BMW M

BMW M GmbH (previously: BMW Motorsport GmbH) is a subsidiary of German car manufacturer BMW AG. Established in May 1972 with just eight employees, it grew to 400 employees by 1988. BMW M, also known as M-Technik or just "M" (for "Motorsport") was initially created to facilitate BMW’s racing program, which was very successful in the 1960s and 1970s. The first racing project was BMW’s 3.0 CSL; in the late 1970s the first modified street legal road cars were produced for the contracted racecar drivers as their personal vehicles. Also, BMW M supplied the 6.1 liter V-12 engine that powers the McLaren F1, which, like its engine supplier and manufacturer, has enjoyed plenty of racing success, famously winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995, the first year of competition for the GTR racing variant.

BMW M: high performance BMWs

After the success of BMW M in racing venues and the growing market for high performance sports cars, M introduced cars for sale to the public. The very first M-badged car for sale to the public was the M1, revealed at the Paris Motor Show in 1978. The M1, however, was more of a racecar in domestic trim than an everyday driver. The direction of the M cars changed with the 1979 release of the M535i, which was a high performance version of BMW’s popular 5 Series mid-size sedan. Since 1978, BMW M has offered modified versions of nearly every car on BMW’s production line, excluding the 7 Series and X Series sport utility vehicles. To this day BMW M continues to produce some of the most highly tuned street legal cars available in full production. BMW M offers modified engines, suspension, interior trim, aerodynamics and exterior styling. The objective of BMW M is to sell factory production sports cars that are comfortable enough for everyday use while offering uncompromised driving satisfaction and performance.

Competition

Auto tuning has become a worldwide market providing mild to exotic modifications. Aftermarket parts companies have been formed that will modify a car beyond the manufacturer's original design. Hamann Motorsport, Alpina, Dinan Cars, AC Schnitzer and Hartge are other companies who rival BMW M, taking new cars for modification and having "semi-official" status with BMW regarding warranties, etc. Daimler AG is one of BMW's top competitors, and offers a similar motorsports division to their customers known as AMG. AMG, like BMW M, is an in-house tuning company. Also, Audi AG offers similar packages on its cars, which bear an "S" badge (such as the S4, S5, S6, and S8). The main competitor to the BMW M cars from Audi are the Audi RS series (RS2, RS4, RS6) which are produced by Audi's in house racing and performance division, quattro GmbH.

M-Cars vs. M-badged cars

There are several BMW models to which BMW Motorsport made changes without being full M-Cars. Vehicles which have been modified by BMW Motorsport but are not full M-Cars may feature plain "M" badges with no number, whilst full M-Cars have "M" badges with the model number. E.g. "M3" or "M5". It should be noted however that the Z3/Z4-based M Roadster and M Coupe bore numberless "M" badges as standard fitment.

For example, the E28 M535i featured suspension, styling, and transmission improvements over the standard 535i. These changes were carried out by BMW Motorsport, thus the car carried "M" stripe badges on the front grille and boot, but not the full "M5" badging. The E28 M5 was sold alongside the M535i. Motorsport modifications have been made to almost every BMW model, hence it is not unusual to see "standard" BMW's with "M" badges.

The opposite occurred with the 850CSi, an M car in all but name; it had a BMW M–sourced engine and its VIN indicated that it was developed by BMW Motorsport, like all other M cars. It was possible that a true M8 was in development; however, this M8 was cancelled for reasons known only to BMW.

The M635csi also went against this ethos as it followed the M535i naming tradition but was a fully fledged M-Car.

Current Official M Cars

* M3 - E90 Sedan, E92 Coupe, E93 Cabriolet
* M5 - E60 Sedan, E61 Touring
* M6 - E63 Coupe, E64 Cabriolet
* M Coupe - Z4 Coupe
* M Roadster - Z4 Roadster

Previous official M cars

* M1 - Supercar Coupe
* M3 - E30 Coupe, E36 Coupe/Sedan/Cabriolet, E46 Coupe/Cabriolet/CSL
* M5 - E28 Sedan, E34 Sedan/Touring, E39 Sedan
* M635CSi/M6 - E24 Coupe
* M Coupe - Z3 Coupe
* M Roadster - Z3 Roadster
* 745iMspec - E23,E32 Sedan

M Badged (Unofficial) Cars

* 850CSi
* BMW M8 Prototype
* M535i

ee also

* BMW
* History of BMW
* BMW in motorsport
* BMW model designations

External links

* [http://www.bmw.com/generic/com/en/fascination/bmwm/index.html BMW M (products) website]
* [http://bmw-motorsport.com BMW Motorsport (competition) website]