BMWBLOG attended the Auto Shanghai 2023 in China and spoke with Timo Resch, Head of BMW M Marketing and Sales about some of the automaker’s plans. He shared some juicy tidbits by revealing there are more electric M Performance models on the way to join the i7 M70, iX M60, and the i4 M50. We’ll remind you the latter was in fact the best-selling BMW M product during a record-breaking 2022.
He obviously wasn’t going to divulge the names of these future products, but an electric M Performance derivative of the next-generation 5 Series has already been announced. It’ll debut together with the ICE-powered G60 in the coming weeks and is going to receive the “M60” suffix. What might come after it? An educated guess tells us the already announced i5 Touring due in 2024 will also spawn a sportier version.
In the long run, and presuming our sources are accurate, there will be fully electric versions of the next-gen X5 and X6. Expected to ride on the CLAR platform, these yet-to-be-confirmed iX5 and iX6 models might also receive the M Performance treatment. The 8 Series is believed to live to see a third generation, but only as an electric Gran Coupe. That one would also use the CLAR underpinnings and seems like a good candidate for a high-performance variant.
The man in charge of marketing and sales confirmed the XM eDrive50e will be mainly sold in Europe and China, adding it won’t come to the United States. This six-cylinder model is being showcased at Auto Shanghai in Sao Paulo Yellow while the Label Red is presented in the 1-of-500 Individual Frozen Carbon Black metallic. The regular-production XM Label Red will be available with more than 50 paints from the Individual catalog, including the newly added the Urban Green, Petrol Mica metallic, Anglesey Green metallic and Sepia.
As we’ve already learned from the M2’s project manager Markus Schröder, the G87 will eventually get more colors. The San Luis Potosi plant in Mexico where the second-generation sports coupe will add “unique and cool M colors,” including Individual hues. However, Timo Resch cautioned the “baby M” won’t get the full array of options available for the bigger and more expensive models. Why? Because internal studies have revealed customers have the tendency to opt for fancy colors on the more expensive cars.
Lastly, the BMW official didn’t rule out a higher-performing M2 but the focus is currently on the regular model’s rollout. That being said, a camouflaged prototype hiding a more aggressive design was spied earlier this month at the Nürburgring. If that was an M2 CS, it could mean the launch is scheduled for around 2025. Expect over 500 horsepower and only two pedals.
