October Car & Driver Article on 1-Series

[theslik1]

Originally Posted by atr_hugo

If Kia made a rear wheel drive - twin-turbo inline 6, great handling - great driving-feel car that didn't look like an Aztek I'd consider it alongside the 135i. I could care less about the badge on the grille. If the intention of BMW is to get younger buyers of Asian imports looking to buy a BMW import than they'll have to price the 1er with care.

...which is all anyone with sense has been saying.

[imported_MPower]

Originally Posted by 1ster

Since when is there a correlation between cost and price in BMW Land?

I certainly understand the difference between price and cost but I dont get where you're going with it here...

[NewhouseEnt]

Originally Posted by theslik1

It seems that we have a cadre of potential 135i owners who can't feel good about purchasing the car unless BMW tacks a "just because" premium onto the sticker. They then can properly differentiate themselves from the lowly hoi polloi who buy a reasonably priced 128i. Gotta elevate yourself somehow...

Wake-up call: If you're looking for exclusivity and cachet with your high performance, you're looking at the wrong car in the wrong segment...period. One of the reasons the 135i intrigued me was the opportunity it presents (potentially) to obtain a true high value, high performance German automobile with a slight toning down of the badge queen look-at-me factor. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOO (channeling John Belushi :tongue. God forbid that BMW should price the car as a solid bang-for-the-buck value, right? Because then it wouldn't be "premium" (per the windy and nonsensical ZweierCoupe). Because then it wouldn't be as exclusive as say...a 335i. We all know how rare 335's are...

People, the 1-series...every single model iteration...is BMW's most cheaply produced mass-market automobile. That hard fact will become readily apparent once they hit showroom floors. All that remains to be seen is if BMW is serious about selling the 1 or maintaining a threadbare and inappropriate illusion of exclusivity.

:headbang::roundel::respekt:: bow::eyebulge::headbang::respekt:

[NewhouseEnt]

Originally Posted by ibeam81

Anyway I really don't need Dr. Freud Jr. explaining why I think that the 135i might be priced higher than hoped. Please feel free to disagree, but I'll pass on the pycho-babble.

Yes you do need it. He's tight on the money.