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Originally Posted by ynguldyn
There'll be nothing above 28i (B48B20O0) at introduction.
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As it was with the current E84. But over the seven year lifespan of the car, I think we are going to see BMW make a move. And not just for this vehicle but any BMW-branded UKL vehicle for which a performance variant could be a compelling offering.
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The will be a GLA45 competitor from BMW when M GmbH picks F48 up, which is never.
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Well, I try not to let the marketing folks have too much say in telling me how to evaluate the products they are trying to push. I agree that BMW currently has no obvious answer for the AMG M133, but when you look at performance, the M135i is not far off the A45 at all despite being down quite a bit on power. Same story for the ~300hp S3, though obviously they have the new RS3 coming to provide heavy hitting. For the Q3 RS though, let's face it: Audi really isn't trying hard at all with a paltry 310hp vs. the 380hp TT RS and even more possible in the next RS3. Point here is, I think that the current X1 35i could hold its own against the GLA45 if we were to match them up. So then, I don't really see an M-proper product as an absolute necessity here, at least not right now. But, a 300hp M Performance offering of some type is an obvious choice for BMW. They aren't just going to sit idly while Audi and Mercedes push them around. Even Mercedes is rumored to have higher powered non-AMG coming for the FWD cars, and not just 240hp-ish M270 as seen in the new C300.
So I think BMW will build a 300hp I4 powered car this decade - maybe even sooner than we all think.