And they are right. The M philosophy dictates that something like an M version of the X5 would be equivalent to a fat boy doing a 100m sprint in athletics.

However, the X5 does come close to being an M version… The 4.8iS.

TM you forget the X5 Le Mans “M” made with over 600 HP which was faster around the nurburgring than the M6

Jurrian,

That was a racing version. It was never intended for road use, and never will be.

Faster than an M6? What are your sources?

On certain Bimmer models, one could refer to the entire car as a “quirky body part.”

BMW x5 Le Mans was 700 break horse power and not 600 as you said.It was propelled by BMW´s Le Mans V12 engine. But it never came out…

“BMW claims that the M6 will lap the fearsome Nürburgring Nordschleife in eight minutes flat”
http://www.automobilemag.com/future_cars/2007/0503_bmw_m6/

7,49.93= 159 km/h BMW Motorsports “X5 Le Mans” 700 ps, Hans-Joachim Stuck.
http://nordschleife.no/

What a load. Either you build interesting cars or you don’t. Making an M7 is contradictory if the current 5 and 6 series weigh more than the previous 7 series. Is it then that the lardiest of what’s currently available is inappropriate?

And if the x5 is derided not for being an uninspiring machine but simply not being as good as a 5 series touring for greater cost, then there’s no reason to not give IT the M treatment as well.

I suggest M become an AMG-like top-end treatment, because I think everything BMW signs off on now is pretty dern good. BMW M engineers don’t have to worry about someone asking them to M-treat a saturn ion or kia magentis.

A prime example is the 1-series. Here we have the only longitudinal engine rwd 5 door hatch (saab and subie make long. engine 4wds). So it’s a footprint space efficient, dynamically correct automobile at the bottom of an accomplished range. For its light weight, the least amount of work needs to be done to put clear air between it and the current top-level model, the 130i. When walking into BMW showroom, you SHOULD have to pick between the highest-performing model of a cheaper range, and the less-accomplished regular model of greater size and flexibility. For making the hard choice, you ought to have a special label on your car. It was the enthusiast choice to pick an M3 CSL instead of a 7 series. or an m5!

i guess this rules out the “M1″, didnt really expect it anyway, pity because i just started to really like the 1 series…

is that M for Magda as in Magda Goebbels

Woah what brought this on? Stuart your dislike of the jews has no place on a website about cars

“M” stands for motorsport. and i dont see how Magda Goebbels relates to this article

There will never be an M7 or an X5M because BMW doesn’t have an engine in its current (or future) line-up that can make enough torque a vehicle that size. The limp V10 in the M5/6 only makes 383 lb-ft at a stratospheric 6100 RPM. BMW *could* drop the 6.75 litre direct-injection V12 from the Rolls Phantom into a large M car, but there’s no way SMG could handle that kind of power and BMW would never sell an M7 with a proper manual transmission.

There will be an M version of the 1-series, but it won’t be called an “M1″ — that name is reserved for the best BMW ever made. The current 130i is so bloody expensive when fully optioned that a 1-series “M version” would cost as much as the new M3.

Herr Quandt, the guy that saved BMW in the 50s is related to Magda Goebbels

I think they’re missing-out by not having an M7, I think it would sell very well, like the S55 AMG.

I’m related to Jesus, he’s my mexican uncle

Ultimately, the creation of an M7 is resting squarely on the success of Audi’s upcoming S8.