[Falafel Combo]

Now that this is official

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=640126



What's in store for the F30?

M340i
M340d xDrive

An ///M badge on a diesel? xDrive? 4,500 redline? I'm also assuming no manual option? On a BMW "performance" ///M?

Is the ///M brand being diluted in front of our very own eyes?

What do you guys think?

[ska///235i]

its just the (was called) "BMW Performance" line but they now call it "M" to attract the buyers. It's all bragging rights. When I told my cousins and friends that I have bmw performance parts on my car...they all thought I have aftermarket mods but if I told them I have "M" parts...then they know exactly what it is lol

[elias]

///M brand is definitely being diluted just like Mercedes AMG, its all about sales and if adding some performance parts on a car and sticking the ///M emblem on the back sells more cars so be it. Thats why they're in business to sell cars, some would argue against that but at the end of the day thats the bottom line.

[Ron Scott]

I could care less what they name their cars. The individual car has to speak for itself as to its quality.

[SomeRandomer123]

No. A 316i, 316d, 318i, 318d, 116i, 116d, 118i, 118d M Sport are diluting M. I like how on the F30, only the high performance models are getting M Sport. The 328i and 335i.
The new 50d's with a 0-60 of 4.7s in the F10 are certainly not diluting M. Neither would be the M340dx as this, no doubt, will be the same setup as the M550dx.

[clbmw]

The following is a quote from Scott26 on F80 M3 discussion page the beginning of this month.

""There are plans to establish a further range of M Performance models with the 3er Sedan and Touring , The X3 and forthcoming X4 with a diesel that mirrors the more high end 5er and X5 and X6.

They are looking at four cylinder diesel for these models in order to have one chapter after the other. In early 2013 the BMW 6er will receive the M650d ,
allowing BMW to have a full line of M Performance vehicles. The 4er will surely follow after the initial M340d , X3M40d and X4M40d.""



What do people think about this? How do people think this would fit into the current line-up? Could a four cylinder diesel be more powerful than the current 335d?

[Mako]

Don't give a rats ass as we don't see any of this in the US, haha

[verbs]

Originally Posted by SomeRandomer123

No. A 316i, 316d, 318i, 318d, 116i, 116d, 118i, 118d M Sport are diluting M. I like how on the F30, only the high performance models are getting M Sport. The 328i and 335i.
The new 50d's with a 0-60 of 4.7s in the F10 are certainly not diluting M. Neither would be the M340dx as this, no doubt, will be the same setup as the M550dx.

Call us Americanos greedy but I hardly think that the 328i is a "performance model." 335i is even stretching it.

[clbmw]

All the reason for a decent M performance model... if they make a petrol one it may make the US... but thus far we've had M confirm the 6 cylinder diesel triturbo fits the F30, yet other info says 4 cylinder diesel... I'm confused

[Mako]

Originally Posted by verbs

Call us Americanos greedy but I hardly think that the 328i is a "performance model." 335i is even stretching it.

I beg to differ, I do think the 328 is a performance model. 0-60 in 5.6 seconds is pretty impressive. Not too long ago that used to the be numbers the M Roadster and M3 would put up (E46). Sure there are tons of cars that can do it now and anything calling itself a "sports car/sedan" better be under 6 seconds, but I still would consider the 328 a performance model, especially for Europeans who are used to very low horsepower engines as standard.

[clbmw]

I'd agree that under 6 seconds is impressive, but then who cares, that's just for kids racing away from the lights. Real world performance is over-taking and more importantly handling... anyway this is going off topic.

Am I the only person who is struggling to see how a 4 cylinder M Performance diesel will be the 2nd from top of the range 3 series?? How is a 300+ bhp 4 cylinder diesel possible outside of anything other than a submarine or double decker bus??

