If you want to talk about all things BMW M, you talk to Frank van Meel – he is the ‘THE GUY’. In this IV and final piece we ask about the future of BMW M. (Part 1 here, Part II here. Part III here)
With the different levels of M now available, we asked if Frank felt like some of the lines are being blurred between some of the M products – and also if there was pushback from M-purists?
“That’s a classic question”, he replied. “The M community is a big family, and we do have different offers for different purposes. Of course, the core of our brand is the likes of the M3 and also the M2, that’s where we came from, as well as the M5, because that was the first M car we ever made in bigger series-production numbers.
But next to that core of M, we added other cars like the X3M, X4M, X5M, X6M. Also, the XM.”
He says that then there’s the M performance vehicles for everyone that says I want to have more performance in the car, but not the ultimate high performance. ‘Just give me more performance and a stronger suspension setup, but not too much, not a track tool but developed on the track for the road’.
“So we just broadened our portfolio, and every time we had the question, is it still an M car?” He continued. “We also offer a wider portfolio for everyone that wants to be part of the M family.”
“We also have M3 customers who say ‘Why should I buy an X5M?’ Whereas the X5M customers say the M3 is too small for me, because I’ve got dogs or I want to take bicycles to the mountains or whatever, so there are different needs from our customers.”
“By the way, that not only goes for the cars themselves, but also for the drivetrains, because what we actually see is that the demands for electric drivetrains or plug-in hybrids or combustion engines, we are broadening in every segment, and it’s good to have them all.”
Yes, but have the XM sales matched forecasts? We wondered.
“Last year, we sold almost 8000 units of XM, which was what we planned with for the year and it was more than we saw the X5M and X6M together. So we’re quite happy with the amount of cars sold, especially since it is a new segment for us,” Frank says, adding, ”And we do see that almost 90% of our customers come from other brands.”
He goes on to say that there was a long list of people waiting. “I support a car like this and actually the reason we did this car is because a lot of people said, ‘where is the G-class from BMW or M?’”
Remember the M-Town promotion? We asked if M-town is still a place? And the reply was an emphatic YES.
“Oh yes, of course. We have a lot of M-town fans, because the community likes the idea of having a home, and of course, we made it a very special home. We’re currently thinking about how life is going to continue within that community that was so keen.”
So what of the future of BMW M? We were keen to know what Frank was most looking forward to in the next stage of M development.
“Actually, it’s two things. It’s the next-gen of the combustion engines. With the new legislation with all the changes, but the engines, I think, might get even cooler and in regards to sound – without saying too much.” Frank continues, “And also, of course, electrification. Because that is the biggest leap forward ever for us. And it’s a little bit like Charlie in a chocolate factory, because you can do so much. If you do it right, the sky is the limit.”
There are some reservations though, he says that at some point you have to ask, ‘now, what am I going to do with this?’
“And as I said before, there are some questions you never thought about, like ‘dynamic mode’. With mechanical systems, if you switch the DC off, it’s just rear wheel drive with no control, you can do burnouts. But with collective electric motors, you can do whatever kind of burnout you like with no control. So you even have to start thinking about, ‘what is Rear wheel drive’. It’s very interesting and it’s especially for engineers, it’s a dream come true.”
And lastly – Will there be another unique M sports car, like an M1?
Frank smiles. “The first time I started out with the M was 2014. And that was the first question I had and actually the answer is always the same. Of course, you can say we don’t need a Halo car, because all M cars are Halo cars, but that might be a little bit too cheap.”
“The real answer is ‘we’re always dreaming’. Every car guy and every car goal always dreams about a supercar. It’s a super sports car, and we never give up trying to find the right time and spot to make one. But right now we’re all hands-on deck for electrification. So I can’t give you an answer to that, but I can only tell you. It’s always in our minds.”
Are they looking at Laboratory made fuels, or are you 100% committed to some form of electrification?
“Right now, electrification from a legislative standpoint from governments and co 2 emission targets is the way to go, but that doesn’t mean we’re not looking at E fuels, because as I said before, we’re using them and racing as well with our S58 engine and BM4 GT 3 and 54. But there are a lot of activities in regards to fuels and you will need a solution in regards to co 2 if you want to have a more co 2 neutral future – There’s a huge car fleet over the world with combustion engines and e-fuels might be quite a good solution.”
“I think we have a lot to be excited about when it comes to M, regardless of what the drivetrain of choice is on any given day.”
