Quote:
Originally Posted by wdeerfield
whoever thinks this optioned out will be less than an m4 is dreaming.
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THIS.
It's pretty simple fellas. BMW follows a pretty strict formula. Don't let your secondary offerings cannibalize the sales of your bread and butter.
This was apparent in their pricing strategy for the E85/6 Z4 M. The roadster at $62K was more than $7,000 higher than the E46 M3 convertible. The Z4 M Coupe was about $4,000 more than the base E46 M3 Coupe. When in reality the Z4 Ms should be priced BELOW the E46 M3, but at that point, you start eating into the sales of the M3. They (BMW) ultimately had to throw about $10,000 worth of trunk cash to move the Z4 Ms in 2007-2008.
The other strict formula is a little bit more complex, and this is the reason why BMW will likely NOT offer an "M" version of the new Z4, because they already consider the Z4 M40i fitting said criteria. BMW models are slotted into a specific power to weight ratio. Anything under 10 lbs / 1 hp can be considered the top tier "M" models. The E89 Z4sDrive3.5i BARELY falls outside of that threshold at 3,5xx lbs /335 hp. The new M40i on the other hand, is 3,384 lbs / 382 hp.
NO OTHER BMW model line-up has 2 vehicles with better than 10 lbs / 1 hp ratio. EVER. Look it up. BMW won't slot another car above the M40i, period.