Quote:
Originally Posted by GuidoK
Of course its a matter of cost. Everything BMW does is a matter of cost.
BMW is a company (Aktiengesellschaft), so thats a complete non-argument.
Therefore they'll always go to their parts bin for something like an LSD for a z4m.
Always have, always wil. And by choosing for the x3 rear axle config, they decided back then that it would be impossible to get an lsd from their parts bin.
Hence no LSD, Hence no e89 z4m. Its that simple. History shows that. arguing with that is arguing with history. No Z ///m ever got its bespoke LSD.
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It's funny because history actually shows the opposite.
I'm repeating myself here, because it doesn't seem like you're reading my posts in their entirety, you're pinpointing specific sentences instead without taking the whole statement into account.
When available, the parts-bin is the first choice. I mean why not, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it works and it saves cost then you hit two birds with one stone.
But that doesn't mean it's either parts-bin or bust, absolutely not.
When necessary, BMW M has always been able to design and engineer components from scratch, with the full capability and technical know-how to create whatever changes are necessary to transform a series BMW into an M-car.
History has shown that bespoke designs from M are not out of the ordinary.
Obviously companies have to balance their spreadsheets, but M was always given a high-degree of autonomy when it came to engineering based decisions, until recently, of course.
Something like redesigning a differential or modifying the E9X M3 differential is playground stuff for BMW M.
Contrary to what you've said,
they did it before with the E85/6 Z4 M. Even if they are swappable between E46 and E85/86, they are a different design with a different part number, and they would've easily developed one for the E89, except the bean counters likely vetoed it.