Article: The Death Of BMW’s M Brand ?

[Whacko]

I couldn't help but agree with him.

 

[Nic_s]

There is no car that says "I want to pretend I'm a performance driver, a racer, but never go to the track" more than the current M brand. It's a fraud leveraging the company's rich racing history and it pisses me off.

How is the above quote not an indictment of the M cars of today in general and a critiscism of their brilliance ?

It is selfevident that he is critical of the M brand in general and my point of departure is that although al brands develop and change sometimes for the worst sometimes for the best I feel that the M brand has stayed as close to its roots as possible whether the so called experts out there believe it or not .

For petes sake when the E36 M3 was released every journo and expert out there bemoaned the loss of a driver's car calling the E36 M3 a softer , toned down ,grey version.

How many of us who own one agree with that today ? Take an E36 M3 out on just about any road drop a gear or two ,floor and turn the wheel and see if it doesnt try to kill you . Fact is too many people spout philosophical ideas based upon their interpretation of events based on a smattering of knowledge and even less experience and then become the source of all info and referred to as authorative .

My experience of M cars are as valid as his because I own and drive them daily and have for years so its not based on my musings , you tube videos or what my buddy told me over a beer and until such time as I drive an X5m or X6m I will reserve my opinion as to whether they are any good or not .

I have a suspicison that they are great cars and do you know why that is ? Because they are M cars :thumbs:

Anyone thinking differently should go back to the sanitorium he escaped from and ask for his medication before setting out into the world again

The actual cars ain't in question here, it's how the M BRAND is being exploited and twisted by the marketers making M cars look to be more about show rather than having the cars do the actual talking. You seem to be taking this quite personal so I'm out.


At the end of the day the man is just airing his opinions and it shouldn't be taken so serious. Taking things so serious seems to be thing on the forum and I just don't understand why :shakehead:

 

[moranor@axis]

"The Death Of BMW's M Brand" remains a gross exaggeration.

How does the Lime Rock Park edition take away all that is good from ///M?

If someone can explain that I'll accept the article isn't in it's foundation a crock of s**t

it takes creditability away from the M...

 

[Josh-ZN]

couldnt bring myself to read it, but sounds like a bit of a dramatic heading written by a drama queen.

:blab:

 

[kabal]

i'll take one, and happily be branded poser :rollsmile:

 

[tcal69]

funny thing is I was and still am one of the ///M owner he calls a poser:rollsmile:

End of the day, is if people are willing to buy(pay the price), they will produce and sell... That's the truth...

 

[Fordkoppie]

Taking things so serious seems to be thing on the forum and I just don't understand why :shakehead:

I have thought about this quite some time now as to why all the threads that involves a discussion about ///M turns sour each and every time. And I am referring to the latest M models here.
Those who drive M feels threatened because the “normal” models are too close for their comfort levels and they feel threatened since the “normal” cars are very capable these days. Then, you get these pesky non M drivers who can’t let an opportunity go by without rubbing it in the other party’s face.
Mix this with people like me that don’t like change and we have one mammoth mudslinging BMW community.

Another problem is that some of the slingers goes through life with blinkers. There are nice and very capable cars outside of the BMW roundel.
BMW is becoming just like all the other manufacturers out there. They are no longer the benchmark especially when it comes to the segment in which M cars feature. Just accept it....... Times are changing.

BTW - you drive what makes YOU happy. No one forces you to buy anything and there is no such thing as brand loyalty these days.
As an example - There is not a single Ford on the local market today that I remotely desire, even though I have been a supporter for as long as I can remember.
The whole car industry is turning to sh!t as far as I am concerned.

To get back to the specific car in the original topic - In the end all of this is just marketing gibberish to up the sales = more money in their pockets

 

[Nic_s]

funny thing is I was and still am one of the ///M owner he calls a poser:rollsmile:

End of the day, is if people are willing to buy(pay the price), they will produce and sell... That's the truth...

That's true, it's just sad.

 

[ETTIENNE]

"The M3 Cape Town Edition... limited edition with dash shaped like Table mountain and every time you plan a trip it rains in the car. No performance increase though. :thumb:"

LOL! :rollsmile:

 

[sclass]

My 2c…I’m don’t own any ///M car and I have driven one BRIEFLY (E36 M3) only once in my life so I have zero credibility in terms of ownership experience. BUT I’ve always aspired to own one, always drawn by the M mystique. For me that’s where it started, the mysticism of the brand. I grew up on a diet of E28 M5 and E34 M5. There was nothing else. The nearest other cars were E30 325iS (EVO 1 & 2), E28 535i, and the 745i. The mystique of these cars is based on how they are regarded just as much as how able they are. It’s the reason E30 M3s can easily cost 2-3 times more than an E46 M3. They are that highly regarded, seen as pure purposeful, a CLEAR raison d’etre. What today’s M doesn’t have is that synergy between ability and mystique, possibly the last one that had it right is the E46 CSL. But now everything has an M badge…what was wrong with calling sporty versions of cooking models Sport or iS? As soon as you say M, you are saying it’s special, it’s unique, it’s clear and concise, it’s that feeling I felt as a kid. I don’t get that anymore with the announcement of the new cars. But I’m not questioning the cars’ abilities…

 

[bmwforlife]

Opinions differ and I tend to passionately espouse mine however I am not taking it at all personally :rollsmile:

There is no car that says "I want to pretend I'm a performance driver, a racer, but never go to the track" more than the current M brand. It's a fraud leveraging the company's rich racing history and it pisses me off.

