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 folks I’ve ever met, however as a result of I can strategy them from two views: journalist and buyer.
And as you may in all probability guess, typically the shopper aspect 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 exhausting to offer BMWBLOG an goal, balanced voice in how we overview and analyze vehicles, the subjective aspect of me often breaks via. Particularly when the subject turns to dream tasks.
At this 12 months’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, over glorious 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 folks speaking about vehicles. And whereas I’m normally the one asking the questions, this time the desk turned.
“What could be your supreme 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 thought of 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 not often ardour tasks make it via the approval gauntlet. Nonetheless, if you’re handed a once-in-a-lifetime alternative to dream out loud, you’re taking it.
The Dream: An M2 CSL
After an extended pause — met with just a few curious seems throughout the desk — I went all in.
“Nicely,” 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 as we speak could be an M2 CSL.”
However not simply any M2 CSL.
First, I’d need each transmissions — a six-speed guide for purists and an eight-speed automated for many who choose 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 absolutely 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, “Nice — let’s shed extra pounds all over the place we are able to.”
Give me a carbon-fiber hood and trunk, lighter wheels, composite panels, a rear seat delete with a roll cage — no matter it takes. Carry the curb weight right 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 probability to dream with the individuals who may truly 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 prospects 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, “In fact. 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 elective carbon-ceramic brakes, a refined aero package, perhaps an uncovered carbon-fiber hood and racing wing. Principally, construct the M automobile the engineers would design if accounting didn’t get in the way in which.
The Suspension Dream
Simply once 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 achieved.
“I’d additionally need a fully redesigned suspension,” I stated. “Correct spring charges, tuned rebound and damping, adjustable experience top targeted on precision somewhat 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. Considered 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 limitless funds, however I attempted to assume like a collector. “A GT4 RS value level,” I stated. “Round $200,000 sounds honest for one thing actually particular.”
Manufacturing numbers? That’s trickier. I really like restricted editions — whether or not it’s sneakers, watches, or vehicles — however if you happen to make too many, it loses its soul. Make too few, and nobody can truly purchase one.
So I stated, “Let’s compromise. Construct 3,000 to five,000 models. 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’magnificence.”
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 bought to play designer, engineer, and dreamer . Even when they laughed at how far I took it, I feel 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 perhaps, deep down, a few of them are dreaming about the identical factor too.
