Originally Posted by Palmer

No, the 2002 did not make "the" lightweight Lotus obsolete. I certainly don't mean to demean the 2002 by that statement, but it was not a race car. It was a car designed for the street, not the track. It may have revolutionized the world of sport coupes, but it didn't directly compete with Lotus, at least not in F1 or most other venues. It's possible that it went head to head with Lotus Elans in SCCA events, and even possible that it won some races against the Elans, but by the time the 2002 came out, the Elan was a fairly old design so I'm not sure that the comparison is fair.

I haven't kept up with F1 racing since Lotus and Tyrrell dropped out, but I don't believe that BMW has ever won a Grand Prix race or the constructor's championship. I'm also pretty confident that they've never won at Indianapolis. The production of fast road cars does not give BMW a racing pedigree.