How is the above quote not an indictment of the M cars of today in general and a critiscism of their brilliance ?

It is selfevident that he is critical of the M brand in general and my point of departure is that although al brands develop and change sometimes for the worst sometimes for the best I feel that the M brand has stayed as close to its roots as possible whether the so called experts out there believe it or not .

For petes sake when the E36 M3 was released every journo and expert out there bemoaned the loss of a driver's car calling the E36 M3 a softer , toned down ,grey version.

How many of us who own one agree with that today ? Take an E36 M3 out on just about any road drop a gear or two ,floor and turn the wheel and see if it doesnt try to kill you . Fact is too many people spout philosophical ideas based upon their interpretation of events based on a smattering of knowledge and even less experience and then become the source of all info and referred to as authorative .

My experience of M cars are as valid as his because I own and drive them daily and have for years so its not based on my musings , you tube videos or what my buddy told me over a beer and until such time as I drive an X5m or X6m I will reserve my opinion as to whether they are any good or not .

I have a suspicison that they are great cars and do you know why that is ? Because they are M cars :thumbs:

Anyone thinking differently should go back to the sanitorium he escaped from and ask for his medication before setting out into the world again

The actual cars ain't in question here, it's how the M BRAND is being exploited and twisted by the marketers making M cars look to be more about show rather than having the cars do the actual talking. You seem to be taking this quite personal so I'm out.


At the end of the day the man is just airing his opinions and it shouldn't be taken so serious. Taking things so serious seems to be thing on the forum and I just don't understand why :shakehead:

 

[ChrisBrand]

I do agree somewhat. I feel there was no need to water down the M brand into every vehicle they built. I think the last real M was the e46 CSL. Purpose built, no radio, light weight.

BUT I think our friends from merv AMG have done more damage to their legacy as poser racers than BMW M has.

Like he said. We still have some of the fastest sedans and nurburgringers in the world

 

[bmwforlife]

Agree with this if everything is an M you dilute the brand . However if memory serves me correctly even in e39 guise there was a 540im that had a manual gearbox and a few other bits and pieces with no further power .

Was or is that dilution ? Dont think so guys all I'm saying is lets drive the cars and then have opinions

My 2c…I’m don’t own any ///M car and I have driven one BRIEFLY (E36 M3) only once in my life so I have zero credibility in terms of ownership experience. BUT I’ve always aspired to own one, always drawn by the M mystique. For me that’s where it started, the mysticism of the brand. I grew up on a diet of E28 M5 and E34 M5. There was nothing else. The nearest other cars were E30 325iS (EVO 1 & 2), E28 535i, and the 745i. The mystique of these cars is based on how they are regarded just as much as how able they are. It’s the reason E30 M3s can easily cost 2-3 times more than an E46 M3. They are that highly regarded, seen as pure purposeful, a CLEAR raison d’etre. What today’s M doesn’t have is that synergy between ability and mystique, possibly the last one that had it right is the E46 CSL. But now everything has an M badge…what was wrong with calling sporty versions of cooking models Sport or iS? As soon as you say M, you are saying it’s special, it’s unique, it’s clear and concise, it’s that feeling I felt as a kid. I don’t get that anymore with the announcement of the new cars. But I’m not questioning the cars’ abilities…

 

[v1p3r]

...having the cars do the actual talking.

They still do and that's the point.

---

it takes creditability away from the M...

:=):

I don't know how? The car is still a super sporty, agile, sports sedan, which ///M has always promised to deliver, and they do...

It doesn't have LESS than the normal ///M3, which was splendid as a track tool to begin with...

 

[Josh-ZN]

let me guess bill caswell can't afford an M car so he is pissed

:tease:

 

[v1p3r]

We should start a BMWFanatics Fight Club. :roflol:

 

[bmwforlife]

:biglol::roflol::biglol:

We should start a BMWFanatics Fight Club. :roflol:

 

[Nic_s]

let me guess bill caswell can't afford an M car so he is pissed

:tease:

He competed in Rally Mexico with an E30. Google him :thumb:

 

[Josh-ZN]

let me guess bill caswell can't afford an M car so he is pissed

:tease:

He competed in Rally Mexico with an E30. Google him :thumb:

:roflol: i have no idea who he is. dont really care much. dont agree with him but that doesnt make him wrong. the new m3 is going to be a cracker! the M badge still gets my heart racing.

 

[moranor@axis]

...having the cars do the actual talking.

They still do and that's the point.

---

it takes creditability away from the M...

:=):

I don't know how? The car is still a super sporty, agile, sports sedan, which ///M has always promised to deliver, and they do...

It doesn't have LESS than the normal ///M3, which was splendid as a track tool to begin with...

---

like i said in an earlier post...

slapping some paint on a car does not make it any more a track car than the original... so then dont sell it as that...

If they set up the suspension for that track even if they set it on the comfort side of things... then the car has enough credibility to call it the Lime Rock Edition...

slapping paint on and changing the steering wheel is a joke...

most people found the Frozen edition a let down... now they go and make a different one and name it after a track :fishwack: we want a light weight supercharged version that will melt the tarmac and smear you face on the side windows...

BMW need to take a bit out of the AMG hand book... new paint is just not enough...