2022 BMW M Hybrid V8 with camouflage livery!

Thomas Wachsmuth June 7, 2022 -> Cars from AZ, BMW, M-GmbH (+ M Performance Parts), News vehicles

Reading time 4 Min.

Ahead of the start of the testing phase of the LMDh prototype for the 2023 season of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, BMW M Motorsport presents the name, the design and an exciting camouflage livery for the vehicle. The BMW M Hybrid V8 gets a look designed by BMW Group Designworks that celebrates the history of BMW M Motorsport in North America while defining a dynamic hybrid-electric future. The most important news for the fans: The prototype is clearly recognizable as a BMW M vehicle.

BMW M Hybrid V8

This is also the message from Franciscus van Meel, Managing Director of BMW M GmbH: “The most important task and at the same time the greatest challenge for the design team of the LMDh program was that the prototype should be clearly recognizable as a BMW M Motorsport vehicle. And I can say to all fans: The BMW M Hybrid V8 is immediately recognizable as a BMW. It clearly carries the BMW M genes. I also really like the camouflage livery with the references to the great history of the brand in North America. Congratulations to the design and aerodynamics departments at BMW M Motorsport and Dallara on this great job. I can't wait to see the BMW M Hybrid V8 on the track soon.”

The hallmark of the design of the BMW M Hybrid V8 is the wide kidney grille. There are also typical BMW M design elements such as the embedded 50-year anniversary logo on the front, the iconic BMW headlights, the dynamic side line, the Hofmeister kink, the M rear-view mirror and the rear lights. The camouflage livery with which the BMW M Hybrid V8 will complete its test drives bears many elements from the approximately five decades of racing history in North America. The outlines of historic racing cars - the 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL, the 1981 BMW M1/C, the 1978 BMW 320i Turbo, the 1986 BMW GTP, the BMW M3 E36 GTS-2, the BMW Z4 GTLM and the BMW M8 GTE - form a mosaic , which still somewhat obscures the exact outlines of the BMW M Hybrid V8 during the test phase.

"The team's job was to design an LMDh vehicle that looks like a BMW while exploiting every opportunity to also perform like a BMW on the race track," says BMW Group Designworks Global Automotive Director Michael Scully. “The design has its roots in BMW's DNA of purposeful, efficient performance. The bold and resolute character of the design combines BMW's pioneering role in turbo engines with an optimized hybrid-electric drive. The camouflage livery celebrates 50 years of BMW M by commemorating great racing cars from IMSA racing history. At the same time, in the test phase on the race track, which is critical for the project, it obscures the forward-looking external geometry of the BMW M Hybrid V8 and its technology. If you look closely you will discover several winning cars at the 24 Hours of Daytona and the first specially developed IMSA GTP car from 1981: the BMW M1/C. This camouflage is followed by a factory livery that symbolizes the dynamism and attractiveness of the competition with hybrid-electric drives.”

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