[Wolf]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

I will neither confirm nor deny...

I take from your reply that you know nothing about this matter

[Matski]

Originally Posted by Kyle B

Don't forget that in all of the years BMW has ever been involved with F1 they have a whopping ONE (1) championship to show for it.

Yep, and even then BMW have never been the constructors champion. In the year Piquet won in the Brabham-BMW, Ferrari won the constructors title, and Renault came second.

As a huge motorsport fan, F1 is a total waste of money for BMW IMO, I can't see them making a business case for it any time soon...

[DJKapeesh]

It seems the new Audi head wasn't such a bad idea after all. Audi had the R8 and now BMW gets something more.

[///S65]

Would love to see BMW purchase McLaren but I don't think BMW has the financial ability to do that, especially after all those investment in i brand and carbon fiber production. Remember McLaren is much more than a car company, there is the F1 team as well as McLaren technology group.

[4PIPE]

ok so i need to be making at least $400k by 2019, anyone got any ideas?

[clar]

Originally Posted by Kyle B

You won't see BMW even entertain the idea of re-entering F1 with the current engine architecture regs. If F1 takes the next logical step in engine size reduction and goes to inline four cylinders, then you might see BMW get back into it. Don't forget that in all of the years BMW has ever been involved with F1 they have a whopping ONE (1) championship to show for it.

That's because they never entered as a full works team for the most part. As an engine supplier however, they have shown tremendous spark in the V10 era. They practically took everyone on the grid by the ears and force them to up their game with their mighty V10. Granted, that's history. Where current times are concerned, they are well equipped to partake with the current F1 regulation with their R&D in hybrid drivetrain. Most importantly, the current regulation dove tails with their corporate direction of down sizing and hybridisation.

[N & M]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

I will neither confirm nor deny...

I bet you are bursting through the seems to spill what you know but can't...

[lasovan]

no good. BMW is perfectly capable of doing it alone. No pure blood BMW? no BMW then for me, thanks. that's merely a cost saving measure.

[cenix]

i'm late to the party. i thought mclaren was with mercedes?

[AKRAPOVICOWNS]

Originally Posted by cenix

i'm late to the party. i thought mclaren was with mercedes?

You're really late then

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by Matski

As a huge motorsport fan, F1 is a total waste of money for BMW IMO, I can't see them making a business case for it any time soon...

+1, I don't expect them back any time soon, if ever.

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by cenix

i'm late to the party. i thought mclaren was with mercedes?

Yes, you're late to the party, just like Mclaren is late to the finish line.

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by clar

That's because they never entered as a full works team for the most part.

Well, they effectively bought out Sauber after the '05 season and tried to make a go of it as a full works team from '06 through '09 before pulling the plug on F1. I don't think I need to tell you how many hundreds of millions of dollars it takes to fund a works F1 team just for one season. In four seasons of operating as a works team BMW achieved a whopping one (1) victory in Canada in '08, and that's only because Kimi punted LewHam out of the race exiting pit lane practically handing the 1-2 to BMW on a silver platter.


Yes, the P81 and P82 engines were pretty gnarly, but for all the effort BMW put into F1 they still lost out to Ferrari year after year. BMW does not like to lose.

BMW historically does not do well in F1 when compared to other constructors or engine suppliers, which is why they're no longer in it and likely won't be for the foreseeable future.

[vladberca]

I want too see the M2 first.
That supercar is not close enough.
There is the new 488 untill then. The limited 675LT and 911GT3 RS.

[IS3andME]

Originally Posted by cenix

i'm late to the party. i thought mclaren was with mercedes?

You are so late, that the party has ended and Mclaren has gotten back with it's old flame, Honda.

[techwhiz]

Originally Posted by NoSHAM3

BMW and McLaren, a match made in heaven. The quad turbos are interesting. I wonder though, is a turbo still a turbo if it isn't exhaust driven?

NOT!

McLaren screwed BMW the first time and was testing a MB engine in the F1.
Soon after the partnership fell apart or was ended.

BMW was also negotiating with Toyota.
Just say no to McLaren........

[clar]

Originally Posted by Kyle B

Well, they effectively bought out Sauber after the '05 season and tried to make a go of it as a full works team from '06 through '09 before pulling the plug on F1. I don't think I need to tell you how many hundreds of millions of dollars it takes to fund a works F1 team just for one season. In four seasons of operating as a works team BMW achieved a whopping one (1) victory in Canada in '08, and that's only because Kimi punted LewHam out of the race exiting pit lane practically handing the 1-2 to BMW on a silver platter.


Yes, the P81 and P82 engines were pretty gnarly, but for all the effort BMW put into F1 they still lost out to Ferrari year after year. BMW does not like to lose.

BMW historically does not do well in F1 when compared to other constructors or engine suppliers, which is why they're no longer in it and likely won't be for the foreseeable future.

Yeah, i was the happiest man on earth when BMW bought over Sauber and I watched every single race the past 15 years. It was unfortunate that BMW jumped the gun with the pullout when the Lehman brother crisis struck. They lack the financial will evident even in their business operations these days. No supercars, no dedicated sports cars, no business case and all that crap. I feel DTM is not sophisticated enough of an involvement for a brand like BMW esp now that they have the i sub brand. The current formula 1 is a perfect demonstration for their expertise and branding. Do not discount them entirely. They might yet surprise us (i hope).

