BMW M has built its one-millionth vehicle, an M3 finished in BMW Individual Fire Orange III paintwork, at BMW Group Plant Munich. The car was handed over at an official ceremony by Peter Weber, head of the plant, to Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW M GmbH.
The milestone arrives more than five decades into the M brand and 40 years after the first BMW M3 went on sale. Van Meel said the car shows that the mix of road and racetrack ability with everyday usability is still valued by customers.
The bigger news for buyers sits alongside the ceremony: the same Munich site will build the fully-electric BMW M3, the first high-performance model to use BMW M Neue Klasse technology. It will be the second Neue Klasse model made in Munich, following the fully-electric BMW i3, and BMW says the high-performance car will be built exclusively at the main plant.
BMW is spending around 650 million euros to convert Plant Munich into a site that builds only fully-electric vehicles, a switch the company says begins in 2027. A new body shop, new assembly lines and new logistics areas now occupy roughly a third of the plant's land, changes made while production continued. The plant has been building cars for more than 100 years, and the current M3 generation has been made there since 2020.
The announcement does not give a launch date, price or power output for the fully-electric M3, and it does not say when the current M3 generation will end production. BMW frames the electric M3 as a commitment to its historic home base and a marker of the plant's role in its global production network.
Weber said the M3 has close ties to the Munich plant and that associates are proud to shape the future of the model. He also calls the M3 an icon and says BMW M carries particular emotional weight for staff at the site.
The one-millionth car itself carries no special mechanical specification in the announcement; its distinction is the Fire Orange III paint and the ceremony at which it changed hands. BMW M's lineup is set to grow around Neue Klasse technology, including fully-electric models, according to van Meel.
