Prior to the launch of the BMW i Vision DEE concept, there was a render of the next-generation electric 3 Series that featured the same front end design as the i Vision Circular concept from awhile back. Now that DEE is here, and we know it borrows some of that same Vision Circular styling, we know that it could influence 3 Series design moving forward. If that’s the case, can we take that even further and expect the next-gen electric BMW M3 to look like this render?
In this new followup render from Avarvarii, we see the what an electric BMW M3 would look like with that same DEE-like styling. It essentially takes the DEE design, makes it a bit sleeker, and adds far more aggressive looking bits. And ya know what? It looks pretty good.
The biggest reason for why it looks so good is the kidney grille design. That massive front grille dominates the front end but it actually ends up looking pretty good. Why? Because it’s wide, rather than tall. BMW has a long history of wide, short kidney grilles. The 507 and Z8 are two of the brand’s most beautiful cars of all time and they both had wide kidneys. So there’s precedence there and it continues to work here. It’s far better looking than the freakishly rodent-like grilles of the current M3. Big grilles can work when done properly and the DEE is proof.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it actually looks better with more aggressive styling. The wide grilles work in parallel with the wide front lip spoiler, the sleek roofline looks sporty, and the big M wheels fill out its wheel arches nicely. The real M3 probably won’t look exactly like this but if it looks close, I think it will be a good looking car. I actually think it would look even better if it were a bit more upright looking, like the actual DEE concept, but maybe that’s just me.
BMW is clearly moving in this design direction, otherwise it wouldn’t make two concepts with such styling, and I think it’s the right one. If BMW can kick off the Neue Klasse with a design that harks back to cars like the BMW 507 and E12 5 Series, it will likely have quite a few hits on its hands.
[Source: Avarvarri]
