BMW Just Killed All Of Its M Competition Models

Previously, BMW M's Competition badge meant one thing: you were getting the most serious, quickest, nastiest car BMW M could make in a given model line. Sure, there were the standard M cars: plenty of power, often a manual transmission, and plenty of luxury. Competition models trimmed the fat, hardening the edge and often creating a transformative driving experience. Those cars are dead now, but only in name. It turns out everyone quite liked that formula, and now, that's the only flavor of BMW M model you can order. Suffering from success, as they say.

BMW M Competition Cars Are Now Standard

BMW confirmed the change to the media this week after a BMW Blog interview with BMW M CEO Frank van Meel. Buyers like the Comp cars more than standard M cars, and so the move was made to kill the Competition badge. An unnecessary title now, given that all future M cars will come in their most extreme form. "More than 80 percent of our customers went straight for the Competition. So we said, let’s just make that the standard one. You could say that every M model today is a Competition," said van Meel.

It's a fair play. In my experience, the brand's Competition cars turn up the wick in nearly every metric, and when performance is the name of the game, a more switched-on car is nearly always better. The M2 Competition is one of the best driver's cars BMW has made in the last decade, for instance. Now, we'll all be getting everything BMW M is capable of in one model.

The Death Of The Competition Badge Simplifies The Lineup

Van Meel says the move will also simplify the BMW lineup. Now, when you buy an M car, that's it. There is no higher power at BMW, literally. Buyers will ahve three trims to choose from in each model: the base M car, the CS, and the CSL. These names revert to old BMW verbiage, and ones that may be more familiar to buyers. Standard M cars come with previous Competition enhancements like boosted power output, with the CS and CSL versions focusing on removing weight from the car.

However, 2026 still holds a few Competition badges in it. The M3 and M4 will still be sold with optional Competition variants, boosting power to 503 horses. The X5 M will also still be sold with a Competition version, with a huge 617 horsepower output.