Get Ready For AWD BMW M Cars

BMW M2 (Credit: BMW)

Everyone knows a proper BMW M car is rear-wheel-drive. That’s going to change, and the purists won’t like it one bit, even though there’s a good reason.

Autocar spoke with the head of the M division, Frank van Meel. The CEO reasoned that with everyone’s appetite for sick amounts of power, all-wheel drive is inevitable, at least on some models.

Basically, any BMW M vehicle that throws down over 600 horsepower needs to send some of that to the front wheels, otherwise handling ability and in turn safety are compromised. Just look at the Hellcat twins.

The M cars won’t have xDrive. Van Meel says that the M division models will come with a proprietary all-wheel-drive system that’s rear-biased.

This change isn’t happening anytime soon. The next-gen M5 won’t have all-wheel drive as an option. Van Meel says it also won’t have all those autonomous drive nannies included in the new 5 Series. In other words, BMW might understand that people buy M cars not just for prestige, but also for fun.