German Car Zone

Thats what I'm saying dude...cheaper!

Perhaps that is tacit acknowledgement that even the 1er platform is too heavy for a serious 4-cylinder high-performance car, even if turbocharged.

Hope it comes to the US, and if so make sure it doesn't come as standard with a sunroof as the 135i does here.

You know what I imagine: BMW ought to implement the tii brand as the performance moniker for hotted up (but mechanically less complex than M models) turbo'd cars thereby leaving the M division to focus solely on pinnacle performance from naturally aspirated, ultra-high tech models.

It's a strategy that could work in exactly the same way that it does for Porsche when they offer turbocharged and normally aspirated models as well as two wheel drive alongside AWD. The customer essentially can get exactly what they want...

Only problem is of course, will tii become the M division's biggest competitor?

or like Audis S and RS models.

Maybe. When the S models first came along they competed with the M models. Then the M models and the S models evolved differently. The S models took the direction towards the broader audience while the M models were still enthusiasts only. Then M models broaden and (once again) came the CSL models for the enthusiasts. Today the M3 is more like the S models... made for a broad audience and the enthusiasts long for a CSL... So, the tii models would make a fine gap filler between the M models and the more mundane versions. The hard part is that the tiis has to be cheap. Cheaper than doing it yourself with a X35i or whatever model they will be based on.