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      03-20-2023, 08:49 AM   #1
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43 New BMW Model Name Trademarks Suggest New Naming System Coming

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https://carbuzz.com/news/bmw-is-rena...e-model-lineup

BMW has registered trademarks for numerous names with the i, X, and iX prefixes. For example, the manufacturer has filed to protect the names iX750, X750, and i750. Similarly, there are trademarks for the names iX130 and i120. The question is what each of these trademarks is for, as multiple potential applications present themselves.

It seems that the name i750 would apply to the electric 7 Series, the i7, with a powertrain designation of 50. If we use the same logic for X750, the name could apply to the X7 SUV with a '50' powertrain. The new logic suggests that the iX750 nomenclature would refer to the forthcoming electric version of the X7 to be called the iX7. Basically, BMW will adopt its sedan naming strategy for both sedan and SUV derivatives, dropping the current sDrive and xDrive suffixes with integrated 35i, 40i, and 50i powertrain designations. Instead, we suspect xDrive will be used as a standalone suffix to denote an all-wheel drivetrain.
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      03-20-2023, 08:58 AM   #2
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Much overdue honestly. Hope we see this to fruition.
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      03-20-2023, 09:07 AM   #3
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Naming consistency across the range is extremely soothing. It brings me inner peace.
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      03-20-2023, 09:27 AM   #4
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M350 !?!
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      03-20-2023, 09:45 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim040404 View Post
M350 !?!
M350 is probably the only 3-series with an ICE, whether hybrid or not (probably hybrid). Equivalent to today's M340i xDrive. Inline-6. The '50' just points to trim/performance-level I guess.

I doubt they'll add the "i" in front of M cars to designate hybridization. But maybe they'll add an i for purely electric Ms (although, "iM2" sounds funny).

Funny that "i" used to mean petrol/injected, but now it means electric.
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      03-20-2023, 10:04 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by prei1978 View Post
Naming consistency across the range is extremely soothing. It brings me inner peace.
Same. Every car manufacturer I can think of has no idea how to just make a normal name for their evs. I think Doug demuro commented this on the Toyota ev.
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      03-20-2023, 10:09 AM   #7
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I guess it saves having to check a car name in all markets to ensure that a name whilst fine in one country does not mean something “bad” in another


Ie this
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/49rx9gg/
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      03-20-2023, 10:12 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by humisfum View Post
Same. Every car manufacturer I can think of has no idea how to just make a normal name for their evs. I think Doug demuro commented this on the Toyota ev.
I think BMW should start naming its EVs like XFL teams.

The new BMW Battleshark
The new BMW Laserfire
The new BMW Awesome Hawk

What could go wrong?
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      03-20-2023, 10:27 AM   #9
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Which will be the designation for the cars with the Jetsons sound.
https://youtu.be/4NgSZ8sjDgU
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      03-20-2023, 10:30 AM   #10
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Makes a lot of sense in light of the amount of vehicles they make. Crazy to think that 20 years ago when someone said they had a new 3-Series it only could’ve been one of two cars - the 325 or 330 (or maybe the M3). Admittedly, even today, a new 3-series can only mean one of three cars 330i, 330e, or the M340i (possibly the M3) but the uniform naming scheme still makes sense considering BMWs seemingly limitless “series” of vehicles
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      03-20-2023, 10:32 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chihuahua View Post
I think BMW should start naming its EVs like XFL teams.

The new BMW Battleshark
The new BMW Laserfire
The new BMW Awesome Hawk

What could go wrong?
Seems to work for dodge lol. Hellcat, Demon, Redeye, Jailbreak, Trackhawk (plus, have you seen the paint color names??)
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      03-20-2023, 10:34 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by humisfum View Post
Same. Every car manufacturer I can think of has no idea how to just make a normal name for their evs. I think Doug demuro commented this on the Toyota ev.
This. Mercedes went hard on the entire EQ branding but will drop the EQ name for electric vehicles and retain the current model names. Makes sense since all Mercedes-Benz will eventually be EVs in the future where EQS won’t be necessary, it will just be known as the S Class

Audi is changing to the odd/even numbers naming scheme - odd numbers ICE and even numbers EV. The A4 as we currently know it will eventually become the A5 for future A4’s that will be EV-only.

