No front-drivers for BMW M

BMW M president Markus Flasch has told Australian journalists that there are no plans in place for the Munich firm's high-performance arm to offer an exclusively front-wheel drive model... ever.

"There is no front-wheel drive M car and [that] will stay this way," Flasch declared in a phone conference last week.

With the next 1 Series set to adopt an east/west engine orientation for front-wheel drive, the only option for M fanciers wanting a small hatchback is the upcoming M135i with all-wheel drive. That vehicle will be considered an 'M Performance' model, rather than a top-shelf M car.

"At the moment we have no plans to do high-performance versions [of 1 Series or X2]," Flasch explained.

"We believe that the M Performance cars have enough power and enough performance. And the ratio of what we would have to put in, into developing high-performance cars in these segments, to the result that we could achieve does not really make sense at the present moment."

Those M buyers who demand rear-wheel drive in such a small package will be appeased by the current M2, and Flasch is "confident" that there will be an M2 successor to cater to M140i owners – provided they don't mind that car's packaging rather than the more practical hatchback style. By implication, the next M2 will remain rear-wheel drive then, and not migrate to the east/west platform of the 1 Series.

BMW M's diverse mix of customers places the company in something of a conundrum, where powertrains are concerned. There's a need for all-wheel drive in larger models, such as the M5 and the SUVs, but there's also a place for rear-wheel drive in smaller cars like the M2.

"We also know that on the M5, the current model with the switchable [drive], people hardly ever switch off the all-wheel drive," Flasch revealed. M5 owners are more likely to be long-standing M customers, who are ready to move on from the track/drifting/fun-loving years of their youth.

But M3 buyers are still in that phase, Flasch indicated. If it's a customer's first M car, the M3 may spend most of its time in the garage, only to be taken out at weekends – and provided the weather is fine. For customers like these, all-wheel drive is not essential.

"Rear-wheel drive makes more sense for these cars because they're taken out in good weather for special occasions," Flasch said.

That, however, is not to say that the next M3, which is due in Australia next year will be rear-wheel drive. In fact, it's expected to be all-wheel drive, but while Flasch wouldn't confirm rear-wheel drive variants of the M3, he says that he has driven both rear and all-wheel drive models.

"I can't confirm it [RWD and AWD M3], but I've driven cars," he admitted.

"We were able to take over the entire drivetrain concept that we offer in the M5, and we are able to do rear-wheel drive version as well, plus manual transmission.

"I won't disclose today how we configure those opportunities, but we can do whatever the markets globally demand.

"We got it. We can't confirm that we'll bring it, but we got it."

On that point, product planners at BMW Australia will make the final decision whether the local market demands rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive or both for the M3.

Flasch also revealed a few further points of interest for BMW M fans, including distancing the M cars from M Performance models, with styling cues that will be more radical.

Also, the 'GTS' badge applied to the M4 will not make a reappearance. From now on, all hard-core M models will be CS or possibly even CSL for seriously lightweight models.