BMW’s pricing guide for the 2026 model year M3 has leaked online. A base-trimmed M3 looks like it’ll be setting buyers back $78,400. Meanwhile the M3 Competition and Competition xDrive will be priced at $82,600 and $87,700, respectively. That’s an increase of $1,700 across the board before factoring in destination fees or any dealer markups you might encounter. However, the cars appear to be mechanically unchanged.
The standard M3 will continue to offer 473 horsepower and 406 pound-feet from its twin-turbo, 3.0-liter inline-six. It’s also the only trim that offers a manual transmission driving the rear wheels. While the Competition models boast more power, and all-wheel drive if you option the xDrive trim, they exclusively come with an eight-speed automatic transmission. Customers interested in the full 503 horses and 479 pound-feet of torque, still cannot opt for the manual.
According to the documents shared on Bimmerpost, BMW anticipates that production of the 2026 M3 should commence in July. Despite the price bump, the relevant paperwork doesn’t look to indicate the next batch of M3s underwent any meaningful updates. BMW has also apparently stuck with the ludicrous 10,000-mile/12-month schedule for oil changes for these performance motors.
While price hikes have become increasingly common, the MSRP of a BMW M3 has climbed by over $15,000 within the last ten years. But, if we look at something like the more humble Honda Civic, the difference between them is still roughly $10,000 over the same time frame. We’re not suggesting that BMW’s or Honda’s hikes are reasonable, just that the whole industry has been committed to aggressively raising prices for years.
The real question will be whether this matters for BMW. Americans have been signaling for years that new-vehicle purchases have reached a point where the average wage slave cannot realistically afford them without going into copious amounts of debt. Repossession rates climbed by over 20 percent last year, despite having already surpassed a record, and would arguably be even higher if there were enough repo men to keep up with demand. Society has never carried more automotive debt that it does right now.
But BMW’s clientele is supposed to possess deeper pockets and should be able to easily afford another $1,700 dollars. Unlike some other automakers, price hikes probably won’t impact the premium-luxury brands in a meaningful way until society totally crumbles and subprime buyers start running BMW owners off the road out to engage in desperate acts of cannibalism.
[Images: BMW Group]
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