Quote:
Originally Posted by M Pulse
Anyone think BMW will resurrect the NA V8 in the next gen M3? If you look at the immediate competition - C63, RS5, IS-F, CTS-V - they're all V8's.
Either BMW is the leader of the pack in this segment by shifting away from the V8 or they're completely missing the boat. Guess time will tell.
I think many of us would prefer BMW to continue with the V8 in the upcoming next-gen M3. If sales go down drastically and the rest of the competition continues to have success with the V8's then BMW may not have a choice but to bring it back.
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I've noticed this and kind of wondered about this myself. I see a lot of blame for this move being cast on US and/or EU regulators, but this seems to have been a move made pretty much under BMWs discretion, since at least some of their close competitors appear to be staying NA for now, albiet NA platforms retuned for better fuel economy.
I think the move was made by BMW as much as anything by them either trying to be market leaders and/or improve their reputation for green (efficient dynamics). The i3/i8 models would appear to be done with similar motives. Either this will be a market leading move, or they'll lose share, and rethink the strategy for the next gen M3/M4.
It certainly wouldn't be the first misreading of the market BMW has made. They've already admitted that they thought the small but loyal US wagon market would move to the GT series when they discontinued the 5 series wagon in the US. What they found instead was that no, this group really does want a wagon, when they lost sales of this market to MB and other marques that still had true wagons. It's not like the M3 has always had one signature engine style, and as someone else pointed out, they can always bring it back if sales do drop.