BMW isn't ready to give up on the inline-six just yet. While the electric M3 will arrive in several months, the M division is also developing a gasoline-powered sports sedan for 2028. Meanwhile, a new spy video gives us a good opportunity to hear its combustion engine in action. The prototype is still heavily camouflaged, but there's no mistaking it for an ordinary 3 Series.
Those massively flared wheel arches make it clear we're looking at the full-fat M car, not the just-revealed M350 xDrive. The footage also captures the car firing up, offering an early taste of what could be one of the last M3s with a combustion engine. Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if it is the last of the breed. Under the hood, the prototype likely packs an updated version of BMW's twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six.
Aficionados know it as the S58, but the engine won't carry over unchanged from the outgoing car. BMW has been talking about a “new type of six-cylinder engine." No, not a V6, but the comment has sparked speculation about an inline-six with some form of electrification baked in. Thankfully, BMW has ruled out a chunky plug-in hybrid setup, suggesting a mild-hybrid system is in the works. Why? We keep coming back to the same reason: stricter emissions regulations.
BMW recently updated the engine in Europe to comply with Euro 7. It now features something called M Ignite technology, which has also been applied to the M2 and M4.
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