I remember in the early 1990s (when I was old enough to form semi-coherent thoughts about cars), I had this image in my mind about cars from BMW M.
Its cars have razor-sharp handling, naturally aspirated engines and are exclusively rear-wheel-drive. And there weren’t any SUVs in the range. Heck, even the idea of a BMW SUV, let alone an M SUV was a laughable idea back then.
That all changed in 2009 with the addition of not one, but two SUVs to the M car lineup. To make things worse, the pair have turbocharged engines and all-wheel-drive.
Don’t get me wrong the BMW X5M and X6M are fine cars. They pull like freight trains and handle better than any SUV has any right to. The problem is, these are cars that M Division swore to never build. And don’t even get me started on the turbocharging bit, because all M cars now have forced-induction motors.
Again, I’m no purist – I don’t belong to the cult of M, though it’s easy to see why its zealots are up in arms. One frequent thing I hear from its proponents is how M Division “used to stand for something”.
And that they did. The only problem is, they stood for something too much. Suffice it to say, while it has all the benefits of a single-minded sense of purpose, it also doesn’t leave you a lot of wiggle room.
But time also heals all wounds, and BMW has recently debuted the second-generation of M-badged SUVs without the purists screaming blue murder again. Say what you like about the pair, but for the longest time, BMW didn’t have anything to compete with the Porsche Cayenne Turbo, and we all know how much multi-millionaires like their hulking superpowered SUVs.
So, will there be a third-generation X5M and X6M? Well, I wouldn’t bet against it. Will it be good? Well, I wouldn’t bet against that either.
Anyway, the moral of the story here is: never say never again. I mean, there are already also two front-wheel-drive BMW models now, aren’t there?
