BMW M - Competition

Competition

Audi's S and RS models, Mercedes-Benz's AMG models, and more recently Lexus F model(s), are often reviewed in direct competition to a similarly-sized BMW M car, such as the Lexus IS-F vs. Audi RS4 vs. Mercedes C63 AMG vs. BMW M3.

BMW M cars are still the best known in-house high performance derivatives, due to the longevity of their nameplates, and as they occupy the undisputed position at the top of their lineup from BMW. For instance, while the BMW M3 has always been the top-performing version of BMW's compact executive classification, their competition has either undergone designation changes or not been consistently produced. For instance the Audi RS4 has not been offered for every generation or sold in every market, and while earlier generations of the Audi S4 previously competed with the BMW M3, the current incarnation of the S4 has been moved downmarket and is now aimed at the BMW 335i. The C-Class's AMG performance variants are at the top of the C-Class lineup but they have had several different badges (C36, C43, C55, and C63).

BMW M also faces competition from several independent companies offering their own performance versions of BMW models; some performance packs can be retrofitted to existing cars while others are applied to new cars bought directly from BMW AG and converted prior to first registration. Such companies include Hamann Motorsport, Alpina, Dinan Cars, AC Schnitzer and Hartge. The fastest and most powerful BMW M conversions are made by German tuner G-Power, which holds several World speed records including the M5 Hurricane RR with 372.1 km/h (231.3 mph).