Is BMW about to show another breadvan concept car? And why is everyone obsessed with shooting brakes?

► New BMW breadvan coupe teased
► Concept bound for Villa d’Este 2025
► A rival to the Taycan Sport Turismo?

Mid-May and summer’s round the corner in Europe: must be time for the swanky Villa d’Este concours d’elegance on the edge of Lake Como in Italy. And that means it’s time for the annual BMW concept car, designed to take centre stage at the Munich-supported car show.

No word yet on the name of this year’s creation, but BMW has teased its new showstopper on its main Instagram page. It looks like another sharp-creased shooting brake, designed in the mould of its latest concept cars. What’s not to like about that? Sporting estate cars are all the rage and fit right in with the chic Italian aesthetic of Villa d’Este – even if it sounds like a larger iteration of the 2023 BMW Concept Touring Coupe also unveiled in Cernobbio.

Observers have also drawn parallels to last year’s 2024 BMW Concept Skytop unveiled at Village d’Este 12 months ago, but we’re not so sure. The headlamp and rear light graphics and positioning don’t quite match, so our best bet is on a standalone concept car.

BMW design supremo Adrian van Hooydonk shared this artfully blurred teaser on his own Instagram page, revealing even less. Or is that a low-slung silhouette along the lines of a Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo?

Whatever BMW’s readying for debut this weekend, our best bet is that it’ll be a fresh iteration of the fabled Z3 ‘breadvan’ coupe recipe – one of the coolest, stubbiest cars in Munich’s back catalogue of modern classics. Maybe expanded to the 8-series footprint, designed to challenge Porsche’s electric wagon?

Note also how van Hooydonk references ‘one of our surprises’ at Villa d’Este this bank holiday weekend. Sounds like there’ll be more to come from Munich at the poshest automotive garden party in Europe…

We’ll be sure to update this page with all the first official photographs, news and details in the coming days.

Tim oversees the digital teams that bring you CAR magazine and Parkers, our car-buying sister website. A lifelong motoring journalist, he has worked at many of the UK's biggest car titles, including stints on Autocar, What Car? and MSN Cars at Microsoft. Over two decades he has built extensive experience reviewing cars, writing features, breaking news about future products and navigating the airports of the world.

By Tim Pollard

Director of Content – Digital, car news magnet, crafter of words