[verbs]

Originally Posted by Mako

I beg to differ, I do think the 328 is a performance model. 0-60 in 5.6 seconds is pretty impressive. Not too long ago that used to the be numbers the M Roadster and M3 would put up (E46). Sure there are tons of cars that can do it now and anything calling itself a "sports car/sedan" better be under 6 seconds, but I still would consider the 328 a performance model, especially for Europeans who are used to very low horsepower engines as standard.

It's definitely more performance oriented when you look at the European vs. American side of things. For Americans, 0-60 in 5.6 seconds isn't anything great. And most people never utilize the 0-60 aspect anyway at least not here.

We've had cheaper performance cars like Ford Mustangs and Chevy Camaros making numbers like that for 20+ years now so we're a bit spoiled.

When you've now got Kias and Hyundais doing 0-60 in the mid 5 second range too, I think it's time to up the bar as to what constitutes a "performance car."

At least in the United States, I would say a car classified in the "performance category" speaking purely from an acceleration standpoint should be able to do 0-60 in less than 5 seconds and run 1/4 mile times in under 14 seconds at over 100mph.

[rconti]

Originally Posted by Mako

I beg to differ, I do think the 328 is a performance model. 0-60 in 5.6 seconds is pretty impressive. Not too long ago that used to the be numbers the M Roadster and M3 would put up (E46). Sure there are tons of cars that can do it now and anything calling itself a "sports car/sedan" better be under 6 seconds, but I still would consider the 328 a performance model, especially for Europeans who are used to very low horsepower engines as standard.

Yup, the 4-banger 328 slushbox I drove would probably hand my M Coupe's ass to it.

Then again, there are also a lot of keyboard jockies who don't understand what makes a sports car a sports car, or why I'd rather drive my Miata around town and on a nice trip out to the coast than the latest fancy 335 whatever, even if it's faster in a straight line, or has a faster lap time, or whatever.

[RobUK]

Originally Posted by SomeRandomer123

No. A 316i, 316d, 318i, 318d, 116i, 116d, 118i, 118d M Sport are diluting M. I like how on the F30, only the high performance models are getting M Sport. The 328i and 335i.

I see they're now offering a 318d M Sport and a 320i/d M Sport for the F30. They couldn't resist could they

[SomeRandomer123]

Originally Posted by RobUK

I see they're now offering a 318d M Sport and a 320i/d M Sport for the F30. They couldn't resist could they

I've just seen that too! Damn them!
I laugh most mornings at this E90 318i M Sport I see! That is an insult to "M", never mind a dilution.

[CE750Jockey]

In this "alphabet soup", it's getting harder to find the "M". Diluted for sure.

[clbmw]

As for M sport I'd agree, but I reckon the more money the M brand brings in the more likely a halo car so it's not all bad.

Anyone the wiser on how a 4 cylinder diesel could be the M340d?

[metrickid]

Originally Posted by SomeRandomer123

I've just seen that too! Damn them!
I laugh most mornings at this E90 318i M Sport I see! That is an insult to "M", never mind a dilution.

I don't see it like that. It is more like the S-Line on the Audis. Some styling only. The "real" cars are named (R)S4/5/6 and M3/5/6. Even MB has the same with AMG-styling on all cars.

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by clbmw

Anyone the wiser on how a 4 cylinder diesel could be the M340d?

Surely a M340d would have to be a twin turbo 6 cylinder?

[SomeRandomer123]

Originally Posted by dopper99

Surely a M340d would have to be a twin turbo 6 cylinder?

^^ Deffo. The 258ps 560NM 30d is an N57 varient (straight six) so anything north of that is 100% 6 cylinder.

[Teemo Panda]

BMW: not coming to USA

People of USA: No Shit!!!

[clbmw]

Agreed it would have to be 6 cylinder but Scott (insider) has said tw.

ice now it's looking to be a 4 cylinder diesel... I'm not sure he's right on that one so my money would be on twin/triple turbo diesel from M550d. The only possible reason to have a four cylinder would be for a lighter nose but then surely the 330d would be 4 cylinder too