[The Automotive Enthusiast]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

BMW is actively considering introducing a flagship super-sports car to its line-up. The McLaren 570S-baiting package would bring together the brand’s advancements in electrification, light-weighting and new materials.

The i8 is currently BMW’s principal electrified sports car, with the new 8 Series becoming the more traditional flagship GT. Autocar understands a direct replacement for the i8 is unlikely, although BMW has yet to confirm this publicly.


A new super-sports car would take inspiration from the i8 and could serve as an indirect replacement. However, it would have a higher price point and more power and sit at the top of the M performance division's line-up

Klaus Fröhlich, the BMW board member responsible for product development, hinted that the super-sports car is in the works. “If you are an engineer, once in your life, you want to make a super-sports car,” Fröhlich told Autocar. “I think partial electrification will enable that.

“If we have these very compact and very powerful electric driving units, if we have a carbonfibre chassis – for example, the i8’s – and if we still have high-performance engines, then, if you do it cleverly, you can combine them into a real performance package.”

He continued: “If you look at the supercars – the McLarens, the Ferraris – beyond 2020, they will be all partially electric. And if you look at power plug-in hybrids we are planning for today, an electric motor in our PHEVs has a little bit more than 99bhp and 184lb ft of torque.”

The model, which could arrive by 2023, would use a hybrid powertrain consisting of a petrol engine and electric motors and a chassis heavily based on the existing lightweight carbonfibre architecture found in the i8. But a much larger combustion engine than the i8’s three-cylinder unit is expected, likely moving up to six cylinders. Power should push 700bhp, nearly double the i8’s 369bhp and exceeding next year’s M8, which is tipped to deliver around 620bhp.

Fröhlich added that BMW’s PHEV e-motors will have more than 197bhp and up to 378lb ft within a few years.

“So if you see this e-motor in a car which can give you in milliseconds the push formerly found in a V8 engine, then you can have a very sporty feel from this power PHEV – and it fits perfectly to the M brand,” he said.

A BMW super-sports car could easily exceed the i8’s £114,000 price and would be likely to target hybrid competitors, including the Honda NSX, and conventionally powered alternatives such as the McLaren 570s at £150,000 and beyond.

Production numbers would be strictly limited to sustain the car’s exclusivity and retain residual values, which are a weak point of the i8.

Future BMWs to ooze flex appeal

BMW’s M brand will go electric in the future, but hybrids will rule the roost, according to product development boss Klaus Fröhlich.

“M will also be electric in the future, but we will work very heavily on partial electrification on M cars. This is because they do not only need acceleration on the straight. They have to drive around corners and race tracks, so weight is an issue and electric vehicles still have a weight penalty for range,” he said.

Each of BMW’s two platforms are able to accommodate combustion engines, plug-in hybrids and electric powertrains, which means that every BMW from 2021 has the capability to be electric.

Fröhlich said: “The M cars are derived from that architecture, the electric i cars will be derived from that architecture and I think flexibility to react to different demands all over the world is key.

“For example, we can’t afford to have a 7 Series on an electric platform and a conventional platform, so the 7 Series for China will be a lot of EVs and, in America, perhaps we will have power PHEVs or perhaps there will be M Performance derivatives.”

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/n...r-take-mclaren

[Mani59]

About time! Audi have the R8, Mercedes-Benz have the GT-R. The i8 is not in the same league in my opinion.

[tastes jigga]

Fröhlich added that BMW’s PHEV e-motors will have more than 197bhp and up to 378lb ft within a few years.

Curious what their future plans for PHEV include, since the new X5 45e only has 112 hp coming from its electric motor. Perhaps we will see a M550e?

[M3 Adjuster]

Bimwads have pined for another BMW supercar for decades...

I've long said that if BMW has to make 2 series active tourers, SAV, SUV ( can we call the X7 an SUV) , gran coupes , 5/6 series GT, X4, X6 , or any other car that an individual fan would say is " diluting the brand" in order to be able to make more sports cars ..Then so be it.



Just make the cars i want as well.



I have a couple of bets I need to collect...

[GUNGASLOW]

But the M5 is a supercar !

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by GUNGASLOW

But the M5 is a supercar !

Time for a super duper car. The " first ever "... BMW X series. Skips 9 like the phone of course.

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by tastes jigga

Curious what their future plans for PHEV include, since the new X5 45e only has 112 hp coming from its electric motor. Perhaps we will see a M550e?

I think BMW makes up its numbers. The 330e is supposed to have an 87 HP motor and the 530e a 111 HP motor. Both report the same ICE engine.

