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Originally Posted by mkoesel
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.
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.
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It depends on how the market pans out. But next for growth will downsized Performance SUVs for the compact/ sub-compact segment.
We are already seeing some competitors move forward with challengers here.
I recently won a bet from around 10 years ago when I said Porsche will have a mid-size SUV in that 10 years. And have a new bet that there will be a compact Porsche SUV by the end of this decade.
Many at BMW reckon it will be time for BMW X1M to provide high performance in this segment. Early design work has commenced with some proposals using the widened arches of the M235i Racer. For BMW X1 M to exist it will possibly share engine with the upcoming M2. But will be available in xDrive only.
A decision won't be made until the F48 has launched in 2015.
One such vehicle decided will be X1s sister car the MINI Countryman which will come in a full JCW model as MINI move forward to implement JCW on certain models Allowing a BMW M type of exclusivity to JCW.