Although some European makes such as Audi and Mercedes-Benz are adding AWD drive-trains to their latest line-ups these days, Friedrich Nitschke who is the head of the M Division at BMW has given assurances that they’re sticking to their heritage by launching rear-wheel drive (RWD) M models only.
Although BMW have their xDrive AWD system, Nitschke has gone on to say that by having their M vehicles endowed with it would mean adding an additional 80-90kg of weight. Rather, they’d prefer to stick to their “industry’s best rear-drive setup” which is the BMW M differential. And honestly, we can’t blame them for their thoughts, since most race cars are predominantly RWD.
By adding weight, that would mean a more cumbersome vehicle, which would undoubtedly go against the M division’s requirement for agility, but speaking about heritage, BMWs have always stuck to their NA inline-6 engines, till of late with the introduction of turbo-charging now coming into strong play – all for the sake of better power delivery, more fuel savings and lower CO2 emissions.
However, given that technology is always advancing, we can only wonder when BMW’s M division will finally cave in and start adopting an AWD system – better yet, in which M vehicle would it start off with? Speculations anyone?
