Spoiler alert: A new BMW 3 Series is coming. Okay, that’s not really a spoiler since we’ve seen BMW testing prototypes of the new saloon for years now. That’s not an exaggeration either – we have a spy photo archive of the new 3 Series that goes all the way back to early 2016. BMW’s latest teaser campaign tells us the reveal is finally nigh, with something expected in the next couple weeks ahead of the Paris Motor Show.

The new 3 Series is almost here:

The bad news is that we’ll have to wait even longer to sample the next M3, but our old friend Aksyonov Nikita at Bēhance.net is tired of waiting. We haven’t even seen the 3 Series fully revealed, but to our discriminating eye, these fan renders do an admirable job of capturing what we’ve seen thus far in both spy photos and design cues from other new BMW models. It’s all modelled in a very convincing design, and if this is even close to what M engineers have in mind for the new ‘Bahn burner, waiting for its arrival will be borderline torture.

There’s really only one minor issue that seems out-of-place to us, and it comes at the rear. If you’re an M3 fan you probably know what we’re about to say – the exhaust is all wrong. A pair of single-outlet tips on either side is what you’ll find on a standard 3 Series, but not an M3. Even the high-strung E30 had dual tips on its single-outlet exhaust, with quads becoming standard-issue way back in the late 1990s on the E46 generation. We have to believe BMW would continue that tradition with the next M3 as well.

When will we actually see a new M3? This rendering is titled 2018 BMW M3 but the real deal isn’t expected until the 2020 model year. Hopefully that means it will show up later in 2019, and when it does the car should be lighter with more horsepower than the outgoing M3, and equipped with active rear steering as well. In other words, it should be flipping brilliant.

Gallery: New BMW M3 Fan Rendering