April 7, 2009

The Big M's

By now you heard all about the new 550 hp BMW X5 M and X6 M, what do you think about these new x-tra large ///M's?



In the unlikely case you missed it...you can find all details HERE


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20 comments:

  1. Well, there's demand for the X5M as clearly proven by the amount of Cayenne Turbos on the street. Still an unnecessary waste of global resources (why not just bring the M5 Touring), but what other options are there for a high performance SUV?

    The X6M is the more pointless car in the history of BMW. Who wants a heavy non-practical (smaller than a 5 series interior) off-roader that's no good off-road?

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  2. ...just another set of M cars for the country-club "gotta have the best" crowd. Thumbs down.

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  3. Well, one was the last time BMW came to market with a proper track capable M Car? E46 M3 CSL barely made that cut (and still you needed to replace the brakes). All M Cars are country club "best tech" heavyweights. They compete head on with AMG instead of carving up their own market space or at least come out with 1 proper sportscar.

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  4. I agree with CG, blame Porsche. I would love to know how the business case for these cars works as surely there will be a very limited production.

    As for the engineering, the engine sounds spectacular and chassis engineering has progressed to the point where these behemoths can probably lap the 'Ring at e46 m3 pace or better....the GT-R effect, scary stuff. Imagine what a could be done with a proper sports car sized platform?

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  5. Well, do automakers ever make money on halo cars? I think the CSL was a bit of a halo car with BMW saying "This is what we could do with a little bit of real tuning for the track" when it came out in 2003. However, my guess, as sad as it is to say, is cars like the CSL are paid for by the large profits found in unnecessary porkers like the X5M and X6M.

    Everyone else seems to disregard the fact that this is a huge change of philosophy of M Division with turbocharged engines, all-wheel-drive and SUVs, period.

    Somewhere, an E30 M3 cries out.

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  6. It's not just the M cars, BMW has changed from the Ultimate Driving Machine to just another lux barge company. I'm in the market for a used RWD manual 3 series which is not a common configuration. From my brief search in New England, 90% of the cars are auto AWD!

    The E30 M3 is crying indeed.

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  7. Well but it costs a very significant amount of money even to just certify a new model for the US market alone, never mind the rest of the world, so I cannot imagine that in in the current economic climate BMW would simply put out a "halo" car. On the other hand they did get a huge advertising bang for the buck with probably every motoring publication on the planet publishing something about these cars....

    My guess is that they plan to produce so few of these that there will always be demand...you won't see many of these on dealer lots.

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  8. I wonder if these can tow, I can imagine a scene where you go to your local "track days world championship" event and when you have an unexpected malfunction you simply unhitch the trailer and proceed to spank half the cars there with your tow vehicle!

    I would imagine those 375x20 tires would be good for at least 3 laps! :o)

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  9. The X6 M does lap the Ring faster than the E46 M3. It does not understeer.

    The E30 M3 was built only to meet racing homologation rules and was not built to make money. Much like the Z3 and Z4 M Coupes, people only missed it when it went out of production. For M, the original M5 was far more significant because it represented the true mission of M: take an existing platform and push the limits of what is possible with it by finding new solutions and new technologies.

    -Freep

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  10. AC, I agree with you on the halo car thing. BMW made the CSL when it had a lot of sales coming in and the economic climate was favorable enough that they could afford to build a sports car that they wouldn't make much if any money on - but, it's great advertising for them when people start seeing M3 CSLs compared to other track cars like a GT3 or the Challenge Stradale.

    The current economic climate is exactly why an E92 CSL was canceled - too expensive, too little profit.

    Low production or not - this thing scares the hell out of me when I think about the future of M Division.

    The only cool M-derived SUV I've seen is the X5 Le Mans running a 600HP LMR V12.

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  11. well..but that x5 LM was a one off prototype that could probably never be homologated anywhere (well ok...in the UK they'll homologate anything..:o))

    Here you have a fully street-able vehicle with only 50 less HP and probably a vastly superior suspension... and a chip away from 700hp. One may not agree with the direction of it but it's certainly progress.

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  12. I guess in some ways it is the ultimate turnabout of automotive mayhem. Instead of someone in a hotted-up sedan wiping out a family in an SUV, now you can have someone in a hotted-up SUV wipe out a couple of families in sedans. Now that's progress.

    Look for lots of upcoming photos of this 5500lbs rocket sleds at wreckedexotics.com . Too much power and too little knowledge of the laws of physics will eventually close this chapter of automobile stupidity.

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  13. The X5 LM is alive and well in the BMW Classic collection, and is occasionally street-driven with mufflers and a manufacturer plate. It was created to demonstrate what the original X5 unibody was capable of. The new X5 M and X6 M have a great deal in common with the original X5 LM.

    -Freep

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  14. If cars (agreed, they are obnoxious behemoths) like this keep BMW viable and independent I say bring them on. There are plenty of people willing to pay up to beat the Jones', even if they have no idea of the difference b/w a base vanilla X5 and the X5M. What I do love about the overly high priced models out of BMW is the used mkt in 2 yrs from new...the great equalizer for guys like me who buy on the cheap.

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  15. Freep - your last sentence is about the only thing appealing I've found in these two vehicles.

    AC - I agree, but to me, I held M Division in higher regard because they wouldn't follow the path of Porsche's Cayenne or Mercedes ML63 AMG and manufacture vehicles or justify the production of said vehicles for profits.

    Is it impressive that they can get something with a drag coefficient of a brick moving this fast? Yes. But instead of heavy, heavy SUVs, let's see some more lithe and potent BMWs.

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  16. Murph: I think the e36 M3 convertible automatic pretty much jumped the shark on that one...

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  17. Damnit! I forgot about the automatic.

    Touche.

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  18. As an M coupe (E36/8) owner what do I think?:

    &*#(@^$^ crap!

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  19. while they seem to be very nice vehicles, and I'm sure they will sell all of them, as this does seem to be what the market wants (and Im sure BMW and other marques are making a killing in profits in this segment)I too see it as a dilution of the M brand of yore. Also, I think BMW could have at least made these vehicles a bit more unique looking. Im not very fond of the clip on plastic painted fender extensions or the new color coated body kits. Im sure there are some great improvements in performance and technology which I do not know about yet, but aesthetically, I think they have not made these vehicles unique enough. In the end it seems that it all comes down to the money, which is understandable.. I hope when things get better for automakers we'll see some more purpose built performance machines from M GMBH that make up for all this weird M truck business.

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  20. M has jumped the shark. Period.

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