[Artemis]

Originally Posted by ismelllikepoop

They did the same calling the 3 coupe a 4 following Audi's plan to jack up the price.

Any random guess why ?

"BMW M boss Frank van Meel leaves to head up BMW total vehicle development
By Jordan Katsianis - 21 Sep 2018
Champion of the all-wheel drive BMW M5 to be replaced by 8-series chief engineer
BMW M boss Frank van Meel is to move from his post to a new one, heading up BMW total vehicle development, after a relatively short stint. The move is due on October 1st and into his place within the M division will slot the chief engineer from the BMW 8-series project, Markus Flasch.
Van Meel was initially poached from Audi Quattro GmbH (now Audi Sport) to head up the division, in the process introducing lots of new elements to BMW M, such as the switchable all-wheel drive system and a torque converter automatic gearbox in the current F90 BMW M5.
Alongside these technical changes van Meel created a new hierarchy within the M range with halfway-house M Performance models sitting below, and full M models now split in to Competition and CS versions with an eventual return of flagship CSL cars planned. As van Meel has remained under the BMW umbrella, we don’t expect this product plan to change much once his successor is in place.
There is plenty of incoming product that will bare van Meel’s stamp too, including the first BMW X3 M and X4 M, the all-new M8, BMW M’s first ever hybrids and even a hot hatch.
His replacement Markus Flasch has come into the role after being chief project engineer of the new 8-series, and will approach the next generation M3/4 as his first real test. The standard 3-series is now only weeks away from its reveal, but rumors of a hybridised all-wheel drive powertrain might make the next M3 the biggest step yet for the M division, a mighty undertaking for the new M boss in his initial 18 months in the job.
It will be interesting to see if Flasche has his own ideas as to the future of BMW M, and what stamp he’ll leave on the iconic M division."
(source: here)

Repost: BMWBlog interview with BMW M boss Frank Van Meel at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show (January 2017) (01:18 to 03:13):

"For us the M4 GTS is and was a halo car which helped M a lot regarding communication in 2016. The cars were sold out immediately. What was more important for us was that this car, driving 07m28s on the Nürburgring, is within the super sports car league, even though it is a series production car building its base. But it's typically what M stands for to bring that motorsports properties into a car that can also be used on everyday roads. And it also strengthened the performance of the M3/M4 as the base cars that were behind that. And we are really happy with that car and we still have a lot of demand even though it's already sold out for a long time. But there are many people saying «Please make another special car or more special cars». And we're going to react to these demands and bring more special cars in the future. Well, the M2 has exceeded everyone's expectations. The customer demand has been so big that we're still working on increasing our production volumes to fulfill our customer needs, but we plan to get it in balance again in the year 2017 so that we get more cars available for our customers. We do plan to continue this tradition of making special models, especially the fact that the demand for competition packages was/is so high with M3/M4 is for us a signal to continue this in the future with more models, as well as the fact that the M4 GTS was sold out immediately which also had a long tradition with M3 special models. But we're planning to do that more often, not only to wait 5 to 7 years, but to bring more special models on a shorter time base."
(source: here)

In September 2017 BMW M boss Frank Van Meel confirmed a "CSL" reboot and explained the envisioned distinction between future "CS" and "CSL" ///M models:

"Van Meel said that the CSL designation will replace GTS on the four-rung hierarchy of M cars, which starts with the base model then progresses to Competition Pack, CS, then CSL. Like the GTS, CSLs will be BMW M's most hardcore offerings.
«CSL [will be] the top-of-the-line track tool, made on the track for the track, just with a number plate,» Van Meel said. With a CSL, you can expect cup tires, coilover suspension, a roll cage, water injection, and a fire extinguisher. Van Meel says that the CS on the other hand is «also a track tool, but with four seats,» and more emphasis on comfort."
(source: here)