Quote:
Originally Posted by riM3
Nothing is definitive (yet) and I appreciate the difference between an M car and a faster base car (I drive a '13 ZCP M3 and came from a '11 335i Performance Edition).
My point was the the M135i is reviewing/drives so well and so similarly to the 1M, that the increase in performance/chassis tuning required to differentiate the M2 vs. the M235i (and mechanically similar M135i) would have to be significant. Possibly too significant to justify.
My guess is that they offer the M235i, then a comp or performance version/package thereof w/ an LSD and maybe EDC (both from the current M3, inline with M's statements about recycling old M tech in M Performance cars), but that we don't see an M2.
Not to say that I wouldn't love to see an M2!
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Those are good points--but my guess is that you will have two types of buyers for this E46-sized car:
1. People who want a small, fast coupe with a good deal of options will opt for the M235 and come in around 50K
2. People who want a small, fast, more raw coupe with less options will opt for the M2 and come in around 50-55K.
One of the reasons I think the 1M was so successful was the relative lack of options--you couldn't price that car into the 70K range, even if you wanted to do so. It was made simply, yet brilliantly, and I think there will always be a market for that type of driver.
Especially since the new M3/M4 cars (as well as the E9X to some people) are going to be too big, heavy, complicated, and especially expensive. It seems to me that an M4 could realistically approach 100K, with all the options ticked off. That's simply insane.
Because of the changing dynamics, on a fundamental level, of what each series is focused, BMW will, in my opinion anyway, have plenty of buyers for both the M235 and M2. It isn't an accident that this coupe is very E46ish...