Quote:
Originally Posted by 宝马.e90
If see what you're saying but I don't think it's the same. BMW's switch to FI needed to be done for regulation purposes and seeing that FI was going to be the future. You nor BMW couldn't change/control that. By switching to FI, their focus of what a M car didn't change. BMW doesn't need to introduce a M Performance line. What BMW is doing with the M badge is changing what it stands for. It's either a M car or it isn't, there shouldn't be a M-lite.
Again, like you, as a driver, it doesn't really affect me because I know what I'm driving but to those who are really into the heritage, it really does hurt to see this happening.
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This is where I differ and where my traditionalist mentality kicks in. Im speaking of FI for Ms, and that was NOT a requirement at all of regulations, but a POLITICAL decision by BMWs executive board.
Understanding CAFE standards and understanding the volumes that the M brand sells negates this whole argument. What I mean is, take the M5+M6 for example (e60/e63). On an annual basis, even in the best years, M did not sell more than 4,000-5,000 units of these lines. Based on roughly 1million cars sold per year by the BMW group, that equates to 0.004% to 0.005% of total annual sales. Does anyone think that a car line that makes up this small fraction of total sales has any real impact on CAFE standards? The answer is NO, and just look to Porsche for the proof. They sell less cars overall but can offer every line with a turbo or an NA based engine. Bottom line is BMW killed M tradition for the Green Movement which is very prevalent in Europe in particular nowadays.
Reading any of the real world use stories about the new F10 M5 for ex, and the users say they get marginally more efficiency with the new FI based engine vs the NA when driven the same way.
So if they are not getting significant mpgs, then why do it? I will suggest that its all about economics and not about CAFÉ standards or regulations at all. By switching the new Ms to FI and aligning them with the normal line engines, they are able to save significant R&D and share components. This is marketing genius really, because now they can still charge the premium that the S85 commanded because it was a truly purpose built engine, while saving the untold millions on R&D by starting off with the base engine and modifying it for the future M cars. This is what no one speaks about and this is where tradition was destroyed, imo it has nothing to do with regulation because the numbers and the volumes of these quite limited run cars cannot have any appreciable impact on the overall efficiency of BMW visavie CAFÉ.
And it absolutely changed the focus of what an M is/ was. When you had a high revving NA engine, you had a very different driving experience than a torque heavy twin turbo based engine. This FI type of engine allows anyone to drive an M like a race car driver without any real skills as to how to get the most out of the engine. Its an AMG with an M badge, imho, because you just mash and go. That is NOT the case with the S85 or any previous M series car. In the S85 and the traditional M cars, you actually had to know how to drive and what gear to be in and where in the power range to be to get the most out of the car. That is what I love about the S85 and why I cannot buy an FI based M at this point. All we hear is that the new F10 M5 is so amazing because it has so much effortless power everywhere in the band. That is not an M from a tradition sense, so as you noted above that the focus of M has not changed because of FI, Id counter that the entire history has been destroyed by FI as to what it meant to drive an M.
M is just for marketing, its performance and design oriented, but its just marketing, and the sales keep increasing so they’ll only continue this trend in the future, like with todays announcement.