The German car-magazine auto-motor-und-sport published an interview with Ludwig Willisch from the BMW M GmbH today. He tells us some really interesting things, although I am not sure if I like all of them.
Willisch says that there will be no M3-Touring (E91), because there is no market for it. He says the same thing concerning the E92 M3 CSL, the 1-Series and any kind of a supercar like the M1 Concept shown some months ago. The M GmbH expects about 70% of the M3s delivered worldwide to be ordered with the new dual-clutch-transmission, but in the U.S. they expect only about 50% equipped with the M-DCT because many US-buyers prefer the manual transmission.
Future BMW-M-Models might well be turbocharged, but they will always offer higher rev-limits than normal BMWs. There are no plans for Diesel-cars from BMW M, but he does not say that Diesel-Ms are impossible. BMW M will offer ceramic brakes as option for some models in the near future.
There will not be an M-Version of the new F01 7-Series but the M GmbH, also responsible for BMW Individual, is expecting higher rates of Individual-7ers. The M GmbH is not sure if there will be an M-version of the next-generation Z4 since there is a small market for these cars and they are not sure if an M-version could bring in the costs of development. Well, they said this for the current E85/E86-Z4 for very long time too I remember…
The BMW M-division is currently working on M-versions of the BMW X6 and X5. They are expecting sales figures in the area of the M5-models. Willisch also says indirectly that these cars will feature a turbocharged V8-engine and, not a surprise, all-wheel-drive. He also assures the readers of the German magazine that these cars will offer a dynamic performance. He misses to tell us how a car that heavy complies with the idea of the M GmbH who’s “M” stood for “Motorsport” some time ago…
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