The Death Of BMW’s M Brand

Primalzer

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Sep 14, 2006
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Written by a guy that knows a thing or two about hooning M3's. http://www.thechicagogarage.com/forum/car-discussion/41915-how-$500-craigslist-car-beat-$400k-rally-cars.html

BMW's announcement today of the Lime Rock Edition M3 was the final nail in the coffin for me. The company that claims more 24-Hour wins at the Nürburgring than any other manufacturer just launched a track edition M3 that has no serious performance improvement over the current M3.

It's basically bolt-on Pep Boys parts like a flat bottom Knight Rider steering wheel and special paint. And I'm guessing there is a Lime Rock track map sticker somewhere or a plaque on the dash that tells you this is something special. But that's just it. This isn't something special. It's simply a marketing exercise. A fraud. Not unlike pumping a fake engine noise through the car stereo like BMW does with the M5.

It's for guys who want to be associated with racetracks but don't actually go to the track themselves. It's for the modern poser racer. A luxury version of those fast and furious Honda civics with race seats and belts but stock engines that kids drive around on the street.

I can't wait to meet the guy that buys these Lime Rock editions. He's the one that checks out of his hotel in the morning wearing his fire suit for his BMW CCA driver school session that doesn't start till 10 am because he wants the girl at the front desk to know that he is "racing" today. That guy.

The one that wears firesuits because he wants to be a racer even though he's in his street car that he takes to the train every day. That's who will buy this car.

So why is it so painful? The M brand used to mean something. Really mean something. To me and auto enthusiasts everywhere. I can't think of a performance division of a company with more creditability than BMW's motorsport brand back in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

The Death Of BMW's M BrandTo fully appreciate this you need a little history in BMW M brand. It was created to build homologation specials. Cars built for specific racing series in minimum quantity to meet the rules. It started with the M1 in 1978. Then came hand-build 5 series cars that at one point were the fastest sedans in the world – as delivered from the factory.

Next came the original M3, known to us car guys as the E30 M3. Built by BMW for one purpose. To win races. And it won so much its known as the most winning chassis in touring car history. This was BMW's M brand.

So what is it now? Besides the M3, we have am M1 (or 1 Series M Coupe so it's not to be confused with the real M1).

To be fair, this car is amazing. I love it. But BMW built 800 or so and called it a day. Did one go racing? Not that I know of. And then there are the M brand SUVs: an X6M and a X5M. Did either of these go racing? Sort of. BMW gave one to a journalist to compete in One Lap of America this year and it got beat by a Jeep Cherokee. A Jeep Cherokee took down the M Brand. (Ed. Note: Matt Farrah should be along soon to explain how the Jeep was modified and the X5 M was not.)

Now to be fair BMW ran the new M5 — yes the one with the fake engine noises — in One Lap and it won its "Luxury Sedan" class. So my point is that BMW no longer makes high performance automobiles known as the Ultimate Driving Machine. They now make luxury automobiles that are the ultimate motorsport poser mobile.

The Death Of BMW's M BrandThere is no car that says "I want to pretend I'm a performance driver, a racer, but never go to the track" more than the current M brand. It's a fraud leveraging the company's rich racing history and it pisses me off.

Let's took a look at that racing history that the brand was created for. When was the last time BMW won an F1 race? Le Mans? Any of the large sports car races other than Sebring? I'm ignoring Grand Am where BMW races against KIAs and Dinan builds engines for a prototype team. That doesn't count as a factory program. About the only race on the planet that Nürburgring which happened last in the ALMS M3 car in 2010.

Ever seen that ALMS car? Its nothing like the production car we buy. It has double wishbone front suspension. EVERY M3 ever sold has McPherson front struts. And we haven't even gotten to the weirdo rear transaxle deal with its built-in air conditioning pump. Huh, was that a factory option?