It makes sense but just makes everything confusing while they’re making this transition.
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      03-20-2023, 10:37 AM   #13
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I could care less about the new electric go karts.
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      03-20-2023, 10:50 AM   #14
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They had a very clear system to use (series number+2numbers+letter for engine type), but the did a mess of it when they introduced the ‘“i sub-brand”.

The classic system was great!
330i (gas)
330d (diesel)
330h (hybrid)
330e (electric)

With xi, xd, xh and xe for AWD versions.

They brought the i-something to look modern, to look Apple-ish (iMac, iPhone, etc) but they had a perfect system to use, a system that could have also entirely dropped the letter when all of their cars would be electric.


Now they seem to be changing to this system:

Electric vehicles
SUV: iX+series+2numbers
Non-SUV: i+series+2numbers

Non electric vehicles (same as before)
SUV: X+series+2numbers+engine type
Non-SUV: series+2numbers+engine type


I don’t like the “i” before on the electric vehicles. Just put an “e” at the end and everybody will understand it perfectly, and you’ll have a single naming system instead of two.

Last edited by emulajavi; 03-20-2023 at 10:57 AM..
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      03-20-2023, 10:59 AM   #15
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I could care less about the new electric go karts.
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      03-20-2023, 11:09 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by emulajavi View Post
They had a very clear system to use (series number+2numbers+letter for engine type), but the did a mess of it when they introduced the ‘“i sub-brand”.

The classic system was great!
330i (gas)
330d (diesel)
330h (hybrid)
330e (electric)

With xi, xd, xh and xe for AWD versions.

They brought the i-something to look modern, to look Apple-ish (iMac, iPhone, etc) but they had a perfect system to use, a system that could have also entirely dropped the letter when all of their cars would be electric.


Now they seem to be changing to this system:

Electric vehicles
SUV: iX+series+2numbers
Non-SUV: i+series+2numbers

Non electric vehicles (same as before)
SUV: X+series+2numbers+engine type
Non-SUV: series+2numbers+engine type


I don’t like the “i” before on the electric vehicles. Just put an “e” at the end and everybody will understand it perfectly, and you’ll have a single naming system instead of two.
I agree.

I understand why they used the “i” prefix, they wanted it to treat it as another line up alongside the regular models like BMW i, but I don’t think BMW or any manufacturer new how fast EVs were going to be the norm.

Mercedes’ new direction is the way to go. They realized the EQ name was likely not going to last long when everything in their line up will eventually be all EVs and you can’t throwaway the current name of cars because they mean something to the history of MB as a whole.

Audi’s new naming scheme will also mean nothing when then entire line up becomes EVs then what do you do with the odd/even numbers and the cars you associate them with ?
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      03-20-2023, 11:39 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBingoBalls View Post
This. Mercedes went hard on the entire EQ branding but will drop the EQ name for electric vehicles and retain the current model names. Makes sense since all Mercedes-Benz will eventually be EVs in the future where EQS won’t be necessary, it will just be known as the S Class

Audi is changing to the odd/even numbers balding scheme - odd numbers ICE and even numbers EV. The A4 as you know it will eventually become the A5 for future A4’s that will be EV-only.

It makes sense but just makes everything confusing while they’re making this transition.
Quote:
Originally Posted by emulajavi View Post
They had a very clear system to use (series number+2numbers+letter for engine type), but the did a mess of it when they introduced the ‘“i sub-brand”.

The classic system was great!
330i (gas)
330d (diesel)
330h (hybrid)
330e (electric)

With xi, xd, xh and xe for AWD versions.

They brought the i-something to look modern, to look Apple-ish (iMac, iPhone, etc) but they had a perfect system to use, a system that could have also entirely dropped the letter when all of their cars would be electric.