[Matski]

Originally Posted by clar

Yeah, i was the happiest man on earth when BMW bought over Sauber and I watched every single race the past 15 years. It was unfortunate that BMW jumped the gun with the pullout when the Lehman brother crisis struck. They lack the financial will evident even in their business operations these days. No supercars, no dedicated sports cars, no business case and all that crap. I feel DTM is not sophisticated enough of an involvement for a brand like BMW esp now that they have the i sub brand. The current formula 1 is a perfect demonstration for their expertise and branding. Do not discount them entirely. They might yet surprise us (i hope).

I'm not ragging on you for enjoying Formula1, that is obviously your right, but any notion F1 has of being a test bed for modern technology is a bit silly. They ban innovation left right and centre, and their marketing BS that says they pushing the sport to be more environmentally friendly is an utter joke. THE reason to be in Formula 1 is the viewing figures, that's it. F1 is surpassed in terms of technological innovation by WEC/Le Mans, and it's surpassed in entertainment value by many many other motorsports - and yet despite all this think they can charge the highest premium to fans and spectators to 'enjoy' the sport, and costing hundreds of millions of Euros for the manufacturer - who has as much chance, more infact, of being made to look foolish rather than successful.

DTM doesn't really know what it is. It claims to be a touring car series, yet it's actually a silhouette GT series... it isn't particularly advanced, and it does somewhat lack entertainment... however, BMW took the Drivers, Manufacturers, and Teams championships in 2012 with a budget around 1/6th of what they had in 2008 for Formula 1, when they achieved only 1 win in the whole season and came third. I personally quite like DTM, but it's not a great series. It's also better value for fans.

In actual touring car racing BMW has done very well, however since the demise of a decent unified set of regs, such as S2000 was in the WTCC glory days - there's been no manufacturer input from BMW, which is a real shame because this is the most accessible motorsport for most fans - the number of 320si that raced in national and international series was great, and these are races that average people can afford to take their families to, and see something racing on track that's much closer to a car they can choose in a showroom. Not only that, but as a customer motorsport program it generated revenue for BMW motorsport.

The GT program has many of these benefits too, however the success on track of the much loved Z4 hasn't matched up to what was being achieved by the 3 series in Touring car classes.

BMW needs a good GT4 class customer racing car. It needs the M6 GT3 to be successful, it needs to be successful in the DTM because that is basically just a branding exercise in the fight against BOTH of their direct competitors, and it needs the Class One spec DTM car for SuperGT to be good too. If it wants to promote future-tech, hybridisation and the i-Brand, it needs to go to Le Mans, and win - it should also field a Formula-E car as soon as it can. It needs to build a TCR spec touring car as it seems that spec is taking off, and it needs to lend more factory support to teams like WSR in the BTCC who Andy Priaulx is racing for this season...

... and after they've done all this, then I don't mind if they throw away $300,000,000 trying to beat Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari in F1.

rant over.

[Chihuahua]

^yep, great post. spot on with everything. could not agree more.

I also laugh at F1s 'environmentally friendly' branding. I mean, we took cars that got 3mpg and got them to a whopping, what, 5 or 6mpg?!?!? gimmie a break.

[The Automotive Enthusiast]

I just want BMW back in F1 so they can show Mercedes they still know how to make engines.

[antzcrashing]

Not holding my breath, bmw has said they were up to a supercar many times, crickets each time

[kooper]

Going to try some reverse psychology here as I've been hoping that BMW would bring out a supercar ever since the McLaren F1's run ended (which, as we all know, never happened).

Oh, how I would jump onto websites and post about the latest rumour BMW would inevitably throw out there about a supposed M1 for the modern age. I would doodle sketches about what such a BMW might end up looking like. I'd daydream about what kind of performance this magic unicorn would have.

...But nothing ever happened.

So, instead of salivating at the thought of this, I'm going to categorically state that this car will never see the light of day. Ever. Mark my words, a couple of months would go by and we'll all see a post on this very site about how plans for the great new BMW supercar were shelved due to a new CEO not seeing the point of it, or due to some official in a country none of us ever heard of whispering to one of his cabinet ministers about an impending economic meltdown, or how a BMW supercar just doesn't fit in with modern BMW's vision of efficiency, or Ron Dennis will go along with it only to decide that a Honda powerplant would make more sense for obvious reasons, or BMW will suddenly remember that they still have that Toyota Carbon Fibre agreement going on and will rather just release a new Z4, or they'll state that the market for such a car is flooded with R8s and 911s and GTs and 488s and Huracans and 650s and everything else and feel that the world doesn't need another supercar.

Oh no, my dear friends, instead of us ever seeing a BMW supercar, we'll instead get an X7, a Rolls Royce SUV/ SAV, a 7 GT and some more FWD 1 and 2 Series.
Just wait, that's what will actually happen. I know it, you all know it. The stars will never align for anything like this to ever transpire.

Dear automotive gods please prove me wrong...