My point is that BMW used to build amazing street cars to meet the rules of racing and win. Now they choose races with loose rules and bring cars nothing like the one we buy and turn around and sell us models that have nothing to do with racing other than the sticker on the dash.

So back to today's Lime Rock Edition M3 that BMW just announced. How does this thing even get approved? I can picture the conversation in the marketing department now:

BMW Marketing Guy 1: Guys we really need to leverage our M brand.

Let's release an M3 with a race track associated with it. Yeah like that big one in Germany Nutterburgerringring or something. But I hear that place is expensive to rent, maybe we should use that track near headquarters here in the US, Lime Rock?

BMW Marketing Guy 2: Yeah!

BMW Marketing Guy 1: Don't we already sponsor that track? Sweet, lets make a lime rock edition.

BMW Marketing Guy 2: Whats that mean?

BMW Marketing Guy 1: I dont know but people will think its special.

BMW Marketing Guy 2: Really? Why?

BMW Marketing Guy 1: Well, because we'll paint it a special color and add all our interior add ons like the Knight Rider wheel with the flat bottom!

BMW Marketing Guy 2: But shouldn't it have a signfiicant increase in performance to have a racetrack badge on it?

BMW Marketing Guy 1: No, No, No, the car doesn't need to be faster or handle better because we named it after a racetrack! Just the opposite. Leave the engine the same and give it one of our handling packages that we already have. Like the competition package, that sounds like it should be on a track car.

BMW's Motorsport Brand has lost its soul, and will slowly fade into marketing mediocrity. A friend pointed out another company with a rich history in racing that abandoned it roots and went after the luxury auto market: Saab.

Obviously, BMW wont go bankrupt anytime soon, but what happens when all the luxury buyers that fell in love with performance brand in the 1980's stop driving cars? I don't have that answer but three years ago I asked a marketing executive at BMW this exact question after he told me BMW was supporting Golf and Yachting.

His response was along the line of 'I don't know, I won't be working here when that happens.'

Time will tell.

The Death Of BMW's M Brand

:hsughlol:
 

Mook

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older folks have the money and older folks like exclusivity...soooo it only makes sense that you get constant "limited run" cars...stupid? yes. waste of money for an enthusiast? yes. cash cow for the manufacturer? most definitely.
 

greasy

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Turk after reading this article......

P82lB.gif
 

GG Allin

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Feb 27, 2012
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They've gotten too damn big too. The 1M is what the M3 should be. I'd prefer a high revving I.T.B. motor over two turbos too. It all started with the U.S. version of the E36 M3. That car had no business being branded as an M car, 330is or 332is would fit the car better.
 

jason05gt

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Jan 17, 2007
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They've gotten too damn big too. The 1M is what the M3 should be. I'd prefer a high revving I.T.B. motor over two turbos too. It all started with the U.S. version of the E36 M3. That car had no business being branded as an M car, 330is or 332is would fit the car better.

Huh? The e36 M3 was one of the best handling cars of its day. It ran low 14s which was good for the mid 90s. Corvettes and Cobras during that period weren't much faster.
 

GG Allin

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Huh? The e36 M3 was one of the best handling cars of its day. It ran low 14s which was good for the mid 90s. Corvettes and Cobras during that period weren't much faster.

Sure, but the real version of that car was never sold in the U.S. The one that had the I.T.B. engine and 321 horsepower. That would almost be like putting a beefed up LS1 in a C6 Z06 and still calling it a Z06, then sell it to one market. I'm sure a lot of people would be happy with it, but it's still not the real deal.

Euro M3 engine:

BMW_S50B32.jpg


US Version:

3200_S52.jpg
 

jason05gt

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Sure, but the real version of that car was never sold in the U.S. The one that had the I.T.B. engine and 321 horsepower. That would almost be like putting an LS3 in a Z06 and still calling it a Z06, then sell it to one market. I'm sure a lot of people would be happy with it, but it's still not the real deal.

