My job provides me the distinctive alternative to spend time with BMW executives — each from BMW AG and BMW M. It’s a privilege not solely as a result of I get to talk with a number of the smartest and most inventive individuals I’ve ever met, however as a result of I can strategy them from two views: journalist and buyer.
And as you’ll be able to most likely guess, typically the client facet of me takes over.
There’s no secret that I’m a BMW fanatic — therefore this very web site you’re studying. Though I’ve labored arduous to present BMWBLOG an goal, balanced voice in how we evaluate and analyze vehicles, the subjective facet of me sometimes breaks by. Particularly when the subject turns to dream tasks.
At this 12 months’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, over wonderful French meals and some beers (I do know, they don’t actually go collectively), I discovered myself in an informal dialog with a number of BMW executives. This wasn’t an interview — simply automobile individuals speaking about vehicles. And whereas I’m normally the one asking the questions, this time the desk turned.
“What could be your ultimate BMW M automobile if there have been no constraints?”
That query caught me off guard. I hesitated — partly as a result of I hadn’t considered it shortly, and partly as a result of I’d stopped entertaining dream tasks. I understand how inside enterprise circumstances work, what’s financially possible, and the way hardly ever ardour tasks make it by the approval gauntlet. Nonetheless, while you’re handed a once-in-a-lifetime alternative to dream out loud, you’re taking it.
The Dream: An M2 CSL
After a protracted pause — met with just a few curious seems throughout the desk — I went all in.
“Properly,” I stated, “because you’re asking… there’s one automobile I’ve been dreaming about, as a result of I really like small, highly effective, compact vehicles. Therefore my 1M. My dream in the present day could be an M2 CSL.”
However not simply any M2 CSL.
First, I’d need each transmissions — a six-speed handbook for purists and an eight-speed automated for many who want the stopwatch to the shifter. Beneath the hood, give me a spiced-up model of the S58 engine, ideally paired with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system to trim turbo lag and sharpen throttle response.
Then there’s xDrive. I really like rear-wheel drive as a lot as anybody, however the M4 CSL’s RWD setup doesn’t totally unleash the automobile’s potential. Grip and stability matter — however so does weight. Including xDrive means roughly 200 additional kilos, and the M2 is already heavy. So I stated, “Positive — let’s drop extra pounds in all places we will.”
Give me a carbon-fiber hood and trunk, lighter wheels, composite panels, a rear seat delete with a roll cage — no matter it takes. Convey the curb weight all the way down to round 3,100 kilos, roughly Porsche Cayman GT4 RS territory, and also you’d have a correct weapon.
Light-weight, Highly effective, Private
Grasping as I’m, I didn’t cease there. This was my one likelihood to dream with the individuals who may really make it occur.
Inside, I’d need light-weight bucket seats, a selection between Alcantara or leather-based, customized stitching, coloured seatbelts — the main points that make a automobile really feel particular. And let clients decide any exterior shade from BMW Particular person, no restrictions, similar to Porsche’s Paint-to-Pattern program.
One of many executives checked out me, half amused and half baffled, and stated, “Ought to we simply make a BMWBLOG Paint Colour too?”
I replied, “After all. There’s no different method.”
Energy? 550 to 560 horsepower feels good — sufficient for a sub-three-second 0–60 mph time with out turning it right into a numbers automobile. Add non-compulsory carbon-ceramic brakes, a delicate aero package, possibly an uncovered carbon-fiber hood and racing wing. Mainly, construct the M automobile the engineers would design if accounting didn’t get in the way in which.
The Suspension Dream
Simply after they thought I used to be completed, somebody smiled and requested, “The rest you’d like in your M2 CSL by BMWBLOG?”
I laughed — however I wasn’t completed.
“I’d additionally desire a fully redesigned suspension,” I stated. “Correct spring charges, tuned rebound and damping, adjustable journey peak targeted on precision relatively than consolation. Shocks engineered particularly for the springs. Add entrance management arms with roll-center correction, camber plates, upgraded bushings, and a package for correcting rear alignment.”
By this level, the laughter was contagious. Certainly one of them checked out me like I used to be secretly founding my very own sportscar firm.
“How A lot Would You Pay For It?”
Then got here the damaging query.
“Alright,” one stated, “how a lot would you pay for it — and what number of ought to we construct?”
That one made me pause once more. I’m financially conservative and don’t have infinite funds, however I attempted to assume like a collector. “A GT4 RS worth level,” I stated. “Round $200,000 sounds truthful for one thing really particular.”
Manufacturing numbers? That’s trickier. I really like restricted editions — whether or not it’s sneakers, watches, or vehicles — however in case you make too many, it loses its soul. Make too few, and nobody can really purchase one.
So I stated, “Let’s compromise. Construct 3,000 to five,000 items. That’s uncommon sufficient to be collectible, however not so unique it turns into a ghost. Make it as particular because the 1M. Think about seeing one 40 years from now at a BMW concours d’class.”
By then, everybody was smiling — not as a result of the thought was absurd, however as a result of I’d casually added to the BMW M’s product roadmap between bites of steak frites.
Dreaming Out Loud
Whether or not my dream automobile ever occurs is as much as BMW M. However for just a few hours in France, I acquired to play designer, engineer, and dreamer . Even when they laughed at how far I took it, I believe everybody at that desk understood the place it got here from — that pure ardour for driving that constructed BMW M within the first place.
So whether or not it’s ever constructed or not, I used to be flattered that, for one night, they let me dream out loud. And possibly, deep down, a few of them are dreaming about the identical factor too.
