While some think that a front-wheel drive car is not worthy of the BMW badge, the people of Munich see things differently. There is a new 1 Series with transverse engines, one of which has only three cylinders. At the top of the food chain is the M135, now without the “i” at the end of its name. However, something else caught our attention regarding the logo on the back.
Notice how the badging is different from the old M135i? We’re not just talking about dropping the last letter. The “M” and “1” are still the same size as before, but the “3” and “5” are now smaller. To the untrained eye it gives the impression that they are looking at the back of an M1, which is hardly the case. The mid-engine supercar is a distant memory that BMW has never replicated outside of a handful of concept cars like the 2008 M1 Hommage and the 2019 Vision M Next.
The German luxury brand doesn’t have a coherent approach when it comes to the design of the badges on the back. As shown in the image below, the 2025 M440i continues to use the old format. Electric models like the i5 M60 and iX M60 emphasize the M. In BMW’s defense, it’s difficult to come up with a universal formula given the sheer number of M Performance and M models the company offers.
It is clear that BMW wants to reduce the gap between M Lite and real M cars. Visually at least. When the M division reports sales, it also includes those of the not-quite-M vehicles. The i4 M50 was even BMW M’s best-selling car in 2022 and 2023. The M3 Sedan was the most popular full-fat M last year.