A pioneering spirit and a healthy dose of technological boldness have always been a part of BMW M’s identity. You might even say they were the catalyst for the founding of M GmbH over fifty years ago. Back then, BMW entered motorsport. It founded its own company and recruited a high-calibre team of engineers, drivers and technicians for this purpose. When the company achieved its first successes in motorsport, the idea of developing high-performance vehicles for road use arose. From the very beginning, developers and employees were driven to test the limits of what was technically feasible and to push these limits further and further with innovations. In that process, they often had to overcome resistance.
Our latest episode about the groundbreaking development of the all-electric drive for BMW M high-performance models shows that heading towards the future has always been part of the brand's history.
RACING TECHNOLOGY IN A SERIES MODEL.
In 1971, the BMW 3.0 CSL set the first M revolution in motion. Developed from the BMW 3.0 CS, its racing ambitions were already in its name: CSL was an abbreviation for coupé, sport and lightweight construction. With an initial 180 hp, 206 hp in the final stage, and a weight reduction of 200 kilograms compared to its predecessor, the 3.0 CSL initially caused a sensation on the road. Two years later, in 1973, a racing version with 365 hp was launched and won the European Touring Car Championship in the very first season – and repeated this title win five times in succession from 1975 to 1979.
Equipped with M technology, it was basically the first BMW M in history and is a legend today. Its 206 hp may no longer be much of a sensation by today's standards, but in the mid-1970s, this performance, coupled with a curb weight of 1,270 kilograms, made a clear statement.
From then on, maximum power and minimum weight became the defining characteristics of the BMW M myth. They can still be found in every M model today and guarantee their unique driving dynamics.
PIONEERING PERFORMANCE.
The BMW 320 Turbo was one of the first of its kind to feature a turbocharger, which it inherited from its predecessor, the BMW 3.5 CSL Turbo. Equipping this type of racing car with a turbocharger was considered a bold move in 1976. But BMW M did it, anyway. The BMW 320 Turbo was launched in the 1977 racing season and achieved success for BMW in the prestigious Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM; German Racing Championship). Today, the vehicle is regarded as a key initiator in the development and evolution of turbocharger technology, which gives modern BMW M engines their unrivalled dynamics. In addition to the factory paint, the 320 Turbo also became an instant legend due to its Jägermeister livery. In its first racing season, it inspired the engineers to plan to enter Formula 1 as quickly as possible with their own turbo engine.
As a result, a turbocharged 1.4-litre engine was used in the 1979 racing season. The potential of this engine turned out to be an important step towards the development of the legendary BMW Formula 1 turbo engines in the Brabham F1 cars. This made the BMW 320 Turbo the link between the company’s long touring car tradition and its successful appearance in the premier class of motorsport.
SPORT WITH MID-ENGINE.
The BMW M1 E26 definitively gave M GmbH an incontestable place in the world of motorsport. The M1 was the ideal embodiment of a sports car with its low-profile shape, mid-engine and outstanding performance. The super sports car was also given its own racing series, the BMW M1 Procar Series. At the same time, the athletic and elegant sports car proved right from the start that it had what it took to become a legend, and the 399 road-legal vehicles built for homologation quickly found their way to buyers. Its significance for the M brand, as well as for its owners, can be measured by the number of vehicles still in existence today. Of the 445 units delivered in total, an astonishing number of roadworthy BMW M1s are owned by private collectors and museums.
PRESENTABLE WITH 286 HP.
The development of the BMW M5 marked another significant milestone for M GmbH. The family-friendly sedan, whose performance came close to that of super sports cars at the time, was the first BMW M to become accessible to a broad group of buyers. In an unprecedented way, it merged the everyday practicality of a spacious four-door model featuring a large boot with driving performance that would have been expected on a racetrack. That is how BMW M reached the heart of society and ultimately became a universally respected automotive icon, completing its journey from challenger to benchmark.
PROVING A POINT ON THE RING.
At the turn of the millennium, people generally believed that it was impossible to transform SUVs into performance cars. M GmbH begged to differ. It created a prototype based on the BMW X5 E53 that, as is so often the case with BMW M, was the first of its kind. The BMW X5 Le Mans had the V12 engine from the 1999 Le Mans winner BMW V12 LMR under its bonnet. In 2001, racing legend Hans-Joachim Stuck took to the Nordschleife in BMW’s SUV equipped with this engine and set a record for the vehicle class with a time of 7:49 minutes. His record was not beaten until 2020, and even then by under seven seconds. This is why the BMW X5 Le Mans was also known internally as THE BEAST. This nickname would later play a decisive role in the development of the new BMW M Electrified powertrain.
A NEW DRIVE.
When BMW M began electrifying its vehicles, nobody could have guessed where this journey would lead. The first promising experiments were carried out with an M2 Mule, which was logically nicknamed THE BEAST in 2018 due to its unusually furious driving dynamics. The E-Beast is a prototype used to test all kinds of new technologies for future suitability for series production. Based on the BMW M2 F87, the E-Beast thus marks the big bang in the development of M GmbH's electric drive system to a certain extent. Its next milestone will be a completely new electric drive, and Carsten Wolf, Head of Overall Vehicle Development at BMW M, said that this drive will demonstrate “unprecedented performance, quality and characteristics that we can't even imagine today”.
MORE POWER, MORE TRACTION.
The BMW M xDrive all-wheel drive system was first introduced in the BMW M5 F90 in 2017. The fear that four driven wheels would put an end to the typical M driving dynamics proved to be unfounded. The developers gave the new M xDrive extremely precise control systems for power distribution that is customary for M, which left nothing to be desired among the press, customers and fans.
It is a rear-wheel-drive, just with more traction.
PROGRESS AS A TRADITION.
Developers are currently working intensively on the next-generation electric drive, which will take BMW M's all-wheel driving dynamics to the next level. Four electric motors form the core of this revolutionary drive system. Each of the four wheels is driven by its own electric motor, which opens up completely new possibilities for the high performance M is known for.
This tradition of progress is part of the DNA of all M models and will also be reflected in the new all-electric high-performance drive from BMW M.
