW’s V-8 and V-12 were living on borrowed time. We even told you that by 2023 BMW’s V-12 would probably be retired. Now, that fate has essentially be sealed as BMW has confirmed that the new BMW 7 Series – due in late 2021 or early 2022 – will be offered with a range of gasoline and diesel engines and even hybrid and pure-electric propulsion systems. So, we’ve got confirmation that the BMW i7 is coming, but we’ve also learned that the V-8 and V-12 are officially on the chopping block.

The most powerful BMW M2 money can get you today is the M2 Competition. It uses a 3.0-cylinder, straight-six engine that’s also turbocharged and mated to a six-speed manual transmission (seven-speed DCT optional) that handles 405 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque.

If recent rumors are to be believed, however, the incoming BMW M2 could make considerably more power and sit at the top of a compact M-badged lineup BMW wants to unleash in the future.

Back in 2014, BMW took a very confident step into the world of the EV, officially launching its “Project i” sub-brand with the i3. Following hot on its heels was the remarkable i8 hybrid coupe, which garnered the German brand oodles of green cred for its futuristic aesthetic and advanced powertrain. These days, BMW says it has big plans for its electrified lineup, with a total of 12 battery-electrics planned by 2025, plus 13 hybrids as well. One of the most exciting prospects is dubbed to i4, which promises four-door practicality, high-end luxury, extraterrestrial styling, and next-generation technology.

Update 2/27/2020: The BMW i4 Prototype with a RWD configuration was caught playing in the snow just a week before the i4 Concept is set to make its debut.

The BMW 5 Series is in line for a mid-cycle refresh and it won’t be long before it comes to full effect. What’s more, the revamp will also affect the M5 performance sedan, as our spy photographers have spotted a heavy-camo’ed facelifted BMW M5 mule out on the open road.

BMW is tight-lipped about the revised M5 (as it is about the 5 Series as a whole) but the test prototype displays a couple of interesting changes that touch on the front and rear light clusters and bumpers. There’s no word on power upgrades yet, but let’s take a better look at what the revamped M5 might have in store for us.

Update 2/21/20200: The 2021 BMW M5 was just spotted doing some cold-weather testing and it’s starting to come together nicely. Check out the new spy shots and what we’ve learned in our “Spy Shots” section below!

Mere days after we saw a prototype version of the all-new BMW M4 prancing around in test mule form comes its hardtop sibling, which, not surprisingly, is also decked in full camo regalia. To be fair, this isn’t the first time that the BMW M4 Coupe was spotted in the wild.

Back in December, we caught a glimpse of the sports coupé being unloaded from a car transporter. That sighting didn’t amount to much, but this fresh batch of spy photos shows the M4 Coupe — still wrapped in heavy camouflage — in its more natural state, engaged in test runs in and around the streets of Germany.

Just like its roofless sibling, the all-new BMW M4 Coupe is set to debut sometime this summer ahead of its market launch at the end of the year. But before any of that happens, BMW will continue doing test runs of the M4, hopefully with fewer camo wraps in the succeeding sessions.

The 2021 BMW M4 Convertible is the upcoming, next-generation version of the company’s beefed-up compact drop-top. Set to be unveiled alongside the Coupe, the 2021 M4 Convertible will share almost all exterior features with the hard-top model, save for changes necessary to accommodate a folding roof.

Likely based on the BMW Concept 4, the 2021 M4 Convertible will probably feature the massive front grille seen on the show car. Like most recent M-badged models, the 2021 M4 Convertible will most likely arrive with two engine options, with the more powerful version called M4 Competition. Let’s find out more about the upcoming convertible in the speculative review below.

BMW confirmed that the next-generation G80 M3 and G82 M4 will see daylight in 2020, but hasn’t offered an exact launch date. Some say it could happen at the Geneva Motor Show, while some say a mid-2020 debut is also quite likely, but then it should entail a private, BMW-centric event of sorts. Or maybe the Goodwood Festival of Speed, then? Either way, sales will kick off in early 2021.

As usual, there’s a lot of stuff we don’t know about the incoming BMW M3/M4 duo, such as price, the said launch date, and, most importantly, performance figures. So we focused on what we know about the new M3 and M4 and what we expect BMW to offer for the two.

Do you know how fashion is a cyclic affair? What was trendy some decades ago comes back to the highest peaks of popularity? Well, in the car industry, this sort of thing sometimes happens for old reports.

Take the one claiming that BMW is looking to build a rival for the Porsche 911. It was floated on the Internet back in 2016, together with the info that the 6 Series will be phased out to make room for the new 8 Series. So far, only the 6 Series-8 Series swap found fruition, but we’re getting some signals that a BMW-badged rival for the 911 isn’t something Munich will vote against.

