BMW M GmbH has faced criticism from enthusiasts for grouping the sales of M Performance cars with those of genuine M models. Despite this, the i4 M50 was named the best-selling product for a second consecutive year in 2023, even though it technically doesn’t fall under the category of a true M car. If you’re curious about the most popular full-fledged M model in the past year, it would have to be the M3.
The important disclosure was made by M CEO Frank van Meel on Instagram where he specified the M3 Sedan took the sales crown. Unfortunately, BMW’s performance division doesn’t provide a breakdown of sales per individual model. Whatever the G80’s sales numbers were last year, the complete M3 lineup was far more popular when you factor in the Touring. The M branch had to triple production to keep up with the strong demand the G81 has been getting, even though the long-roof M3 is sadly not available in North America.
As a refresher, 2023 marked a record year for “the world’s most powerful letter.” Demand surged by 14.3% compared to the previous year, reaching an unprecedented 202,530 units for M Performance and M cars.
Both the M3 Sedan and M3 Touring are due for a facelift later this year when the dynamic duo will receive redesigned headlights, as will the M4 Coupe and M4 Convertible. These are likely to eschew the laser technology used today in favor of an adaptive matrix LED setup. There could be other changes on the way, most notably a power bump for the Competition versions equipped with all-wheel drive.
It is believed the twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six will gain somewhere in the region of 15 hp, which would mean M3 Competition xDrive models are going to pack 518 hp. Lest we forget that BMW sells the M3 wagon and M4 convertible only as Competition models with AWD.
Concomitantly, BMW is working on an M3 CS Touring scheduled to come out in 2025 with 543 hp and a minor weight loss to echo last year’s M3 CS Sedan.
Source: Frank van Meel / Instagram
