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Originally Posted by Racer20
My assumption would be that they are trying to standardize the development cycle of all their products to be able to work to a single timeline for all programs.
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That would be great both for improved corporate efficiency and more clear, consistent understanding of product availability for customers. But it may be a lofty goal at this point given the gap between a new generation standard Series vehicle and its M counterpart is currently all over the place, and pulling the M3 ahead isn't going to move the needle much on that. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the X5 M, X6 M, and M8 GC are also coming soon and if we look at those with the M3 and M4, and throw in the recently added X3 M and X4 M, there is really no obvious pattern among the release timeframes.
If we think of the M as just another trim level, which is not completely accurate, but from a manufacturing perspective it does largely behave that way, it is perhaps a little arbitrary to work toward a specific launch window relative to the base model's SOP. I say this because BMW is constantly adding new trim levels, engine options, drivetrain configurations across the lineup, and there is no consistency (or expectation of consistency, really) for when those happen. I think the best they can do is to release products when they are ready. As you know, that depends not just on the vehicle development timeline, but the manufacturing, marketing, market conditions, and other factors.
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It's apparent from the styling that BMW is trying to differentiate between the base 3 and 4 series more than before, so it's reasonable to assume they would do the same for the M.
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It sure would make sense. The most obvious way to do that, though, would be to give the M3 the 3 Series grill/headlights while the M4 continues to share the 4 Series grill/headlights (just like they do for the 5 => M5, 8 => M8) and pictures of test mules would appear to rule out that possibility. To instead come up with a third set of parts just for the M3 so that it can be distinct from both the 3er and 4er/M4 seems so completely random that it is difficult to believe any rational business case exists for it.