Quote:
Originally Posted by SakhirM4
What are you talking about??? The original M was the M-1 with an I6. The E30 M3 had an I4, the E36 M3 was I6, the E46 M3 was I6, the E28 M5 was I6, the E34 M5 was I6, and the E24 M6 was I6. Those are all part of the history of the M brand and have nothing to do with V8 or V10 or V12. Don't even know what an S64 is --- typo for S65?
It's truly amazing to find out that the E9X was the only true M car ever made  |
First, yes, typo I meant the S65. And no, the E90 isn't the only true M car - but in my view, it was one of the last that were iconic. You're right, the I6 is integral to BMW's history, it was, and is, one of the best engines they make. But previously, it was naturally aspirated. Now it's just another turbocharged german 6 cylinder.
I don't have a big problem with turbochargers per se, but in my view they're not iconic, because now practically every German car is a combination of 4 or 6 cylinders and 1 or 2 turbochargers. ... and in the past, the cars would be engineered to be light and agile and geared well to offset the fact that you had to rev out the engine to 8,000rpm to get real power - or if they had a big car, they'd create a 12 cylinder monster to power it. ... Now (because of the wonderful torque a turbochargers gives you), all the //M's are bigger, heavier, more insulated, more automatic and rely on fancy electronics to turn corners.
Obviously, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder; and it's a dangerous game to come onto a BMW forum and say 'the modern //M cars just aren't all that special' - but - for me at least, the //M brand is similar to AMG - every time BMW sell a new family car, they give it to //M and say "now, give us a range-topping sporty variant" .. even it's a limousine or a SUV. It's not about "pure driving pleasure", it's not about "engineering excellence" it's about flogging fast family cars.
Is a modern //M better than an old //M in virtually every aspect? Yes.
But are they still special? Not in my opinion.
I guess what I'm saying is BMW ///M still make good cars. But they don't really make "iconic" cars or even "special" cars. ... which is an important distinction, because iconic or special cars are different, they're pushing the envelope, they're uncompromising ... in other words, they're often actually terrible cars to drive (or maintain) on a daily basis.