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RPM TV Website | March 22, 2024

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New M boss hints at X3 and X4 M

BMW X3 M
Adam Schoeman

Frank van Meel, who recently took over the helm at BMW’s M division, has said that they are keen on continuing the success of the X5 M on their smaller SUV’s, but that not every BMW should also be considered for the M treatment.

Having recently joined from Audi’s RS division, van Meel is obviously keen to get started, but from what we understand he is not looking to make huge and uncharacteristic changes to the performance brand, but apply tweaks and direction.

The M2 is all but confirmed seeing how often prototypes of this car are spotted during testing, but it is the X3 and X4 M cars that are more of a surprise. There is currently no competition from Mercedes-Benz for such a car, with Audi only offering the S Q5 or the RS Q3, but both of which are more niche or significantly smaller.

The closest real competition would then be Porsche’s Macan Turbo, which uses a 3,6-litre turbocharged V6 engine that is able to produce 300 kW. BMW would probably reuse a detuned version of the M3 engine in the X3 M and X4 M to compete against it, or could follow the M5 / X5 M  model and equip the X3 M with the exact same engine as the M3.

From a support point of view this makes the most sense as BMW would not need to support another engine, and at 317 kW the X3 M would be uncontested as the most powerful compact SUV on the market.

Another change which van Meel was referring to was the inclusion of four-wheel drive on some future M-division models. The move is all but inevitable on the more powerful cars such as the M5 and M6, as BMW has always been more about drivability than smoking rear tyres.

He was quick to add though that any M car will still remain biased towards rear power, even in a four-wheel drive configuration, and will use software to achieve this feeling.

The emergence of the M Performance stepping stone has also allowed BMW to tackle cars that would normally not receive a M car, but that benefit from having a performance halo model. Van Meel said that they will continue to work on those projects, and are keen on adding more diesels to the brand, which we are happy to hear as one of the early M Performance cars, the X5 50d M, was one of our favourites.

The M Performance brand would also be better suited on the company’s smaller 4-cylinder engines, on which van Meel is not too keen on building a full M car, saying that the stress that would be needed to be placed on a small capacity engine would ruin the refinement.

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