Now they seem to be changing to this system:

Electric vehicles
SUV: iX+series+2numbers
Non-SUV: i+series+2numbers

Non electric vehicles (same as before)
SUV: X+series+2numbers+engine type
Non-SUV: series+2numbers+engine type


I don’t like the “i” before on the electric vehicles. Just put an “e” at the end and everybody will understand it perfectly, and you’ll have a single naming system instead of two.
Yeah it’s so irritating they didn’t just stick with this. So easy to understand. I presume marketing convinced them to add the i to make it seem cool and different but for me it had the opposite effect.

I still dislike the SUV naming convention. First of all an M SUV doesn’t make sense to me. But then if you want a true M SUV it’s an X5M not an MX5 because it would run into a conflict with Mazda?

In my opinion they could have just cut the 4 6 and 8 series and kept them as 3 series coupe, 5 series gc, and 7 series gt or something and kept the 4 6 and 8 as the respective SUV equivalents of the sedans. But nooo they gotta make coupe models entire new series.
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      03-20-2023, 11:52 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by humisfum View Post
Yeah it’s so irritating they didn’t just stick with this. So easy to understand. I presume marketing convinced them to add the i to make it seem cool and different but for me it had the opposite effect.

I still dislike the SUV naming convention. First of all an M SUV doesn’t make sense to me. But then if you want a true M SUV it’s an X5M not an MX5 because it would run into a conflict with Mazda?

In my opinion they could have just cut the 4 6 and 8 series and kept them as 3 series coupe, 5 series gc, and 7 series gt or something and kept the 4 6 and 8 as the respective SUV equivalents of the sedans. But nooo they gotta make coupe models entire new series.
That might all change in the future. The legacy manufacturers are in a flux right determining the EV lineup for the future and balancing that out with the ICE models they may or may not want to keep.

Mercedes has already announced cutting a lot their models, either completely or combining models that make sense because they overlap each other (ex. C Class & E Class Coupé will become the CLE).

BMW is likely looking at the same thing - the 8 Series doesn’t belong in today’s market so if there was one model to cut or reposition, The 8 Series is the prime candidate.

Audi doesn’t necessarily have this problem - they resisted the urge to have a coupé version of every other model in its lineup.
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      03-20-2023, 12:01 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBingoBalls View Post
That might all change in the future. The legacy manufacturers are in a flux right determining the EV lineup for the future and balancing that out with the ICE models they may or may not want to keep.

Mercedes has already announced cutting a lot their models, either completely or combining models that make sense because they overlap each other (ex. C Class & E Class Coupé will become the CLE).

BMW is likely looking at the same thing - the 8 Series doesn’t belong in today’s market so if there was one model to cut or reposition, The 8 Series is the prime candidate.

Audi doesn’t necessarily have this problem - they resisted the urge to have a coupé version of every other model in its lineup.
Audi made a good decision there. When the 4 series came out I was so confused why they made it like this instead of naming the x3 the 4 series. Was so simple: Make the even numbered series SUVs. I also give zero fudges about the SUV coupes. If I was at BMW I’d immediately cancel the X4 and X6 and then probably the 8 series as well. Im sure it makes them money right now and makes them think they’d lose money if they cancel it but seriously who will refuse a X3/X5 unless they make it with a smaller roof..? If you’re one of these people please please just explain why… I genuinely just want to know what the thought process is there. Because I get it.. sitting higher is a legit preference.. but sitting higher with less rear visibility..? huh?
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      03-20-2023, 12:19 PM   #20
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Electrification represents an opportunity to rebrand that any marketing organization will find difficult to ignore.

So normal and expected.

I hope that automotive engineering goals to design and deliver vehicles we all want to drive will remain unchanged.
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      03-20-2023, 12:51 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pizza240 View Post
M350 is probably the only 3-series with an ICE, whether hybrid or not (probably hybrid). Equivalent to today's M340i xDrive. Inline-6. The '50' just points to trim/performance-level I guess.

I doubt they'll add the "i" in front of M cars to designate hybridization. But maybe they'll add an i for purely electric Ms (although, "iM2" sounds funny).

Funny that "i" used to mean petrol/injected, but now it means electric.
Excited to see the S85 make a comeback!
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      03-20-2023, 01:36 PM   #22
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So confusing

I would've preferred a simple 'e' at the end. BMW 330e, 540e, 750e, etc. for electric models

Gas models continue with 'i'
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