BMW M badge turns black

BMW’s iconic M badge is transforming into a new blacked-out design for all new high-performance models from the historic motorsport-inspired special branch.

Making its debut on the boot of the iX M60 pure electric SUV, the famous tri-colour M badge has gone full stealth with a ‘titanuim bronze’ surround providing the only dusting of colour, and this change of tack will continue, says BMW.

Next to reveal its black M will be the imminent high-performance plug-in XM large SUV and after that, all new M models will follow suit, replacing the light blue, dark blue and red with just one monochrome shade.

But BMW M sales and marketing vice president Timo Resch explained that the fan-favourite coloured version will not be disappearing completely from the range, with the black M only for all-new additions to the German family.

4

“The overall future direction for complete new cars is that we have a black M badge and the existing cars like the M4, for example, we will not change,” he said. “For next generation type of cars that’s where you will see an M badge that is black. Only new platforms and completely new models will get a black badge.”

As part of the badge redesign, the company is also introducing a colour coding system for the surrounding trim. “Our way forward instead of differentiating with any other schemes, we decided on this new black base colour and then having the surrounding that has a specific colour.”

The strategy is demonstrated by the freshly revealed M4 CSL, which features a traditional three-colour version with a new red surround to denote its top tier of potency, while the frosted and gilded surround of the iX motif leans more into the luxurious side of the M personality.

Since its creation by Giorgetto Giugiaro in 1972, the fabled M badge has evolved gently including a subtle shift of the colours, but the decision to go completely black is the most dramatic change in the symbol’s 50-year history.

4

BMW M's 50 Year celebration roundel, harking back to its original design

And it’s unlikely to stop there, with Resch unable to confirm an exact timeline for the new black version.

“I will not say that this has to be the future for the next 10 years, but right now we see it as a cool element and changing the DNA a little bit. The black is giving us a bit of a twist into a future direction that we will also look into.”

While the three colours might not appear on the new badge itself, Resch explained that the trio will evolve and feature in other ways – preserving an important part of the brand’s identity.

“When we look into future design we will continue to play around with these colours, because they are part of the identity of BMW. They belong to us and you see them on the race cars. You will see cool ways of using these colours.”

4

Referred to internally as the ‘ziehaus streifen’, the M stripes represent the overlap of BMW’s motorsport ventures into its road cars at the pointiest end of the BMW performance hierarchy. The blue represents the Bavarian flag and the BMW roundel badge, the red is BMW’s motorsport venture, while the dark blue (originally violet) is a blend of the two.

The actual history of the red is contested, but is likely to be borrowed from the corporate colour of Texaco, which at the time of BMW M’s creation was negotiating to partner with BMW in competition, but failed to seal a deal.

Instead, it was Castrol that would form the most intimate petrochemical partner with BMW, but its trademark green failed to influence the M identity. If they had, the three colours would have been almost identical to endorsed tuning partner Alpina.