The man behind BMW M

CONTROVERSY, CHALLENGES, EVS AND RETAINING ITS IDENTITY: THE FUTURE IS FRAUGHT FOR BMW M. WE SPEAK TO THE MAN TASKED WITH DRAGGING A PERFORMANCE ICON INTO A NEW ERA

- ALEX INWOOD

THE MAN IN charge of the performance world’s most famous single letter, M, closes his eyes and shakes his head, a pained expression passing across his face. Frank van Meel is cold, his chin tucked into the high collar of his branded jacket as we huddle around a feeble gas heater in pitlane at The Bend near Adelaide, yet he’s working himself into a lather as he explains the complexity of making BMW M’s first-ever fully electric car.

Finally, after delving into the benefits and challenges of using four individual electric motors on M’s forthcoming EV, which is already testing, that should produce in excess of 1000hp (745kW) and will debut a cutting-edge control unit known as ‘the hand of God’, van Meel sighs and says: “It’s… complicated.”

He’s right, of course, but technical complexity is just one of the challenges facing M’s first EV. The bigger question mark surrounds how it’ll be received by M’s diehard fan base…

Right now BMW M is on a roll. The M5 CS is one of the company’s best ever efforts, the new M2 is punchy, engaging and continues the magic of the original and then there are the M3 Touring and forthcoming M5 Touring, cars that threaten to usurp the mighty Audi RS4 and RS6 as the ultimate all-weather, everyday performance cars.

But there are treacherous waters ahead. The polarising XM, which is the company’s second bespoke M car following the legendary M1 of the late ’70s, is getting a lukewarm reception from the press and M’s traditional fan base. And once petrol engines, evocative soundtracks and manual gearboxes make way for electrons, how does M retain its identity? This isn’t a distant horizon, either. M says more than half of its volume will be electrified by 2027.