Quote:
Originally Posted by Oliver1
American manufacturers do it all the time. Same model, just different engine, 4/6 cylinder, gas/diesel, all under one model designation. My guess is that they are saving the S55 for a GTS variant in a couple of years.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hyperzulu
Yeah, but come on... you said it yourself, American manufacturers. The whole point is that a German manufacturer bringing a car into the US has to decide whether it is cost effective for them to import the car. An American manufacturer has an immediate upper hand in terms of cost. BMW does the same thing in Europe, as well as plenty of European brands that don't sell in the US market at all. There are diesel variants of just about every BMW, sometimes two diesel engines. Here we get like five diesel models.
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Let's be honest. The M2 is getting the N55 because it's cheaper. BMW have plenty of reasons to stick to the N55.
Cost. The S55 is more complicated and more expensive, and this car is intended to be "affordable".
Lineup placement (protecting the status of more expensive offerings).
It sucks that the car isn't getting an S-engine, but such is the price of getting an "entry point" M-car. It's a catch 22. If the 1M had been a failure, we wouldn't get this car at all.
Because the 1M was a success, we get this car, but with an N55 engine.