BMW Vision Driving Experience previews Neue Klasse, electric M3 – test prototype with 18,000 Nm torque!

A wholesale reinvention is currently taking place at BMW, and it’s giving a sneak peek at what’s going on with the Vision Driving Experience. Set to debut at Auto Shanghai in April, this compact sedan is both a test prototype and a glimpse of what the Neue Klasse range is set to look like – even though the company has specifically ruled out the car itself heading to production.

That’s because the Vision Driving Experience was specifically built to test out what’s called the Heart of Joy – a central computer that controls the sedan’s drivetrain, brakes, charging, recuperation and steering functions “ten times faster” than previous systems, with latencies claimed to be in the millisecond range.

As such, the VDE produces a whopping 18,000 Nm of torque, although it isn’t clear whether that’s wheel torque or motor torque. This absurd number is there to test the ability of the Heart of Joy to mete out torque to the wheels; as BMW says: “If the control system can deal with an explosion of power of this magnitude, it will be able to handle the demands of everyday driving with ease.”

The company adds that the combination of the Heart of Joy and BMW Dynamic Performance Control software, which will come on every Neue Klasse vehicle, improves cornering poise, traction, precision and stability, with fewer inputs required. It also enables a more consistent cornering behaviour and smoother, more intuitive steering, along with seamless braking and acceleration.

Speaking of which, the drivetrain, braking and energy recuperation integration is claimed to allow 98% of drivers to not touch the friction brakes at all except during emergencies, with regenerative braking being sufficient for normal, every day driving. This system is said bring 25% greater efficiency.

Perhaps of more importance to enthusiasts is that the VDE is a closer-to-production look at how BMW’s pioneering Neue Klasse range of next-generation EVs will look like – specifically the electric 3 Series, tipped to be called the i3. The full-width double-kidney grille is a development of the one on the Vision Neue Klasse concept, with the double diagonal light signatures growing to house the headlamp projectors.

Along the side, the low beltline – sure to provide great outward visibility – and prominent C-pillar Hofmeister kink remain, but one can now spot the production-spec wing mirrors and B-pillar-mounted door grab handles; the rear handles are hidden in the kink. Moving to the rear, the distinctive full-width taillights (interrupted only by the propeller badge, here covered in camouflage) now forms a lip spoiler at the trailing edge of the boot lid.

This being a high-performance prototype, the VDE comes with muscular fender flares, a gaping air intake, a jutting front spoiler and a massive split rear diffuser that gives us an idea of what an electric M3 could look like. In a rather novel twist, the intricate turbine-style 21-inch alloy wheels – shod with fat 325/30ZR21 Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 tyres – are illuminated with colours based on which state the car is in: green for accelerating, blue for regen braking, orange for friction braking.

Inside, the VDE features the Panoramic iDrive display concept revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last month. That means you get a full-width instrument display at the base of the windscreen and a parallelogram-shaped infotainment touchscreen, as well as a distinctive oblong-shaped steering wheel with top and bottom spokes.

Reflecting its status as a performance prototype, the VDE’s cabin is slathered in carbon fibre, from the dashboard to the centre console – on which sits a round gear selector, several prototype-spec switches and a giant red kill switch. There’s also a fire extinguisher in the passenger footwell and carbon Recaro Podium CF bucket seats, replete with four-point harnesses.

The electric M3 is set to be a real scorcher, with four motors (one for each wheel) that are capable of delivering real torque vectoring and a scarcely believable total power of 1 MW, or 1,341 PS. Purists need not worry, because a petrol-powered version – still based on the current G80 and with the same 3.0 litre S58 twin-turbocharged straight-six, homologated for future emissions regulations – will continue to be sold for the foreseeable future.

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