BMW M says "We're sorry for the X5/X6 M" ; offers make-up gift in the form of M3 GTS

[///M-Spec]

Welcome to evolution of the M-division people. Sorry but things don't always stay the same forever. I mean do you do all of the same things and live the same lifestyle as your descendants (with the same last name) from 3 centuries ago?

Well, the details change, but the fundamentals stay the same. You still work, eat and sleep right? Boys still chase girls. Parents love their children. People laugh, cry, grow old and then they die.

Principles still stay the same, right? A couple hundred years ago people had the idea of liberty... personal freedom... rule of law... due process... a government by the people, for the people. So on and so forth. The details change, but the principles are still the same.

Progress and innovation is not necessarily mutually exclusive with tradition and principles.


M

 

[The Outlaw]

Well, the details change, but the fundamentals stay the same. You still work, eat and sleep right? Boys still chase girls. Parents love their children. People laugh, cry, grow old and then they die.

Principles still stay the same, right? A couple hundred years ago people had the idea of liberty... personal freedom... rule of law... due process... a government by the people, for the people. So on and so forth. The details change, but the principles are still the same.

Progress and innovation is not necessarily mutually exclusive with tradition and principles.


M

And the fundamentals are still the same...the M-division is putting their knowledge into a specific model to make it a higher performing, more driving oriented vehicle. It's simply an evolution of their scope and range in terms of where and how they apply the M engineering to their range of production vehicles.

Cars nowadays in general have gotten much more practical, comfortable, and usable than they were 2 decades ago, while providing much more performance. Porsche has gone the same route as BMW. None of their GT2/3's are nearly as raw and unadulterated as they were 20 years ago. And look at what they've created in the Cayenne (GTS) and new Panamera, which is completely against the idea that Porsche should only create sport cars. BMW is not going to be the only one stuck in time sorry to say...and all of these manufactuers nowadays are soley worried about profitability even it takes evolving one of their divisions.

 

[///M-Spec]

And the fundamentals are still the same...the M-division is putting their knowledge into a specific model to make it a higher performing, more driving oriented vehicle. It's simply an evolution of their scope and range in terms of where and how they apply the M engineering to their range of production vehicles.

I presume we're talking about the X/M cars again and if so, I disagree. Some production vehicles are so inherently compromised they are incompatible with M's performance ideals. Just be you can, doesn't mean you should. I can't get into why without replicating my entire post from earlier, so if you want my reasoning, you'll have to read it.

Cars nowadays have gotten way more practical, comfortable, and usable than they were 2 decades ago, while providing much more performance. Porsche has gone the same route as BMW. None of their GT2/3's are nearly as raw and unadulterated as they were 20 years ago. And look at what they've created in the Cayenne GTS. BMW is not going to be the only one stuck in time sorry to say.

I strongly dislike the Cayenne as well. Saying "stuck in time" is sort of begging the question, isn't it?


M

 

[niky]

The inherent flaw in the X5/X6M is... they didn't make it more driver oriented.

It still has the all-conquering X-Drive and Dynamic Performance Control... which means active anti-roll bars, torque-shuffling differentials... etcetera, etcetera, ad nauseum.

When I drove the X6, I thought... boy, this thing would be so much more fun if it weighed half-a-ton less and didn't have Fraulein Stabilischen looking over my shoulder every time I tried to get it crosswise through a chicane or hairpin. And note... the base X6 is fun. As surprisingly fun as your first go in the X5... only more so, because it's better. It carves better than most road cars, the steering isn't complete crud and it's a right gas when you're booking it across broken ground.

The fun ends when you brake late into a corner and feel the DPC juggling the differentials to get you turned in properly... when you do a Scandinavian flick and find that the stability control doesn't like that... and torque gets shuttled towards the bow to get the ship on an even keel.

My wish-list for the X6 would be less weight, rear-wheel drive and fully-killable driving aids... though I'd keep the active anti-roll bars... those things are amazing... they ought to put them on every production car on the planet.

So... what do they do with the X6M? They make it the heaviest X6 to date... ruining the balance (since a lot of the weight is up front, where you don't want it) and making the X6 finally drive and feel like the porker it really is. Oh... and it still won't oversteer.

I disagree that the X6 is inherently compromised as a car (except for that small factor of the missing rear middle seat... but that's like saying no SUV is truly complete without a three-across third row...)... but the X6M doesn't improve on it in the way an "M" model should. Instead of getting something like a road-going Paris-Dakar X6 special, we get a BMW-branded AMG SUV.

-

A good example of the way an "M" model should improve upon the base model... the current M3. Sure, it's in danger of being overshadowed, power-wise, by tuned versions of the twin-turbo inline sixes... but it's still a purer driver's car than the 335i or 335d... and that's all that really matters, for the M brand.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Well it seems the verdicts are coming in now.

Autobild pitted the GTS against the Porsche 997 GT3-RS...

.. Overall the Porsche was the victor, the main factors that seem to have won it are it's lighter weight, the ceramic brakes and possibly the Pilot Sport Cup tyres.

The overall scores were:
Porsche 997 911 GT3-RS: 248 / 300 pts
BMW E92 M3 GTS: 243 / 300 pts

An encouragingly small difference... there were rumours of an M3 GTS-R... who knows...?

Source:
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=417736