[BAMxi]

The only good side to taking so long to release the 2GC that I can see is that BMW will have plenty of time to tweak it to make it very competitive against the A3 and CLA. They already know the recipe here, so they should be able to knock this one out of the park. Reading the very recent 135is reviews posted on here shows that BMW still knows how to make a basic, fast, fun sports car.

I was doing a little comparison last night, and the new A3 sedan is literally within an inch or two in every direction the same size as the e46 sedan. I've always preferred BMW's styling to Audi's, but I am not sold after seeing the new 1 series' terrible headlights. I think they're going to really have to come out swinging if they're going to recapture this market after MB and Audi have had it all to themselves for a couple years. BMW basically has to just hope that the few real enthusiasts out there will just hold on for a small RWD sedan. Audi and MB already have strikes against them in that regard due to FWD in the CLA and FWD-biased quattro in the A/S3. Add rumors of no manual trans at least in the S3's case, and BMW could still offer something very competitive here. I wouldn't count them out just for arriving late to this party.


If BMW is paying attention to trends and listening to these forums, they'll see that staying true to their heritage is way more important than anything else they'll do. Companies that stay "authentic" stay successful.