When you’re BMW and have all eyes on you, preparing a stunt takes weeks, if not months, of practice. Everything must work perfectly for the big day, especially when the public event is as massive as Auto Shanghai 2025. The Vision Driving Experience (VDX) successfully climbed a 55-degree, 13-meter ramp, and a new video takes us behind the scenes.
BMW secretly built a duplicate ramp in Wackersdorf, a municipality in Bavaria’s Schwandorf district. Onboard footage taken on March 13 shows Elias Hountondji of Red Bull Driftbrothers fame tackling the steep slope with the VDX. The stripped-out cabin and camouflaged mirrors suggest this was an early prototype, rougher and rowdier than the more polished sedan we saw last week in Shanghai.
The vibe from this video is of a raw VDX, unhinged compared to the slightly tamer version shown in China, which, by the way, wasn’t a finished product either. Just so we’re clear, BMW won’t put this car into production, so don’t expect a road-legal model with five impellers under the body to suck the car onto the ground. So why go through all the effort? It’s more than just a marketing stunt.
BMW wants to demonstrate the capabilities of its new central computer destined for Neue Klasse EVs, showing it can process information at lightning speed even in such an extreme environment. The VDX boasts a staggering 18,000 Nm (13,269 lb-ft) of torque measured at the wheels. As for horsepower? Well over 1,300, with some sources close to Munich hinting at as much as 1,700 hp from quad motors.
Even so, the so-called “Heart of Joy,” developed entirely in-house, manages all that performance effortlessly. BMW says this supercomputer can process data ten times faster than its current systems. You can think of the VDX as essentially an extreme testbed. The engineers threw massive power at a car that generates 1,000 kilograms (2,204 pounds) of static downforce. Another 200 kg (441 pounds) comes from active aero, all without relying on a massive rear wing.
The upcoming electric M3, set to debut later this decade, won’t match the VDX’s wild capabilities. However, it’ll inherit the “Heart of Joy,” promising an engaging drive even without an inline-six under the hood. For combustion engine purists, rest assured: a new gas-powered M3 (G84) will arrive alongside the electric version (ZA0).
Video: BMW / YouTube
