Quote:
Originally Posted by The Automotive Enthusiast
M use to be a sub brand before 1993 when BMW brought it in house. Same goes for AMG.  |
Point of clarification here is that the original entity '
BMW Motorsport GmbH' founded in 1972 was in fact an independent subsidiary of BMW AG created to facilitate BMW's overall corporate motorsport strategy. It was always in-house but was not specifically geared towards a product vehicle distribution strategy until 1993.
Besides selling street versions of racing cars to meet homologation requirements (i.e., M1, E30 M3), BMW Motorsport GmbH's offering of niche performance upgrades (M Technic), upgraded series models (i.e., M535i) and limited niche M models with full Motorsport drivetrains (i.e., E28 M5) were just some of the ways to bring in revenue to fund their competition programs while also boosting BMW's overall image as it began to grow clout globally.
That is, until 1993, a less well-known event occurred where BMW Motorsport GmbH was restructured and renamed
BMW M GmbH (which is the same entity that M is today).
This isn't something that was done simply to streamline.
It was BMW's own internal recognition that the M-cars were becoming legendary products and a broadening new vehicular segment in their own right, and that BMW overall stood to gain by focusing on the actual M car products.
Only by splitting off its competition racing arm into a separate program from what was now simply an in-house high-performance specialty BMW manufacturer, would the dual objectives of remaining competitive in both competition racing & high-performance vehicles be accomplished.
A separate entity called BMW Motorsport Ltd. was spun-off and from then on you have a CEO of BMW M and a Director of BMW Motorsport, which are separate...an arrangement that remains to this day.
For example, in 2020, Markus Flasch is BMW M CEO and Jens Marquardt is BMW Motorsport director. Markus Flasch is not involved in BMW in motorsports and Jens Marquardt is not involved with BMW M cars, not directly at least.
Throughout the mid-late 1990s and 2000s, much of the personnel, expertise, experience, and synergies were shared across the two (now separate) divisions...yet they also often shared the same facilities and employees/ex-employees.
In particular, it's well-known that the GT racing programs and the Formula 1 programs had direct technology & process transfers to and from BMW M Cars (the development of M models from the E39 all the way to the E9x M3 attest to that all the way to the race cars that used their tech/components...the transfer was a two-way street.)
I will say that things seemed to have pivoted in a different direction since then. You have more streamlining the BMW M GmbH products within the overall BMW range and with the departure and retirement of the old guard such as Biermann and the arrival of individuals such as Van Meel (ex-Audi quattro specialist), the writing was on the wall since it was clear that what BMW's board wanted for the future of M was a different type of product (i.e., AWD M5, AWD M3, modular platforms, etc.).
At its core, M will always stand for Motorsport as that is the origin story, but it's now arguably become a tiered system of trim levels rather than niche BMWs that have been injected with motorsport DNA.
Albert Biermann has been very vocal in his press interviews (written & recorded) about the changing culture at M during the days leading to his departure. There was increasing pressure to be more cost-effective and those at M GmbH were seen by corporate as nothing more than petrol-junkies & trouble-makers that always spent way too much funding fun projects & wasting company profits/money.
Still, despite the sad reality that the coveted M is no longer as uniquely niche, special, or connected to motorsport as before, in almost all categories, I would still take the equivalent M Car over its AMG, quattro (RS), F, or V equivalent.
I, for one, applaud BMW M for continuing to offer the manual transmission, even as its adoption rate is fading into single digits.