BMW Motorsport GmbH was founded in May 1972 with 35 employees, growing to 400 by 1988. Its first racing project was the BMW 3.0 CSL. In 1976 the company developed the BMW 530MLE for South Africa's Modified Production Series, requiring 100 homologated road cars to qualify the competition variant. The first official M-badged car offered for public sale was the M1, revealed at the Paris Motor Show in 1978, conceived primarily as a racing machine in road trim. The 1979 M535i shifted direction toward high-performance versions of existing models. In 1993 the division was renamed BMW M GmbH.
BMW Motorsport GmbH supplied the 6.1-litre V12 DOHC 48-valve engine that powers the McLaren F1 road car. The McLaren F1 GTR racing variant won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995 at its first attempt, one of the most celebrated results in the company's motorsport history.
BMW M emphasised vehicles with lateral agility, primarily through the 3 Series, 5 Series, and roadster lines. The company's stated position was that "an M car has to be responsive and fundamentally keen on turning as well as accelerating." Until the 2010 model year, BMW M avoided forced induction; engines such as the S85 V10 in the E60 M5 and E63 M6, and the S65 V8 in the E90 M3, achieved 100 horsepower per litre through natural aspiration and won multiple International Engine of the Year Awards. International regulations aimed at reducing CO2 emissions in the late 2000s prompted the shift to turbocharging. The X5 M and X6 M were among the first to adopt the twin-turbocharged S63 engine, and the M3 E92/E93 was the final naturally aspirated M car; its successor, the F80 M3, used a twin-turbocharged inline-six.
BMW M Motorsport fields GT3 machinery through a network of customer racing teams operating BMW M4 GT3 and BMW M4 GT4 vehicles across global championships. Affiliated teams include ROWE Racing, Schubert Motorsport, Turner Motorsport, Paul Miller Racing, and Team WRT, competing in the GT World Challenge Europe and America, the Nürburgring 24 Hours, IMSA SportsCar Championship, and ADAC GT Masters. At the top prototype tier, BMW M Team WRT competes in both the IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship with the BMW M Hybrid V8 GTP/Hypercar. The DTM programme uses GT3-specification vehicles since the series adopted that format in 2021, managed through Team RMG.
The manufacturer maintains an extensive factory driver programme. Prominent names on the 2026 roster include Kevin Magnussen, Valentino Rossi, Robin Frijns, Raffaele Marciello, Dries Vanthoor, Charles Weerts, Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde, Augusto Farfus, Rene Rast, and Marco Wittmann, among others spanning American, European, and international circuits. Notable former factory drivers include Bruno Spengler, Timo Glock, Antonio Felix da Costa, Chaz Mostert, and Colton Herta.
BMW M has been led successively by Jochen Neerpasch (1972–1980), Dieter Stappert (1980–1993), Adolf Prommersberger (1994–2003), Ulrich Bruhnke (2003–2007), Ludwig Willisch (2008–2009), Kay Segler (2009–2011), Friedrich Nitschke (2011–2014), Franciscus van Meel (2015–2018), Markus Flasch (2018–2021), and Franciscus van Meel (2021–present).
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