If I remember correctly, it was cost and emissions that caused BMW to not sell the M3 the Euro engine in America. Even so, the American E36 still spanked a lot of cars during that time period. BMW's got a lot softer after that generation in my opinion. My brother's 97 M3 with aftermarket suspension was one of the best handling cars I have ever driven.
 

jason05gt

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Jan 17, 2007
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Let's took a look at that racing history that the brand was created for. When was the last time BMW won an F1 race? Le Mans? Any of the large sports car races other than Sebring? I'm ignoring Grand Am where BMW races against KIAs and Dinan builds engines for a prototype team. That doesn't count as a factory program. About the only race on the planet that Nürburgring which happened last in the ALMS M3 car in 2010.

Ever seen that ALMS car? Its nothing like the production car we buy. It has double wishbone front suspension. EVERY M3 ever sold has McPherson front struts. And we haven't even gotten to the weirdo rear transaxle deal with its built-in air conditioning pump. Huh, was that a factory option?

My point is that BMW used to build amazing street cars to meet the rules of racing and win. Now they choose races with loose rules and bring cars nothing like the one we buy and turn around and sell us models that have nothing to do with racing other than the sticker on the dash.

This is the part that I disagree with. BMW is no different than Porsche or Chevy. The C6.R shares very little with the production cars. Neither does the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Road cars don't make good race cars, that's why they don't share many parts. Race car technology trickles down to street cars though and that's why companies spend a lot of money in racing as R&D for production cars.
 

Mike K

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Apr 11, 2008
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People don't like change... Enthusiasts especially don't like change. The fact of the matter though is that you need a balance between what all out race car and something that's street able. The last gen M5 for instance, 95% of people wouldn't want to daily drive that car. It gets shit gas mileage, it's shifts clunky and slow unless you're beating on it, it has a teeth shattering ride... But it's basically a 4 door supercar and it was a current M car up until 2 years ago.

I don't see a problem with them. BMW is probably the only mainstream brand that consistently puts driving character ahead of just about everything else, even in their non-M cars.

The new 550i is a Twin Turbo V8. Imagine what those will do with a tune.

As an enthusiast, I can appreciate the love for high revving, naturally aspirated engines but as a realist, you can get more power, more reliably, with better gas mileage out of these new generation forced induction motors. It's win all around.
 

Primalzer

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Sep 14, 2006
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This is the part that I disagree with. BMW is no different than Porsche or Chevy. The C6.R shares very little with the production cars. Neither does the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Road cars don't make good race cars, that's why they don't share many parts. Race car technology trickles down to street cars though and that's why companies spend a lot of money in racing as R&D for production cars.

Yeah, that was one of the sections that kind of left me scratching my head. And when I think about it, there are not many racing series out there that have true homogilation requirements like they used to. Probably the main reason is more about safety than anything. You build a street car to be safe and practical on the street, you build a race car to be safe and practical on the track. 2 different forms of thought.

The reason I posted it was because I really believe that BMW (although other companies are just as guilty, just seems like BMW is more guilty) has become more and more bloated and have more and more gotten away from their roots. They made some GREAT sedans and coupes for a long time, 2002, E30 3-Series, etc etc the list can go on and on. And I'll agree with GG Allin here, it started with the E36 3 series. That car started the trend of upsizing the 3-series. Don't get me wrong the 3-series has never been anything other than a great car, but it has gotten too big. A 3-Series now is the size of a 5-Series 15-20 years ago. And don't get me started on the 1-Series, yeah it's smaller than the 3-Series in size, but it RIDES ON THE 3-SERIES CHASSIS! It is just as heavy as the 3-Series and has the exact same engines. For me the 1M was a huge letdown, I've heard over and over how it's a fantastic car, but who cares when it's bloated, heavy, and the wrong answer. If BMW M line truly wants to make great cars again, take a page from the Lotus handbook, lose the weight and make cars like you used to, that were pure.
 
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