AWD Or Not, The New 2021 BMW M3 Will Still Kick Its Tail Out

No matter what you think about its looks, the new generation BMW M3 will be a proper driver’s car, and the German automaker is hard at work testing the new sports saloon before the grand unveiling that should take place in late 2020 or early 2021.

One of the latest, still camouflaged, prototypes to be spied out in the wild was filmed at the Nurburgring fighting for grip on a couple of occasions. Luckily, the factory driver managed to keep it between the apexes, but still, why did it wiggle that much? Was the M-tuned xDrive all-wheel drive system in the rear-wheel drive M-Dynamic mode, or was this actually the RWD variant?

Then again, maybe the driver simply pushed too hard on that right-hander and the car simply ran out of grip; besides, the Nordschleife is notorious for being totally unforgiving, right?

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While don’t know the answer to that, we do know that the new M3 will be based on the CLAR architecture, which will make it lighter and more agile than its predecessor. It will feature new adaptive suspension, upgraded brakes and a 3.0-liter twin-turbo straight-six that will pump out 473 HP (480 PS / 353 kW) in the regular model, and 503 HP (510 PS / 375 kW) in M3 Competition guise.

The engine is shared with the latest X3 M and X4 M duo and will be paired to an automatic transmission, with the manual gearbox reportedly reserved solely for the rear-wheel drive version.

As far as the design is concerned, BMW’s Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio and Mercedes-AMG C63 rival will have a huge grille up front – just like the new 4 Series Coupe revealed earlier this week, whose design will be shared with the M4.

Elsewhere, it will get bulging fenders as well as a body kit comprising of different bumpers with more aggressive creases compared to the regular 3-Series, larger side skirts, a small boot lid spoiler and an aggressive diffuser with cutouts for the quad exhaust pipes. As with the outgoing generation, the M3 will offer exclusive color and trim choices along with a bespoke instrument cluster.