Yet they show the same total HP. Something appears rotten in the state of Denmark. Where did the 24 extra HP go?

[MarcelM1]

Originally Posted by GUNGASLOW

But the M5 is a supercar !

The M5 is an incredibly fast boat.

[ADS-UK]

As with everything BMW is late to the party

[BMWintoxication]

Been teased for decades...

[///M TOWN]

Originally Posted by GUNGASLOW

But the M5 is a supercar !

We need a Hyper Hybrid Electric Supercar !

[10"]

"570s baiting package"

The 570s has hydraulic steering. What will the BMW have? 40 M badges and steering with 0 feel?

[upsidedownfunnel]

Originally Posted by Mani59

About time! Audi have the R8, Mercedes-Benz have the GT-R. The i8 is not in the same league in my opinion.

It's not just your opinion. The i8 is just a PHEV concept, not anything close to a supercar except in appearance. The M1 was the only "supercar" that BMW built.

[phoenixbmwlife]

I don't believe it. I'm sorry but I've heard this many times before in the past. I'm not falling for it until I see a production model. At least a concept.

[khanyam4]

Originally Posted by ADS-UK

As with everything BMW is late to the party

Absolutely

[dmboone25]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

Bimwads have pined for another BMW supercar for decades...

I've long said that if BMW has to make 2 series active tourers, SAV, SUV ( can we call the X7 an SUV) , gran coupes , 5/6 series GT, X4, X6 , or any other car that an individual fan would say is " diluting the brand" in order to be able to make more sports cars ..Then so be it.



Just make the cars i want as well.



I have a couple of bets I need to collect...

I hope they make one...but let's see if they actually do it first. They've had many opportunities in the past to make a supercar since the M1 was killed off...but have failed to do so.

Cautiously optimistic.

[Mrgunfun]

BMW M is basically copy and pasting the current gen Porsche Panamera Turbo S Hybrid philosophy.
Yeah, kinda late to the party.
Heck, they even copied M5's xDrive from Ferrari FF AWD system.

[Remonster]

Originally Posted by SteveinArizona

I think BMW makes up its numbers. The 330e is supposed to have an 87 HP motor and the 530e a 111 HP motor. Both report the same ICE engine.

Yet they show the same total HP. Something appears rotten in the state of Denmark. Where did the 24 extra HP go?

330e has the B48 engine from 330i but de-tuned in software to 180hp peak. Also, the electric and gasoline-powered motors make peak power at different RPMs so you can’t add the two peak power numbers together. There ysually is no single RPM where both motors are making peak power at the same time.

Originally Posted by Mrgunfun

BMW M is basically copy and pasting the current gen Porsche Panamera Turbo S Hybrid philosophy.
Yeah, kinda late to the party.
Heck, they even copied M5's xDrive from Ferrari FF AWD system.

F90 M5’s AWD system isn’t that similar to the FF. For one thing, the Ferrari has a separate 2 speed transmission for the front wheels. M xDrive is similar to several other existing systems that are fully rear wheel drive until a computer-controlled clutch engages to send some torque to the front axle (like Nissan’s ATTESA ETS in the GTR) and that idea has been around for decades.

[BLU135i]

How about a non super electric car. I mean come on. When are they going to get their shit in the same bag and get with the program here. Electric is inevitable and BMW is so behind the program. The i3 is a joke. Wake up!!

[adc]

Originally Posted by Mrgunfun

BMW M is basically copy and pasting the current gen Porsche Panamera Turbo S Hybrid philosophy.
Yeah, kinda late to the party.
Heck, they even copied M5's xDrive from Ferrari FF AWD system.

Well, the Panamera Turbo S lost to both the M5 and E63 in recent tests. It’s way too heavy for no good performance reason. I’m glad the M5 is not following in those footsteps.

And the FF AWD system is completely different: takes power from the front of the engine not from a transfer case to the rear. It’s basically a clutch actuated mini-2-gear transmission at the front of the engine. A good solution perhaps for the FF, but would be a disastrous one for a front engined car like the M5.

[adc]

Originally Posted by 10"

"570s baiting package"

The 570s has hydraulic steering. What will the BMW have? 40 M badges and steering with 0 feel?

By 2023 or whenever this purported BMW supercar arrives, the 570S replacement is likely to have electric steering as well. Just like all the Ferraris, Audi’s, Lambos etc. And I would not be surprised at all to see a hybrid electric 570S replacement - after all, McLaren surely wants to use the lessons learned in the P1 development...

[antzcrashing]

So its an i8 but faster. So much boredom