BMW M Cars Might Get Keep Getting Uglier, But They're Not Losing Their Straight Sixes and V8s Anytime Soon

Image: BMW

The new BMW M2 weighs about as much as a dwarf planet and has jowls, but it also has a turbocharged straight-six sending power to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual — so the pros and cons sort of balance out. It’s the last M car that won’t be electrified in some fashion, and BMW confirmed this week that it won’t prolong the death of internal combustion with three- and four-cylinder-powered models.

The quote, by M boss Frank van Meel at the automaker’s media event at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa, comes to us by way of Carbuzz. A journalist posed that question to the CEO, who ardently dismissed it like a college professor who makes you regret ever raising your hand. Chill out guy, jeez:

“I hope that was just a rhetorical question because it’s clear we’re not going to do any three-cylinder engines,” retorted van Meel. “We’re not even going to do four-cylinder engines in high-performance cars. I know there are other companies [that] are doing that, but we’re not going to do that.”

Way to throw shade at Toyota, who has squeezed stunning sums of power from three cylinders and, it must be said, makes far better looking cars than you do. In any case, the news should delight M fans, who will get to keep their straight sixes and V8s in some form of hybridized guise, until EVs kill them for good.

Maybe that’s fine. The M2 has long served as the entry point for BMW’s performance offerings, but with this new generation, that entry point is rising to $63,195. For that money, I can understanding expecting a straight six. Besides, it’s not like BMWs will ever get any cheaper than they are today!