German Car Zone

You mean the antracite roof? That does not make any differene at all... same materials.

As for the gear lever, that is, in my book, one of the weak spots of the M-sport package.

It looks better, even if it's the same materials. And BMW charge a premium for it, suggesting there is some advantage to having it. And actually, I'm not 100% certain but I think the anthracite roof is different fabric to the touch. I would be interested to know for sure.

Yeah, they are charging like 100 euros for it. It looks like it is the same fabric with a different colour.

I guess what some have tried to say is that if you are putting the BMW trademark on the plate there should be a minimum standard in the quality of the product, with which I completely agree. You cannot go around putting a BMW badge on everything and claiming it deserves it just because is the best among it's competitors. Just because BMW is competing on a lower segment and their worst is almost as good as someone's best, it doesn't mean we should be praising them for mediocrity.

As for the 1 series, I don't understand their pricing scheme, I don't understand their real positioning. And I don't think BMW needs this segment at the moment, or at least not the current design or product as it is. They are too close. The X1, for example, I mean where do the X3 goes from here. If a regular person sees this in the street they'll probably think is an X3 reemplacement rather than a new segment. It's crazy. In my opinion, BMW is overexpanding. Or doing so too quickly. They are on a spree of unnecessary car production. The market for these cars hasn't matured enough to justify their entrance. These will be the segments of the near future and they want to have presence early in the game, but it just doesn't feel right. I'd rather going in late but with quality and afterthought, than rogue trailblazing.