BMW M’s return to the international prototype racing scene has caused quite a stir in the automotive world as a result of the unveiling of its new BMW M Hybird V8.
An immediate thought that comes to many minds after hearing the name BMW is their now infamous kidney grille, but rest assured that, unlike the G8X, these grilles on this car are a match made in automotive heaven. BMW Motorsport first teased their LMDh prototype and now we have conclusive information on it and its powertrain.
In an early Facebook post, we only saw the rough outline of the group’s upcoming endurance racer, which will be making its debut in the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Desperately trying to peel away the darkness shrouding the car’s alluring figure, but with very little success, we had to wait for the official unveiling and it was worth the wait.
The chassis was designed and developed by Dallara. Thankfully they haven’t incorporated a pig snout grille into this V8-powered race car and have instead opted for a stretched grille. The BMW M HYbrid V8 has many features acting as homages to the firm’s history such as a window graphic emulating the famous Hoffmeister kink.
Curtailing the wide kidney grille are slender vertical headlights. Aside from the intriguing figure – which many cars in its class have- the livery of the vehicle has a special story behind it which was elaborated in the 7th episode of BMW’s “MBEDDED” YouTube series.
According to BMW Group Designworks Global Automotive Director Micheal Scully, the livery is a blend of all the iconic M cars that have made their way into the motoring hall of fame. Blended and contrasted by a familiar white background, the BMW M Hybrid V8 carries on its body some of the most influential cars that have emerged from the BMW stable.
“My team’s job was to make the BMW M Hybrid V8 look like a BMW, and embrace every opportunity to make it also perform like one on the race track. The camouflage livery celebrates the 50 Years of M by commemorating the great cars of BMW’s storied history in IMSA racing while uniquely cloaking the BMW M Hybrid V8’s future-facing exterior geometry and technologies during the critical on-track development phase of the project.”
