2025 BMW M3 bakes in 3 Series updates; Competition xDrive gets power bump

In case you hadn’t noticed, BMW has been hard at work updating its compact sport sedans and coupes. We’ve already seen the updated 2025 4 Series and 2025 M4 Coupe (not to mention the 2025 M4 CS, which got its own announcement); now it’s time for the 3er to get the same treatment. This time, it’s the M3 leading the charge, albeit with a rather subdued collection of tweaks for 2025. 

We noted above that the M3 is neither getting a meaningful power bump nor a major styling update. The former is dictated by the still-available manual transmission; it simply can’t handle any more torque. As a refresher, the manual M3 packs 473 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque thanks to its twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter I6, while the automatic-only M3 Competition makes 503 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque. The king of the hill (so far anyway) is the M3 Competition xDrive, which sees the same 20-horsepower increase as the M4 Competition xDrive. The CS model, when it materializes, should get another 20 horsepower still, for a total of 543. Stay tuned on that. 

As for the lack of major styling changes? Well, that’s a product of old-fashioned, incremental change. The M3 just isn’t old enough for a clean-slate redesign. In fact, if you’ve seen the updates to the 4 Series, the 3 Series highlights won’t surprise you. Outside, the changes are subtle. New LED lights frame an updated face, but from the hood and fenders back, you’ll struggle to identify anything that wasn’t there previously. 

Inside, the big draw is BMW’s new Curved Display — capital letters, ooh! Powering this new setup is BMW Operating System 8.5, which is a spankin’ new infotainment suite. BMW’s familiar row of buttons still lines the left side of the screen, and since you’ll be looking at the map on your home screen, you’ll need the new QuickSelect feature to avoid deep menu-diving. There are also voice commands (via BMW Personal Assistant) to control various common functions.