BMW and Naming Tradition

"lorem ipsum" (nothing123456789)
03/01/2014 at 14:12 • Filed to: BMW M4 M1 1 series M Coupe Name Tradition Jalopnik

It's a weird fact of life that car guys get obscenely excited about brown cars, station wagons, diesels, and stick shifts. Sometimes they get so excited they have to go to a bathroom, but that's another matter altogether. One of the things that car guys really don't like, though, is a break from tradition. Change is about as abhorrent as the Holocaust, the Crusades, and Meg Ryan's lip job. So, when a couple of years ago, BMW decided to make an M-version of their 1-series, the car world got very excited. But, when it was discovered that BMW was to name it the 1-series M coupe, I don't think I've seen as much commotion on the internet since Rebecca Black (remember her?!).

For some reason, people really didn't want BMW to name it the M1, which would have actually made sense and rolled off the tongue nicely. They didn't like this because about forty years ago BMW made a car called the M1 that wasn't that fast or successful in racing, but since it was a mid-engined supercar from the late '70s, car guys had to use the bathroom as soon as they saw it. The point is, is that this M1 wasn't actually that great, but it's just one of those things like Forrest Gump that's managed to be immortalized in the collective imagination. BMW realized this, and in order to not give every fat neck-bearded guy with an E30 M3 on their desktop background an aneurysm, they named the new car that stupid name that's too long to type out. A break from tradition would have been worse than something that actually made sense.

This happened again recently, but this time BMW really messed up. They decided to rename what used to be the 3-series coupe, the 4-series. No big deal there, just some extra model differentiation that's probably good marketing, if I knew anything about marketing. When it came time to make M-versions of these cars, they named them, of course, the M3 and the M4. Some people inexplicably got really upset about the fact that there was no longer an M3 coupe. I don't get it. It's the name of a car, it doesn't really matter . Why is the extinction of a name of a car so bad? The M3 coupe doesn't even have that much history behind it—I might understand the hullabaloo if Porsche decided to rename the 911, or Chevy the Camaro, or Ford the Mustang, or whatever, but the M3 coupe doesn't have the heritage or the cool name. There's still an M3, and there's still an M3 coupe. They're just calling the latter the M4. They're still building the cars, aren't they? They still look good and go fast, don't they? So who cares if the name has changed?

All the fast-car manufacturers change names all the time. Ferrari has repeated a badge only once (California), Lamborghini never, Maserati a few times (Quattroporte), and beyond that, can you think of anything? It's not worth getting worked up about—there's progression and change occurring all around us all the time, so get used to it, change your underwear, and shave that neck beard.

DISCUSSION (10)

JR1 > lorem ipsum
03/01/2014 at 14:39

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

- William Shakespeare

Yes the rose would smell just as sweet if it was called a daffodil. But that's not the point. The point is a rose has a certain ethos about it that is embedded in our culture. It is the ultimate romantic expression, regardless of smell. Same with the M3/M4 conversion. The name has over the past 30+ years become embedded into BMW lure. The name M3 coupe is the product of so many young kids dreams. They all wanted an M3 coupe when they got older. Now that dream is broken never again can they buy an M3 coupe. BMW ruined the dream. It pissed on the aspirations of little kids future goals. There is more to a name than what you may think.

Axial > lorem ipsum
03/01/2014 at 14:39

I think the main issue with BMW, today, is that they don't actually stick to what the names are supposed to represent, whatever that is for the moment. Take the Gran Coupé vehicles, for instance. They have four doors, no? So why are they listed under the 4- and 6-series? Because they have a coupe body style? So now why are you duplicating your 4-door efforts by building two cars that are pretty close to being identical except for perhaps an inch of roof in the back? It's silly, completely and utterly silly.

Also, please use spaces between your full stop marks (.) and the next word; that will go a long way toward improving readability! Otherwise, decent write-up.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > lorem ipsum
03/01/2014 at 15:15

Kinja'd!!!

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > Axial
03/01/2014 at 15:16

A coupe doesn't forcibly need to be a 2dr..... though

lorem ipsum > Axial
03/01/2014 at 15:33

I'm sorry, I don't type this on Kinja, I type it in Word, and it converts it weirdly. Completely agree with you on the Gran Coupe point, but it extends further to the suffixes for their cars as well— why do they call a twin turbo 3 liter straight six a 35? There's no rhyme or reason to it.

lorem ipsum > JR1
03/01/2014 at 15:36

Can't quite tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but you should buy a car for the way it looks, the way it drives, the way it fits your needs, not for the badge/name.

Axial > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
03/01/2014 at 16:13

But it does, that's the original definition of a coupé. The quad coupé is the only version of the coupé that has more than two doors, and those extra doors aren't even full-size doors. The BMW Gran Coupé items are not quad coupés, but full-on saloons with a racey roof-line.

The intermingling of sedan and coupé is a fairly recent marketing trend.

Axial > lorem ipsum
03/01/2014 at 16:14

The numbers themselves amount to little more than trim level indicators today. The only important numeral is the left-most digit, which tells you what class the vehicle is in.

Thank you for editing your article, by the way.

JR1 > lorem ipsum
03/01/2014 at 18:46

Yes you should but the badge if it is important carries heritage and should be taken into account.

Jobjoris > lorem ipsum
03/03/2014 at 08:12

The point is, is that this M1 wasn't actually that great,

Excuse me? Didn't see this coming. And would like to have some explanation!