Ferraris make for the most spectacular gatherings. However, you can never make any friends when you are surrounded by rich people with egos bigger than their bank accounts. So we think the BMW M community is the best of any European automaker. This particular show-up in Germany is certainly superior to anything Audi or Mercedes could achieve.
The first thing we noticed is that there are no SUVs here. The X5 M is much faster than the GLE 63 AMG and the Range Rover Sport SVR. However, the purist community hates compromise cars. It's for them that BMW has turned ordinary sedans into monsters for several decades.
It all started with that red Ferrari you saw at the beginning of the video, only it's not a Ferrari. The M1 is a true automotive legend that almost didn't happen, and without its success, BMW would not be what it is today.
The second thing we noticed is that German BMW M fanatics love the compact cars. The M3 and M4 positively dominate the event, and as you can see, Austin Yellow and Yas Marina Blue are popular colors. Are there any rarities besides the M1? How about the M3 Flat Rock edition with its cool V8 hump and the M5 Touring. Even though BMW has pulled it from production, we secretly hope it will make a comeback.
This pure community of piston-heads will get a rude awakening soon, as emission regulations will force the M cars to go hybrid. The M5 will set the tone and is also expected to downsize its V8 engine. Only time will tell if electric motors are just the next chapter of this book or the end of the BMW M story.
For now, though, we can pretend that none of that is going to happen, as BMW gave us the lovely M2. It's such a great package that supply has to be restricted. But the baby M has everything a keen driver wants, including a manual gearbox and the capacity to drift effortlessly. Sadly, the M2 couldn't make it to this party where only quad exhaust systems are allowed.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News