M-series for Mad Marketing
The customer ain't king if your choices are limited for artificial reasons. This time I pick BMW and their 1-series. Famous for sporty driving, the manufacturer tells you, no, not this one, if you wish to buy a 3-door BMW 135i "hatch coupé" with more than 320hp engine (called N54B30), you just get the 130i with around 270hp engine (named N52B30).
The 130i is a very nice car with a great engine, no doubt, but I'd prefer a 135i 3-door (called E81) to all other body styles like the 5-door "sports hatch" (the E87 looks awkward) or the coupé (nice, the back of the E82 looks a bit short though) or the cabriolet (E88, best of the rest). If you are North American, you don't even have the choice of the hatchback variants, you just get the coupé and the convertible, full stop. Someone has decided, that practicality is not for the Americans... READ MORE on automental.com
