[ptack]

Can we close this whole sub-forum now?

I understand everyone's hopes for an uber-1, but BMW has been jerking people around since the 1s were released (Tii anyone?). Perhaps in fairness you can blame the world economy. The only way an M1 makes sense is if BMW makes room for it by pushing the M3 into a higher performance and cost bracket. At that point it comes down to dollars. How much MORE profit would BMW make selling M1s and M3s as opposed to leaving things as-is? Remember, it's not just M3 sales that could take a hit, but also 135i sales. Basically the market population for the 135i and M3 is not real big. These are low volume cars. If you add a third, tweener car to the mix, are you going to attract even more customers - enough to justify the investment? - or are you just going to eat your own? Since the bubble burst I doubt BMW is seeing thousands of extra customers looking to spend $50,000 or more on an M1 IN ADDITION to the current number of customers buying 135is, 335is and M3s.