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It is not meant to be a true M car, I think a lot of this conversation was started due to a lack of understanding of the M sport models.
You had plenty of examples in the past M535, M-tech models, 635csi etc...
So the problem comes is that people were upset at the M badging, even though there is no claim for it to be a true M car... it was always in my mind an M sport model, not a true M car. BMW never advertised it as an M car, and I think most owners didn't receive it as a true M car. I think magazines created the controversy because... well I don't know why.
But you always have certain levels of "true M car elitism" You have the previous gen owners saying that the M3/M4 of new are not real M cars because they are too plump, or the fake engine noises. The e92 was not a real M car because (no idea why), the e36 M3 was not a real M car in the US because it used essentially an M52...
The 1M is not a true M car because it used an N54, blah blah blah blah. The M235i is a really fun car to drive, its not an M4, or M3, but its not trying to be, I don't know why people insist on trying to cram it into this category. The M2 wont be an M3 or 4 either...
The M235i is exactly the kind of cars BMW should be producing, smaller, more fun oriented cars. This car is a smaller, fun, rwd BMW that is roughly the size of the e46. It is fun to drive, it handles great, and makes a great daily driver. I mean, it basically is the new 3 series, or what the 3 series should be.
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