{"id":84878,"date":"2026-02-18T18:15:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T23:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=84878"},"modified":"2026-02-18T18:15:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T23:15:23","slug":"bmw-m-boss-open-to-offroader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=84878","title":{"rendered":"BMW Isn&#8217;t Saying No To An M Off-Roader, But It&#8217;s Not Saying Yes Either"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"post-summary-wrap\">\n<h3 class=\"post-summary-title\">Article Summary<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"post-summary-list\">\n<li>BMW engines already power several all-terrain vehicles sold by other brands.<\/li>\n<li>The 2022 Dune Taxi concept was a &#8220;what if&#8221; exercise.<\/li>\n<li>BMW M CEO Frank van Meel isn&#8217;t dismissing the idea of an off-roader, as it would still stem from racing, such as Paris-Dakar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<p>BMW has never ventured into off-roaders, leaving money on the table for the Mercedes-Benz G-Class and Land Rover Defender to grab. Even the original Porsche Cayenne had a low-range transfer case and a locking differential, but Munich has consistently refused to cater to the all-terrain crowd.<\/p>\n<p>However, in the words of Bob Marley, the times they are a-changin. We\u2019ve reported on the prospects of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2025\/08\/12\/bmw-g74-rugged-suv-2029-launch-hybrid-ev\/\">\u201cG74,\u201d<\/a> expected to be more capable off the beaten path than any BMW before it. While it hasn\u2019t been officially confirmed, all signs point to a 2029 launch with three-row seating and a choice between plug-in hybrid and electric drivetrains.<\/p>\n<h3>Could We See A Porsche 911 Dakar Type Of Car?<\/h3>\n<p>Whether the so-called \u201cRugged\u201d project materializes remains to be seen, but in an interesting twist, BMW M\u2019s boss is not dismissing the idea of a performance off-roader. Frank van Meel told Australia\u2019s <em>Car Expert<\/em> that such a model would still stay true to the M formula by maintaining a direct connection to racing.<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"15\">\n<p>\u201cI could imagine M on off-road products, because if you come from racing there\u2019s not only the WEC [World Endurance Championship] and IMSA [International Motor Sports Association] [sports car categories], but the Paris-Dakar [off-road rally]. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s [an off-road M model] a contradiction because, in Paris-Dakar, if you look at the race cars, they\u2019re quite performance-driven cars as well. So, if there would be a segment like that, I wouldn\u2019t say no.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>A BMW-powered off-roader already exists, and it\u2019s called the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2022\/10\/19\/bmw-powered-ineos-grenadier-off-roader-enters-production\/\">Ineos Grenadier<\/a>. Offered as both an SUV and a pickup truck, the workhorse comes with 3.0-liter inline-six gasoline and diesel engines from the B58 and B57 families. Additionally, the Defender mentioned earlier also has a BMW heart. It\u2019s a twin-turbo, 4.4-liter V8 that also powers other Land Rover products such as the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport.<\/p>\n<h3>Is Off-Roading A New Segment For BMW?<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rebelle-rally-2025-bmw-x5-off-road-00.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-506659\" title=\"REBELLE RALLY 2025 BMW X5 OFF ROAD 00\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rebelle-rally-2025-bmw-x5-off-road-00-830x553.jpg\" alt=\"REBELLE RALLY 2025 BMW X5 OFF ROAD 00\" width=\"830\" height=\"553\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rebelle-rally-2025-bmw-x5-off-road-00-830x553.jpg 830w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rebelle-rally-2025-bmw-x5-off-road-00-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rebelle-rally-2025-bmw-x5-off-road-00-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rebelle-rally-2025-bmw-x5-off-road-00-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rebelle-rally-2025-bmw-x5-off-road-00.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Should BMW decide to launch an off-roader of its own, an M version is unlikely to arrive from day one. With the standard G74 supposedly arriving in 2029, the hotter derivative could follow early next decade. The rumored addition to the \u201cX\u201d lineup is expected to be one of the six electric SUVs the company has pledged to build in Spartanburg by 2030.<\/p>\n<p>While BMW traditionalists may scoff at the idea of an off-roader, stranger things have happened in the M universe. The decision to greenlight the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2025\/11\/10\/bmw-xm-10-car-convoy-hits-road\/\">XM<\/a> immediately comes to mind. Pictured here, the wacky \u201cDune Taxi\u201d didn\u2019t go into production. However, the 2022 electric off-roader may have been an early signal. Here\u2019s what a BMW Middle East representative said at the time:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"8\">\n<p>\u201cThe Dune Taxi video by BMW Middle East at the Liwa Festival location is for entertainment purposes. It is to demonstrate what could be possible when you challenge perceptions around what sheer driving pleasure with M cars on their road to electrification can mean. We took the opportunity to collaborate with Spark Racing Technology and use their base car for the video filming. BMW Group Designworks created the great design for the chassis. The Dune Taxi symbolizes BMW\u2019s ambition to challenge the status quo.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carexpert.com.au\/car-news\/bmw-m-division-could-go-off-road-says-boss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Car Expert<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe type=\"text\/plain\" class=\"cmplazyload\" data-cmp-vendor=\"s30\" data-cmp-purpose=\"c52\" title=\"DUNE TAXI \u2014 When xDrive meets BMW M\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-cmp-type=\"text\/plain\" data-cmp-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/H1tmzvmxJnw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article Summary BMW engines already power several all-terrain vehicles sold by other brands. The 2022 Dune Taxi concept was a &#8220;what if&#8221; exercise. BMW M CEO Frank van Meel isn&#8217;t dismissing the idea of an off-roader, as it would still stem from racing, such as Paris-Dakar. BMW has never ventured into off-roaders, leaving money on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84879,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/84879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}