[bryan@mwerks]

I'm here in Detroit covering the auto show for MWerks. Spent some talking with one of my contacts at BMW today, and while he can't speculate on future product, he did confirm a couple things for me.

First (and perhaps most important for this particular site), there are absolutely no plans to call any variants of the 1 Series platform a 2 Series. He stated unequivocally there will NOT be a 2 Series. It was a speculative rumor started by Automobile magazine, and there was never any internal discussion about it. Likewise for 3 Series coupes to be renamed 4 Series.

Now, about 1 Series variations. My particular contact more or less expects me to bug him for 1er updates every time we talk. I always ask about the coupe specifically. Again, while he can't speculate on future product, he did say that the Geneva Auto Show at the end of February would satisfy my curiousities about variations. Reading between the lines, I'm assuming they'll show a coupe at Geneva.

In another part of our discussion, and once again reading between the lines, it sounds like the 1 Series will make its North American debut here as a 2008 model, probably next November at the Los Angeles show, though BMW is also fond of launching new models at Detroit.

I'll give you more as I hear it.