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The 1M was only meant to be a 1 year deal to guage demand for a smaller, lighter M car that was more driver focused. With the 1 series transitioning to FWD, they needed to rebadge the two door (ie. more sportier) version as a 2 series if it was going to stay RWD. With the introduction of the Gran Coupe, they needed to set it apart from the 3 series sedan so it became the 4 series. And since they now have a 2 and 6 series for the two door cars, BMW needed to rebadge the 3 series coupe/cabriolet to the 4 series.
BMW M is working towards having their own stand-alone products just as BMWi is a sub brand with their own products. What this allows BMW to do is develop M cars seperate from the regular series. Possible product line would be an M2 coupe/cabriolet, M3 coupe/cabriolet(same platform as 4 series), M4 Gran Coupe, M5 sedan, M6 coupe/cabriolet/Gran Coupe, and the return of the M1 supercar from 30 years ago.
No longer will the M3 be an M version of the BMW 3 series but a 3 series of the M brand. A lot of the components and design elements will be shared between the various sub brands, but look for each to have their own unique style and purpose.
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