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Originally Posted by dmboone25
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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... |
Not disagreeing that there’s demand for a light, fast coupe from BMW. Just that the M235i, not the M2, is that offering.
To your points, the 1M (at $60k) wasn’t particularly light. While it was at its lightest (and one of the lightest in the line-up) when ordered without options, that will also be true if you choose to dispense with most of the options on an M135i or M235i. Given that the 1M didn’t have a carbon fiber roof at ~$60k; for the $50-55k you suggested the M2 will run, I’m not sure we’re going to see the extensive use of CFRP, plain carbon fiber, or even aluminum needed to materially reduce its weight vs. a stripped M235i.
Of course, for an M2, they could add more power…but not too much. After all, they’re already offering best-in-class performance and they wouldn’t want to cannibalize M3/4 sales.
At the end of the day, for the car to really be great it really needs M-diff, a bit more power/better cooling and perhaps some minor tweaks to what is already a great semi-M suspension. I’m not sure they need to slap a M-badge on the M235i to do that (or even need to in the first place).
I could be wrong, of course. They did make both an M550D and an M5 (though they are v different animals at ~40% difference in price).
Fingers crossed.