M3/M4 Report: Next-Gen BMW M3 Goes Six-Cylinder, Drops Sedan

[DontBlinkM5]

Give me options I say...

Marketing...What is their marketing aiming strategy?...Is it the young and up coming son of a Tycoon or a young and up coming Tycoon himself or maybe the gorgeous single female fresh out of college...I would think keeping tight edging with Audi would be a concern...Dropping the sedan will not only hinder overall sells but BMW enthusiast excitement...Because what about those people who love BMW and are life long fans of the 3 with families or just like options like me...because once they can afford it I'm sure they'll be looking to see a full line...like a vegetarian at a buffet...wanting to have an option...Audi is on a path for mass destruction...and might I say...Their looking Good...The V10 R8...The radical RS5 announcement...The RS6 (Did someone say 570 Horses??)...The new S4 3.0 TFSI V6 which has according to edmunds.com has taking the Sport Sedan title away from the 335i...and last BUT surely not least...the Lovely looking A5 Sportback SEDAN...See...My point is...DontBlink BMW somethings in your RearView

 

[HighestOfHigh]

Fine by me.. The current sedan looks boring..

Though I'm not a big fan of it, I don't think it looks boring.

BTW, does anyone have an sales figures for the M3 sedan vs. the Coupe?

 

[Artmic]

450hp isn't much of an improvement over the current engine, unless the 0 to 60 time drops to like 4.0sec flat, and the weight of the car is reduced by 300lbs to 400lbs.

 

[south]

BTW, does anyone have an sales figures for the M3 sedan vs. the Coupe?

In 2008, BMW sold 10,571 M3 coupes, 3,253 M3 sedans and 4,169 M3 convertibles. These numbers aren't fully comparable as the M3 sedan was introduced in March 2008 and the M3 convertible in May 2008, but BMW didn't publish their 2009 numbers per model, probably due to the economy meltdown.

You can see from these numbers that even the convertible outsells the sedan by quite a margin.


Best regards,
south

 

[HighestOfHigh]

In 2008, BMW sold 10,571 M3 coupes, 3,253 M3 sedans and 4,169 M3 convertibles.

Wow...It surely didn't even sell half as good as the coupe. I guess they do have good reasons for not considering the sedan next time around.

Good info btw south!

 

[footie]

Wow...It surely didn't even sell half as good as the coupe. I guess they do have good reasons for not considering the sedan next time around.

Good info btw south!

Maybe so but by anyone else's standards the saloon is still a roaring success. It's just that compare to the coupe it's far less popular, even though it's equally as good, both on the track and away from it, and it's far and a way more practical. The real surprise is the number of E93 sales, this is concrete proof than even in the world of the M3 there is still people that don't give a damn about performance or handling, the only thing that's important is that tan and looking good.

As for this strange move to dump the saloon, I think if the new C-class AMG comes along and proves popular then BMW might well rethink this one for either later in it's life cycle or for the model after that.

450hp isn't much of an improvement over the current engine, unless the 0 to 60 time drops to like 4.0sec flat, and the weight of the car is reduced by 300lbs to 400lbs.

Nice pipe dream a drop of 300-400lbs but that would require a major rethink on the structural front and would probably mean an increase of about 30-40% on the RRP. Great car but financial suicide.

 

[south]

The real surprise is the number of E93 sales, this is concrete proof than even in the world of the M3 there is still people that don't give a damn about performance or handling, the only thing that's important is that tan and looking good.

Not that surprising IMO. You know about my soft spot for convertibles and some cars should only be available as convertibles IMO, for example the 911 Turbo. Regarding the M3, I was a big fan of the E46 M3 Convertible, not so much of the E93, but that's only the hard top's fault and the inherent weight penalty.

Point in case, just like Quattro might show advantages in day to day use over an RWD setup, a convertible might be good to offer some advantages in day to day use worth accepting the performance and handling disadvantages.


Best regards,
south

 

[Mr Robert]

The real surprise is the number of E93 sales, this is concrete proof than even in the world of the M3 there is still people that don't give a damn about performance or handling, the only thing that's important is that tan and looking good.

I don't know how many times I have said this; there are a lot of people who are only after the image, not the product.

 

[Centurion]

The less-than-projected sales figures for the sedan might be down to the lack of marketing support. I feel like it hasn't received strong enough promotion to elevate its prestige to the same level as the coupe. BMW should have pushed it more to be like a mini-M5 rather than to sink into oblivion as a fatter M3.

Perhaps it has to do with the fact that coupe and M3 are inseparable just like with the 911, whereby the general consensus is that a real M3 or 911 comes with two doors and a fixed roof -- nothing else.

 

[chonkoa]

If BMW kills the M3 saloon then it actually confirms that they are confused and have no pair.
If the figures of the saloon are below estimates then they need to work harder.What do you expect, the previous generation of m3 never had a saloon version so in the pysche of the average customer it is still fresh. It takes time to establish that.
Why is it that manufacturers like MB and Lexus have just saloon version of their high performance small size vehicles and seems to doing well. Audi has both and I am sure have no plans of killing off the RS4.

 

[aleks_16]

If BMW kills the M3 saloon then it actually confirms that they are confused and have no pair.
If the figures of the saloon are below estimates then they need to work harder.What do you expect, the previous generation of m3 never had a saloon version so in the pysche of the average customer it is still fresh. It takes time to establish that.
Why is it that manufacturers like MB and Lexus have just saloon version of their high performance small size vehicles and seems to doing well. Audi has both and I am sure have no plans of killing off the RS4.

Audi has stopped building the rs4...............it is killt and i doubt they will build a new rs4 .

 

[footie]

Though I know this is the official comment I would at all be surprised if that changed later.

 

[HighestOfHigh]

Report: BMW M3 Sedan may not live to see another generation

Between the emergence of the M3 GTS and the Competition Package – to say nothing of the new 335is – there's been plenty of news for fans of BMW's performance-oriented 3 Series. Unfortunately, not all of it is good, as reports indicate that the Bavarian automaker is looking to discontinue the four-door M3 sedan.

Although the current M3 sedan looks poised to continue through to the end of its current lifecycle, sources suggest that the next-gen M3 will remain a two-door (coupe and convertible) affair only. The reason has apparently been cited as lagging sales for the V8 super-sedan, which was highly demanded by American buyers in the previous generation but has failed to live up to its potential in the marketplace. So if you've been eying that M3 sedan on the local dealer's lot but were waiting to see what the next model would bring, now may be the time, hombre.

- Report: BMW M3 Sedan may not live to see another generation — Autoblog