BMW Trademarks Ton of New Names Including M2, M7 and M10

Automakers trademark names for three reasons. Either they are going to build a new car, they are considering building a new car, or they have a previous model that they need to renew the trademark on to keep ownership. The guys over at the e90 Post BMW Forum have unearthed a massive number of new trademark filings by BMWBMWGermany, 1918 > present87 models
8471 photos
43 videos
. The entire list is below, and I will break them down from there. 

• X2, X4
• M1, M2, M7, M10
• 2 Series
• 2 Series Active Tourer
• M35, M40, M55, M300, M350, M400, M500
• M130, M135, M140, M230, M235, M240, M330, M335, M340, M430, M435, M440, M450, M550, M650, M750
• M50d
• Compactive, Compactive Tourer, Gran Tourer, Urbanic
• E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, E6, E7, E8, E9
• i1, i2, i3, i4, i5, i6, i7, i8, i9
• Z8
• GC, Gran Coupe, BMW Gran Coupe, 6er Gran Coupe
• SportMode, CoolMode, Air Collar, BMW Turbotec, Drive eCharged, LifeDrive, i Pedelec
• Corniche, Shadow, Wraith, Cloud, Dawn

BMW is planning on changing its naming scheme in the near future. Odd numbers will be used for sedans, estates and SUVs, and even numbers will be used for coupes and convertibles. So the X2 and X4 would be SUV coupes similar to the X6BMW X6Germany, 2007 > 201324 versions
77 photos
4 videos
.

The M1 and M2 would both be M variants of the new 1-seriesBMW 1 Series Gen.2 [F20] Germany, 2011 > present130 versions
247 photos
. The 2-series will be the coupe and convertible variants of the current 1-series, and the M2 would be the M version. The M7 has also been rumored as an M version of the 7-seriesBMW 7 Series Gen.5Germany, 2009 > present50 versions
105 photos
2 videos
that would appeal especially to China. The M10 is a complete mystery. It could be a flagship model of some kind, or BMW is trademarking the name to keep anyone else from using it. 

The list of Mxx designations are probably engines. BMW has used an M with one, two or three digits to describe its engines since the 1930s. Some of them could also be M Performance models.

The M50d trademark seems to be BMW just covering itself. It uses the name on the X5 M50dBMW X5 M50dGermany, 2012 > present5 photos
and X6 M50d. 

The trademarks for the E and Z8 designations is probably more BMW preserving its past. The E3 and E9 were both early BMW six-cylinder cars from the mid 60s and 70s. The Z8 obviously is much newer, but it does not want to let the trademark lapse. 

The i designations are likely BMW insuring its future. The i-series will be out soon, and even if BMW does not plan to build an i1 right now, it wants the trademark for the future. 

The Gran Coupe may show that BMW is planning more four-door coupes in the future like the 6-series Gran CoupeBMW 640i Gran CoupeGermany, 2012 > present7 photos
, or it may just be protecting the name. 

The mode names are probably new technologies that BMW is toying with.

Finally, the last list of names are clearly Rolls-RoyceRolls-RoyceUnited Kingdom, 1904 > present31 models
1281 photos
1 video
names. They are all names used by Rolls-Royce models in the past. 

It is impossible to say which of these names BMW will use, which are renewals and which are just being trademarked for protection. A 2-series is probably coming next year, but more than that is speculation. 

BMW 1-Series Convertible Dubbed 2-Series

BMW Planning M Expansion Including M7

Source e90 Post