[Frobius]

You know what, I agree with you. Apologies for the bit of a rant but reading through the posts it all seemed a bit 'on the diesel hate wagon'.

As for brand dilution, surely M division has been doing that since putting the badge on parts destined for what are essentially sport models? Someone even suggested that the new M performance cars be called M-Line a la Audi S-Line. Think M Sport models have that covered! The difference being that the M performance models are indeed M tuned and performance cars, unlike their sport branded cousins. I don't think BMW are trying to dilute the M brand, but simply adding a more accessible and daily driver friendly option, much like Audi's S4 compared to RS4 etc.

That said, if the M550d is going to be priced as rumoured, the price gap between the M performance models and the 'full fat' M cars is a bit narrow in my humble opinion. €80,000 works out about £70,000, which is only a whisker off M5 money! To that end, I would have thought the M550d to have made more sense priced not far beyond 550i money rather than so close if not the same as M5 money.