BMW M considering all-wheel drive, cites AMG's success

[Rainer271]

Could be introduced on the next-generation M5 / M6

BMW M Gmbh's Friedrich Nitschke recently dismissed the possibility of an all-wheel drive M car but recent events have him changing his tune.
Speaking to Motoring, Nitschke said he looked at the numbers and discovered that "70 to 80 percent of [Mercedes] E63 AMGs are all-wheel drive in the US now." He then confirmed "We are thinking of all-wheel drive, but it won’t come before we get the successor of the M5 and M6." The executive went on to explain the decision is a result of timing because it's no longer practical to make significant changes to the M5 or M6 this late in the product lifecycle.
Nitschke declined to say when we can expect to see an all-wheel drive M car but stated “The M5 and M6, maybe in the next generation they could get AWD, but not with the M3 or M4. Never." He added that any potential all-wheel drive system would be optional as most M buyers prefer rear-wheel drive.

Source: Motoring

 

[mini_cooper4]

I love it when BMW execs say "Never"
They never learned...

 

[Deckhook]

I made me laugh out loud when they cited AMG's success instead of mentioning the brand which basically invented performance AWD. I'm sure the only reason why Mercedes made the move to offer AWD AMGs was solely the success of Audi.

 

[martinbo]

I made me laugh out loud when they cited AMG's success instead of mentioning the brand which basically invented performance AWD. I'm sure the only reason why Mercedes made the move to offer AWD AMGs was solely the success of Audi.

I disagree with your view completely. Mercedes Benz didn't make the move to AWD solely because of the success of Audi. That's utter bollocks. Mercedes Benz' move to AWD was precipitated first by a need for the security of AWD in snow belt countries and next by the advantages of not only recouping a return on investment from the 4Matic engineering but at the same using this to better harness the power of their hellishly powerful turbocharged AMG engines.

For Audi, AWD is a necessity as it is a FWD afterthought in its engineering approach and hence the only way to arrive at an acceptably capable performance machine (can you imagine a FWD RS4...) For BMW and Mercedes Benz the AWD is purely an optional extra where market conditions permit.

 

[LaArtist]

lol M

 

[mini_cooper4]

I disagree with your view completely. Mercedes Benz didn't make the move to AWD solely because of the success of Audi. That's utter bollocks. Mercedes Benz' move to AWD was precipitated first by a need for the security of AWD in snow belt countries and next by the advantages of not only recouping a return on investment from the 4Matic engineering but at the same using this to better harness the power of their hellishly powerful turbocharged AMG engines.

For Audi, AWD is a necessity as it is a FWD afterthought in its engineering approach and hence the only way to arrive at an acceptably capable performance machine (can you imagine a FWD RS4...) For BMW and Mercedes Benz the AWD is purely an optional extra where market conditions permit.

I was about to write exactly the same thing!
What a smart man you are, Martin!

 

[chonkoa]

I thought this was under consideration when the F10 M5 was designed.
There is a strong business case for it as other brands have shown.

 

[Beemer B773ER]

I imagine they'll use the M550d as a guinea pig.

 

[Deckhook]

I disagree with your view completely. Mercedes Benz didn't make the move to AWD solely because of the success of Audi. That's utter bollocks. Mercedes Benz' move to AWD was precipitated first by a need for the security of AWD in snow belt countries and next by the advantages of not only recouping a return on investment from the 4Matic engineering but at the same using this to better harness the power of their hellishly powerful turbocharged AMG engines.

For Audi, AWD is a necessity as it is a FWD afterthought in its engineering approach and hence the only way to arrive at an acceptably capable performance machine (can you imagine a FWD RS4...) For BMW and Mercedes Benz the AWD is purely an optional extra where market conditions permit.

You are of course correct in the reasons why Audi used AWD but you can't deny that it has proved extremely popular for them especially in the UK, a country which has only recently seen BMW start to introduced more and more models with xDrive.

 

[Merc1]

I disagree with your view completely. Mercedes Benz didn't make the move to AWD solely because of the success of Audi. That's utter bollocks. Mercedes Benz' move to AWD was precipitated first by a need for the security of AWD in snow belt countries and next by the advantages of not only recouping a return on investment from the 4Matic engineering but at the same using this to better harness the power of their hellishly powerful turbocharged AMG engines.

For Audi, AWD is a necessity as it is a FWD afterthought in its engineering approach and hence the only way to arrive at an acceptably capable performance machine (can you imagine a FWD RS4...) For BMW and Mercedes Benz the AWD is purely an optional extra where market conditions permit.

I've been saying this for years. This applies to Bentley too. All these cars would be FWD and they know full well that such a configuration wouldn't sell at Audi and especially Bentley.

M

 

[klier]

You're forgetting about Bugatti and Lambo. These are the first in need of RWD. Lambo in particular.

 

[mini_cooper4]

Audi was able to sell even the A8 in FWD form.
Can you imagine a FWD Bentley? Not only based on FWD but some Pure FWD Experience!

PS: The only Audi I can imagine being better as FWD is the RS5