M3 watch: Front-end styling cues teased

If you look closely at the black veil on this next-gen F80 BMW M3 prototype you’ll soon form an idea of what the car’s front-end will look like. We can tell that by referring to the air curtain on the 1M and also the front-end of the M6. Indeed, we expect the M6 (pictured below) will provide much of the inspiration for the new M3’s front apron.

BMW’s air curtain is an aerodynamic aid designed to help improve the air flow around the front wheels. They first employed the concept on the 1M and described it as such:

The in-flowing air is routed into two ducts by means of openings in the outer section of the front apron. These openings are designed so that the air flows along the inside of the front apron in a closed duct to the wheel arches, where it is discharged through a very narrow opening at high speed, just passing the outer wheel flanks. The escaping air stream covers the side of the front wheels like a curtain, thereby reducing aerodynamically unfavourable turbulence around the wheel arches.

Thanks to the series of images posted to Bimmerpost we can also see the ‘power bulge’ in the bonnet will carry over from the previous-gen M3.

The new M3, to be powered by a turbocharged inline six based on the N55 engine, is still around 12 months away, so expect to see a few more images of camouflaged prototypes before seeing anything official from BMW.

[Source: Bimmerpost]

BMW M6