MINTHE MODERN ERA

The first shift in what M stood for came in 1998, when the Z3 M Coupé made its debut and left many BMW followers scratching their heads. After all, the Z3 wouldn’t be your first choice if you were looking to develop a focused, frontengined, rear-drive, shortwheelbase sports car. And yet the Z3 M turned out to be a brilliant example of what’s possible when you let the engineers have free rein.

There was no need to build the Z3 M, no homologation requirements to go racing, no rivals to challenge. It was M having fun. It was also the beginning of M looking at what else it could apply its expertise to within the wider BMW range.

The Z4 M was an obvious successor but market forces saw the first BMW X- car roll into the M workshops for a workout before the first decade of the new millennium was over. In 2000, as a concept car, BMW had fitted a Le Mans-spec V12 into an X5. And then gave it 700bhp, all because it could. Less than a decade later, the X5 M and X6 M were revealed at the New York Auto Show in 2009, the first Suv-based M-cars and the first four-wheel-drive Ms, too.

It would take a full ten years for the X3 and X4 to gain M status. They would also be the first X models to donate an engine to a more conventional M-car, their 3-litre, twin-turbocharged straight-six being shared with the new M3/M4. And, like the saloons and coupes, all four M SUVS have their own distinct characters, which is an achievement in itself considering the purpose they were originally designed for.

In the near-50 years that M has been an entity it has never shied away from breaking new ground or breaking from its own conventions. Not being afraid to experiment and move into new arenas is how the subdivision has survived: change and adapt, because standing still isn’t an option and you will only draw the attention of the accountants if you do! It’s why M lets you buy an X3 M and an M8 GC and a broad selection in between.