BMW Will Put Four Motors in All Electric M Cars

Models like the i5 M60 and i7 M70 are not actual M cars. They’re one step below by being part of the M Performance lineup. Think M240i or M340i, but with electric drivetrains instead of combustion engines. We’ll have to wait until later this decade for a full-fat M model. However, development started a few years ago with prototypes based on the i4 M50, the best-selling car from BMW M in 2022 and 2023.

A surprisingly lengthy video goes behind the scenes during the development and testing of electric M prototypes. About two and a half minutes into the video, the Head of Overall Vehicle Development BMW M shares a juicy tidbit. According to Carsten Wolf, M electric cars will all rock four motors at some point in the future. He hypes up the quad-motor setup by saying it’ll deliver “unprecedented performance, quality, and features that you can’t even imagine today.”

The prototype featured in the video is more than just an i4 M50 with a colorful wrap and the M3’s striking kidney grille. In addition to having four electric motors, it also features carbon-ceramic brakes, a reinforced body for extra stiffness, and new subframes at both axles. Of course, there are probably many other changes underneath the familiar skin, but these are the only ones BMW talks about.

We particularly appreciate how BMW stays honest by admitting that testing doesn’t always go as planned. At the 5:50 mark, an X7 pulls next to the i4 M50 to jump-start the dead EV. According to Wolf, the engineers had changed the AC compressor to solve an undisclosed problem, but that didn’t do the trick. The next step was to change the front motors and get the car back on the test track.

BMW was apparently racing to get the prototype ready for the board’s higher-ups to drive the quad-motor i4 M50. We’ll find out what they said in a subsequent video, but they’re likely pleased with the outcome, considering M boss Frank van Meel has already confirmed an M3-like electric sedan. That tells us that the executive team has approved a production model, which could land in 2027 or 2028.

But the inline-six M3 isn’t going anywhere. A next-gen sports sedan with a gas engine is also planned. It reportedly carries the “G84” codename and is rumored to enter production in mid-2028, possibly only with an automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.