The BMW 3 Series is arguably Bimmer’s most popular model, and it’s about to go electric. The all-electric 3 Series is one of the 25 electric and electrified models that BMW has in the pipeline, and while most of those models will probably end up being electric crossovers and SUVs, the 3 Series EV is arguably the most intriguing, in part because it’s shaped as a sedan and has big shoes to fill.

Recent spy shots of a heavily camouflaged 3 Series sporting “Electric Test Vehicle” stickers recently made their way into the Interwebs, providing us with all we need to know that the car under all the swirly bits is nothing else but the electric 3 Series. There’s no set timetable on when the electric 3 Series will hit the market, but with testing ongoing, it wouldn’t be surprising to see BMW debut the model this year ahead of a possible launch in 2021.

Remember the excessively polarizing BMW Concept 4 shown at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show? Well, some of its distinctive styling cues are bound to be trickled down to the upcoming BMW 4 Series Coupé and we’ve already seen pics that suggest the oversized kidney grille is one such element.

Although we’ll have to wait a while to see the new 4 Series take a bow, our spy photographers caught a heavily camouflaged test mule and managed to sneak inside for a couple of interior shots. Read all about it and more in the in-depth review below.

The turn of the year marked the official demise of the BMW 6 Series in the U.S. But while it will no longer be offered in the U.S. market, the 6er will live on on the other side of the Atlantic. Proof of that comes in the form of new spy photos our eagle-eyed photographers culled of the soon-to-release, mid-cycle 6 Series Gran Turismo. Prototypes of the updated 6 Series GT have been spotted sporting barely enough camouflage to cover its entire body. A few physical changes are expected to come for the facelifted model, including some design cues that we’ve already seen in other new Bimmer models. The updated BMW 6 Series GT is scheduled to hit the market in the middle of 2020 as a 2021 model. It stands as the last 6 Series model in the market.

BMW is set to launch an all-new 4-Series two-door sometime in 2019 or 2020, and while the G23 coupe version will not feature any dramatic changes over the current model, the G22 droptop will. Spy shots indicate that for the first time in two generations (E93 and F33), BMW is giving up on the folding hardtop design in favor of the more traditional soft top option which it last used on the E46 model discontinued in 2006.

Heavy camouflage covers the prototype spotted, but this important change is quite evident as the canvas top is left completely bare (quite obviously on purpose). It might be an illusion caused by the camo, but it also appears this new 4-Series has a longer hood and rear decklid compared to its predecessor.

Update 12/30/2019: The BMW 4 Series Convertible was caught on the back of a transport on the way to some final testing before its big debut. Check out the latest pictures in our “Spy Shots” section below.

The 2021 BMW X8 is an upcoming crossover based on the familiar X7. Rumored to arrive by the end of 2020 or in 2021, the X8 will fill another gap in BMW’s SUV lineup. Essentially an X7 with a coupe-style roof, the X8 will become BMW’s range-topping coupe-SUV, as it will slot above the X6.

BMW has yet to confirm the existence of the X8, but intel from BMWBlog claims that the vehicle is already in development with the internal designation G09 (the X7 is codenamed G07). Once it arrives, the X8 will be the eighth SUV in BMW’s lineup. What do we know about the X8? Quite a lot, and we also have a couple of renderings of the SUV’s design. Join me in the speculative review for more.

The BMW X2 is barely two years old as a model and it’s already headed down the path of electrification. A prototype version of Bimmer’s relatively new compact crossover has been spotted in the snowy abode of Sweden, and while it’s easy to assume that said model is the plug-in hybrid variant of the X2, the truth is that it’s not.

This crossover is the test mule of the iX2, the all-electric version of the X2 crossover that will be launched sometime in 2021 or 2022. The spy photos captured the iX2 prototype sans any camouflage and that’s not by accident. Visually, it’s still the X2 but that little sticker that says “electric test vehicle” confirms that, other than a few design changes, this prototype is an all-electric crossover hiding in the X2’s clothing.

BMW M is well aware of the fact that electrification is now a matter of when, and not if. Yet while Munich’s performance division admits its competitors are becoming better and better at harnessing the powers of electricity, it won’t jump the sporty EV bandwagon.

In fact, BMW M will keep on doing its thing with gasoline-powered ICEs (Internal Combustion Engines) until all-electric technology evolves to the point where it suits the division’s creed and doesn’t add that much extra weight to its vehicles.

Can you imagine sitting in your BMW M8 with an uncovered cup of coffee as you wait in line to enter your favorite track? It sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, right? As soon as you hit that first curve at speed, there will be coffee everywhere, your interior will be ruined, electronics shot, and you’ll be pissed. That’s not a very fun day at the track, but if BMW has its way, you could –theoretically—cruise around the Nurburgring and have that coffee without a worry in the world. How does that work?