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Whenever the death bell is rung for M, there is always the points that are missed. The more important one being the seismic shift over the past ten years in the ever-changing auto industry.

If M is guilty of anything it is purely as a victim of their own success.
BMW now cater to a global market. Far too many still live with the presumption it is all about North America . North America is M's biggest market but over the past ten years M's global position has broadened which has resulted in likes of vehicles like the X5M and X6M being introduced as the market has changed , whatever your opinion of the XM's they sell in volume numbers (for M) and in several strategic markets they are that best selling M vehicles.

When you compare special editions for different markets, although they might seem like credibility issues, they are at the end of the day successful business decisions because at the end of the day BMW manage to sell each one.
If you look at the M customer today you can see that opening the market to M products has increased the customer base , M cars still embody the purest expression of technology , driving dynamics and precision aswell as the defining factor of an M. Individuality. M cars are not simply re-badged road cars like our rivals. Everything is reworked to live up to the M-philosophy and represent true M values. They key starting point is to have a base that is already renowned to drive. This is why Audi reviews always label them "Average" because the standard car is Average.
My own opinion of M. Is that they are far more experimental than other performance brands bar Porsche.

As a sign of progress in the industry it is seen that high performance luxury cars are more likely to be bought as an example of status than an enthusiast choice. Sadly the ratio between enthusiasts and status has expanded more for the status buyer although each M is catered for the enthusiast there is no denying that technology in engineering , communication and luxury features define the demands of todays market.

The next BMW M3 Sedan heralds the start of a new era, an era where lightweight will now be a standard feature. The advent of BMW preferring to spend money in EfficientDynamics and BMW i over a supersports car sums up the state of the market. Sports cars sales are still depressed in regards to the economic crisis. A sports car would require serious investment for no return. Yes the XM's are being replaced because they are representitive of the seismic shift that we are seeing now of the rise of the SUV in place of the luxury sedan. People might see differently about the inclusion of many SUV choices but there is no denying SUV's drive sales , SUVs sell in huge numbers and generate huge numbers that is why you have seen concepts from Bentley and Lamborghini - The market is changing.

BMW M. is not just a brand it is also the launchpad for innovations and technology before it filters through to the core BMW models.
BMW M's. experimental use in CFRP has given BMW a very large advantage over its competitors in volume production of CFRP.
Although the sports car BMW i8 is not what one thinks of as a sports car. But is purely set out to be revolutionary thanks to a concept in which everything is individual from the ground up. The i8 is not what one would think as a performance car but BMW aim to defy conventional means with their most progressive concept of a sports car.

The next M3 not only shows that M knows how to make an already great car , even better. But will continue to evoke that passion that makes an M3 great , the pinnacle even. The purest expression of that renowned and much loved philosophy of a performance car from the race track to the road embodying heritage , driving-dynamics and of course that individuality that makes an M car not only the defining option but The Ultimate Driving Machine.