BMW Trademark Filings: M10, 555, Progressive Activity Sedan

September25

BMW has filed for three interesting trademarks that give clues to its future product plans. They are: BMW M10, Progressive Activity Sedan, and BMW 555. The first appears to refer to a new high-performance model, while last clearly relates a new 5-Series variant. As for the new “PAS” — we’re not too sure.

BMW M10

Insiders have long believed BMW to be working on a successor to the M1 mid-engine sports car, which was built between 1978 to 1981. A number of names have been rumored for the supercar, with “M10″ recently appearing in the German press.

It turns out that might be the badge of choice, because BMW filed for a trademark on the name “M10″ on July 18th, 2007.

BMW 555

BMW’s trademark on the name “555″ was ‘published for opposition’ on August 7th, 2007. That step usually indicates a company is actively pursuing the trademark with intentions of using it.

At first glance, 555 might seem to refer to a 5-Series sedan with a 5.5 liter engine, but it could also mean something different. BMW’s 335, for example, has a 3.0 liter engine with the extra “5″ representing its turbocharger, rather than another half liter of displacement.

Progressive Activity Sedan

Another new acronym from BMW? The automaker’s new X6 is referred to as a “Sports Activity Coupe,” which creates a less-than-ideal acronym — SAC.

Could BMW be considering a new marketing term for its four-door X6? Or perhaps the “Progressive Activity Sedan” is yet another new niche vehicle coming from BMW. Only time will tell.




 


24 Comments

  1. I hope they put turbo’s on the 4.8l V8. That would be only sweet engine for sure

    Comment by SWM335, posted on September25 at 9:56 am
  2. PRogressive activity sedan? Awful.

    Comment by Deanster, posted on September25 at 10:08 am
  3. Yes!! An M10!
    A turbo’d, V8 5-series!

    Progressive Activity Sedan. I’d love to have dinner with the person who thought of that. More bureaucratic bull****. What the hell is that meant to be.

    DEATH TO ALL IDIOTIC ACRONYMS!! WE JUST DO NOT NEED THEM!!!

    Comment by Aston Martin, posted on September25 at 10:17 am
  4. Progressive Activity Sedan… sounds like a piece of equipment you would find in a retirement home.

    Comment by R1GHT30U5, posted on September25 at 10:19 am
  5. The last one is really gay. The M10 better be a competitor to the R8 and the 555 is probably just a supercharged variation or a 5.5 L version of the 5 series (which needs a complete redesign)

    Comment by Commodore, posted on September25 at 10:22 am
  6. M10??? SWEET

    Comment by LP640, posted on September25 at 10:27 am
  7. Ur right the person who thought of “Progressive Activity Sedan” should be stabbed. As for the M10, cool, i hope its a successor to the M1 supercar. 555 is a thai way of saying hahaha on chat lines lol. http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Thailand

    Comment by 55amg, posted on September25 at 10:28 am
  8. The M10 will probably be the successor of the M1. ‘555′ could be something like a hybrid, that’s quite fashionable lately, or a bad-ass 5 turbo, 5.5 V10 lightweight M5. Progressive Activity Sedan will be a van designed for hauling around senior citizens and the chairs will stimulate laxative movements.

    Comment by Rotman, posted on September25 at 10:32 am
  9. The “5″ in the 335i nomenclature doesnt signify a turbocharger. The name 330i Turbo doesnt sit well with BMW. Turbos went a good name when the 745i came about and thus, stopping turbos on petrol engines.

    Although the M10 sounds awesome, hopefully an R8 fighter. I hope the PAS is NOT a van.

    Hmm, maybe the PAS will adjust the wheelbase given driving style, short for sport and long for comfort?

    Comment by Bmwrulz, posted on September25 at 10:57 am
  10. The “5″ in the 335i nomenclature doesn’t signify a turbocharger. The name 330i Turbo doesn’t sit well with BMW. Turbos weren’t a good name when the 745i came about and thus, stopping turbos on petrol engines.

    Although the M10 sounds awesome, hopefully an R8 fighter. I hope the PAS is NOT a van.

    Hmm, maybe the PAS will adjust the wheelbase given driving style, short for sport and long for comfort?

    Comment by Bmwrulz, posted on September25 at 11:04 am
  11. I love the sound of 555.

    Comment by jamaicandude, posted on September25 at 11:11 am
  12. im thinking next gen 3series, 335i will be a 3.5 liter inline-6. As of M10, yes this thing will be lengendary just like m1

    Comment by e46Ne90, posted on September25 at 11:24 am
  13. e46ne90, were you joking about the next gen 335 being a 3.5L I-6 (as in no turbo)? The BMW 3L turbo is a hit. It won new engine of the year and it has been in high demand all year. BMW is looking to include turbos in more engines to increase HP and fuel efficiency. I dont see them getting rid of the 3L twin turbo engine for a long time.

    Comment by Driven, posted on September25 at 11:44 am
  14. well if you look at the 3series history(e46 to e90), it went from 2.5 inline-6 to 2.8 to 3.0…see where I am going with this. I’m sure they will offer the turbos in the future too but stretching the engine to 3.5 liter doesn’t seem to be too far fetched. Also MB and Audi offers bigger 3.5 to 3.2 respectively in their C350 and A4 3.2 today. I don’t see why wouldn’t BMW offer a bigger engine on their next model since MB and audi will increase theirs to match the 335is

    Comment by e46Ne90, posted on September25 at 12:10 pm
  15. I mostly agree with that. BMW will have 2 options in the future, a new larger displacement NA engine or tweaking the 3L twin turbo to surpass outputs made by the competitions 3.5L engines.

    I thought you were stating the turbo would go away & I dont see that happening anytime this decade.

    Looking at the e36 to e46 basically no engine changes were made until a couple years into the e46 when the M54 engine was released. With some tweaking the current N54 engine could last as the top 3er model engine well into the next gen 3 series models.

    Comment by Driven, posted on September25 at 12:25 pm
  16. Hey SAC is still better than SUC (Sport Utility Coupe). :)

    Comment by mkM3, posted on September25 at 12:39 pm
  17. SAC

    Comment by brocky, posted on September25 at 2:58 pm
  18. M10 = M5 Turbo.

    Comment by Wickedated, posted on September25 at 6:57 pm
  19. Am I the only one that thinks of Domino’s with the 555 (5-5-5 Deal)?

    Comment by Killroy, posted on September25 at 7:26 pm
  20. mkM3 - yea, I thought about why they would use the SAC acronym. I was like “Why don’t they replace the word ‘activity’ with ‘utility’” and then I realized that the new acronym would be SUK so I said to myself “Yea, that’s why”….

    Comment by Commodore, posted on September25 at 11:18 pm
  21. nut SAC

    Comment by 55amg, posted on September26 at 6:44 am
  22. more like PUSsy

    Comment by illwill, posted on September26 at 1:42 pm
  23. Killroy: Yeah you’re the only one. You’re watchin’ too much TV.

    Comment by LamborghiniZ, posted on September26 at 6:46 pm
  24. LET SEE WHAT COMES OUT OF ALL THREE.

    Comment by BLISS, posted on September29 at 5:49 pm

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