In the late 1960s, BMW AG couldn’t keep up with demand for racing versions of its successful 1800 TI and 2000 TI. In fact, many of the cars on tracks around the world were being built by outside tuning companies. So in May, 1972, the automaker formed BMW Motorsport GmbH, an in-house racing and performance division. Changing the name to simply M came in 1991. Among its strong supporters was Bob Lutz, at the time an executive vice president for sales at BMW.
Over the last 50 years the M division has built everything from an Andy Warhol-painted midengine supercar to race-winning production-based coupes to high-performance street cars customers could buy at BMW dealerships. In keeping with today’s market, these days BMW offers four crossovers wearing the M badge.
Here are some highlights of the division’s history.