In Brand Architecture circles, BMW’s alphanumeric vehicle naming system is considered the benchmark in clarity, simplicity and organization, allowing its brand managers to focus energies on the BMW master brand and the perennial Ultimate Driving Machine positioning, rather than spending energy and budgets on individual car brands.
System overview
Brand strategy people used to marvel at how much meaning is built into BMW’s numbers and letters. The majority of BMW cars are named with 3 digits followed by one or 2 letters.
Let’s break down the clever system with an example:
BMW 325d:
3 = part of the 3-series of sedans (saloons) and station wagons (estates). This almost always relates to size. 3-series are smaller than 5’s and bigger than 1’s.
25 = engine size is approx.. 2.5 litres (25=engine size in cubic centimetres divided by 100)
d = Diesel
BMW 530i: Part of the larger 5 series, 3 litre engine, petrol / gas engine with fuel injection (i)
For cars that look like hatchbacks, sedans and station wagons, this system has worked since 1972. The series numbers are effectively disciplined sub-brands, and provide a useful way of identifying an entire range of cars (rather than individual models) based on their size, and effectively the demographics of people interested in that size of car. On average, 3-series sized cars appeal to customers in their 30’s with max 1 child. 5-series is an “executive saloon” sized car appealing to company car drivers in their 40’s and 50’s with 2 or 3 children. 7-series appeals to limo drivers and old dudes who like massive cars. Yes, it’s a very 1970’s way of thinking, but organizing and naming series through size worked until their first SUV launched in 1999.
X as a first letter indicated it was an SUV car taking full advantage of BMW’s xDrive “good-for-off-road” technology. The X5 was born: a BMW SUV with the interior space of a 5-series. Reader, you can probably now decipher most of the following current model number:
BMW x3 M40i:
x = Part of their SUV range
3 = Similar interior space you would expect from a 3-series sedan
M = enhanced performance tuned engine
40 = 4.0 litre engine
i = petrol, fuel injection
The Trouble with Electrics
i as the fuel injection letter and 3 as an interior size number got confused in 2013 when BMW launched their first electric car – the quirky and very small i3. This was followed in 2014 by a high-performance electric car, the definitely-not-bigger-than-but-probably-just-as-expensive-as-a-7-series i8. BMW launched the “i” sub-brand of different-looking electric cars, and in the excitement of quickly launching something cool, they threw a spanner in the logic-works and simplicity of their legendary naming system.
Consequence 1: The electric letter they chose was the same as their historical fuel-injection / petrol designation letter. If i is at the start of a model, it’s electric. If it’s at the end, it’s gas. Awkward.
Consequence 2: Number 3 was all wrong as a number for the i3. It just wasn’t BMW 3-sized at all, as my wife and I discovered when we test-drove one in 2020. Too small.
Consequence 3: In parallel with the electric sub-brand, BMW started selling hybrid and plug-in-hybrid versions of their normal-series cars, and they added the letter e in suffix form. In 2016 they launched the 330e and the 740e as hybrids, followed by the 530e. For those less committed to understanding naming conventions, they now use the letter e to mean “kind of electric” but definitely not “fully electric” (shouldn’t e mean electric?). But using e in suffix form is quite clever, because it demotes the hybrids to an internal categorization that signals “this is useful information about this car, but not worthy of a sub-brand”, which I agree with. I would have chosen the more descriptive and less confusing letter h for hybrid.
Consequence 4: How do you signal engine size when you don’t have engines? Or put differently, how can the electric series signal similar models have more horsepower or range than another? The positive outcome is that their electric cars won’t need 3 digits – just one.
The BMW Brand Architecture people are starting to get their mojo and their system back on track, thanks to the bigger company decision to retire the i3 and i8 concept models completely. They can finally merge the i sub-brand with the rest of the model range, in a way that preserves the integrity of the original naming system. Put differently, by removing the inaccurately named concept models, they now have a naming convention that is flexible enough to label the electric versions of existing designs while simultaneously evolving it to new electric-only designs with shorter names (and shorter numbers).
The BMW i4 M50: i = electric, 4 = same size and shape as the other 4-series coupés, M = performance, 50 = an ordinal number that allows them to launch a version with less power or range (which will be suffix 40 or 30) and a version with more power or range (which will be suffix 60 or 70)
The BMW i7 xDrive60: i = electric, 7 = sibling of the 7-series in size and shape, xDrive = enhanced traction, potentially with 4-wheel drive, 60 = ordinal number that allows larger and lower power / range versions in future.
BMW has taken a circuitous route to merging its vehicle naming system with the new EV era; but they’re finally getting it right again. By design, or by coincidence, they seem to have found a way to reinvigorating a naming system that was created in 1972 and remained robust until electric vehicles came around. Starting with the basics of successful naming conventions outside the brand world (like New York City’s street naming system) was a good place to start.
1. Use names (or numbers/ letters) that reveal the most important (to the customer) attributes of the products. Like NYC: Avenues go north-south and are a little wider. Streets go east-west and are a little narrower. For BMW cars, size is still important, so they'll keep on using numbers for that. SUV is important so those names start with X. Electric is important so those names start with i.
2. Use names (or numbers/letters) that show relationships between products. 49th street is north of 48th, and south of 50th. Likewise, they're back on track with 3 always being bigger than 1 and smaller than 5.
3. When you have a special product that needs to or has to stand out, you can break the code to give it a proper (branded) name, but make sure it does not mess with the rest of the system and fits. Like Broadway and Madison Ave. BMW did a version of this with the launch of the i sub-brand a few years ago, but they couldn't really predict what would become important and how the EV market would evolve.
Is your technology- or mobility-company struggling with how to categorize, name and prioritize existing similar products and introduce new ones? Email george@automaticos.co.uk for a free brand architecture consultation. Give your brand the structure it demands.
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