BMW’s M models were long known as the most high-performance version of every BMW car. But about a decade ago, BMW complicated that picture. The company started introducing an even more performance-oriented version of most M cars, called M Competition.
In a few cases, it has even introduced a model faster than the M Competition. The result has been confusion. The company is finally going to do something about it. According to new reports, the brand will simplify its naming convention by dropping the “Competition” moniker and simply calling its high-performance models M cars again.
A Growing, Confusing Hierarchy
For instance, the 2024 BMW 3 Series starts at $44,500. Base models get 255 horsepower from a turbocharged 4-cylinder engine and would likely outperform most entry-level luxury sedans on a track. But they’re rarely found at track events.
The M3 starts at $76,000 and gets 473 horsepower from a turbocharged inline-6-cylinder engine. A step up to the M3 Competition means 503 horsepower from a modified version of the same engine and a starting price of $80,200. An even higher step brings you the M3 Competition Sport limited edition, not yet in dealerships, which will bring 543 horsepower and a $118,700 price tag.
It’s a lot of steps, isn’t it? And it confuses fans about the nature of the M label, which was once exclusive and meant the highest-performance model available.
M Competition cars now outsell M cars, BMW says.
That is perhaps a clue to what M buyers want. So BMW M CEO Frank van Meel told the UK’s Car Throttle the Competition designation “will go away… it will all be Competition in the future.”
A BMW spokesperson clarified to The Drive that the Competition name will disappear, “but the standard M models will keep the Competition sportiness.”
On one hand, this is just a trivial matter of names. On the other, it’s a rededication to the purpose of the M brand. If BMW can build a higher-performance model, the move seems to suggest that one should get the M moniker.
