Quote:
Originally Posted by SCOTT26
Once again the usual rules apply if you do not have the vin number of the GTS or indeed the CRT you will not get access to purchase the exclusive accessories for these cars.
You might say that this is a work in progress... There is of course plenty more that can be added but usual marketing applies that it cannot be too exclusive or else no one would buy it.
Of course we are thinking about it for further cars - Such lightweight solutions are being tested on the new M5 cars that are still disguised as an M car prototype always has something else going on which you cannot see.
But this is at the cusp of the programme - CFRP is becoming more cost effective and more available since BMW have built their own facility to mass produce it. So we are at the early stages of what is possible now and a taster to show what can happen in the near future.
In regards to stripped out M3's in North America?
Whilst some might crave the idea of such a car? You are in a minority and unfortunately that minority would not support the costs of federalisation as US BMW customers see the M3 as a Performance luxury vehicle. And no one will give up their luxuries such as power seats etc for such a more lightweight concept.
One such piece of evidence is how over the years a majority of US M3 customers have forgone the CFRP roof for the sunroof option.
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Translation:
The M brand will continue to move its focus more towards comfort and luxury amenities because that is what is what sells in the 60k + price range. BMW cannot and will not attempt to compete with the likes of Porsche in the focused performance car segment, but rather focus on products that line up directly with the likes of Audi, Mercedes, Lexus, etc. Our top performance products will continue in the direction of being more accurately defined as muscle cars than sports cars, and our engines will have little to distinguish them from the competition as has been shown with the new M5 engine being a near exact copy of the engine from the '08 Audi RS6 .
BMW will always try to hold just enough of an edge over the competition in the "sportiness factor" to maintain its historic motor sports reputation, but not too sporty to the point of risking the loss of customers looking for the ultimate in luxury and comfort.
My advice:
Since BMW has clearly conceded to Porsche in the 50-100k focused sports car segment, offer more sports cars in the price range of the 1M that focus purely on performance and light weight. If you sell a focused sports car at 35-50k your buyers will not expect the same unnecessary garbage like sunroofs, nav, 20 speakers, power seats, excessive sounds insulation, etc. that current M3 drivers need to justify the purchase price.
And you do realize if BMW offered the 1M with the S65 engine this statement would no longer apply "US BMW customers see the M3
(or 1M) as a Performance luxury vehicle." BMW would sell them faster than they could build them
especially if the car was offered with no luxuries. That sounds like a real modern day E30 M3 to me!
All the core BMW enthusiasts such as myself really want is for BMW to hold onto the long help philosophies of the M brand in at least a one or two small cars.
Offer something that is stick shift, lightweight, and has a
high revving naturally aspirated engine. A super high tech aluminum block evolution of the Inline 6 built along the lines of the S54 would be ideal, but even a similar evolution of the Inline 4 to follow up the S14 would be fine so long as the vehicles it is placed in are light enough to be stupid fast and fun!
Put this engine maybe in both a future Z2 and M2 that is sparse in luxury, and CFRP intensive... fuel economy would be plenty good and sales would explode. Last time BMW followed this strategy it seems to work quite well.
Here is some motivation for the road ahead:
