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      01-18-2012, 08:01 AM   #39
advantage20
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Definitely an ///M135i road testing prototype, disguised into an ///M Sport 135i (which shouldn't exist as is since it would be redundant with the ///M135i). The ///M135i however should look almost exactly like this '///M Sport' prototype except for a few details : paint the black rear diffuser in body color and throw in a couple of vents, put the front bumper of the 1er Performance Studie showcar, change the rims and slap the required badge on the trunk lid, and there you have your ///M Performance version.

The 'normal' ///M Sport (not ///M Performance) 235i coupé should however exist***. This leads me to think that the ///M Performance 2er will get the suffix 40i instead of 35i in order to make it sound clearly more upmarket than the 35i and avoid confusions between 235i and ///M235i. So I personally see an ///M240i, and for consistency reasons, an ///M140i instead of an ///M135i as we might think. The 40i suffix would also match the 640i and 740i nomenclatures which get the 320ps version.
So I imagine the following ranges :

1er range (3 door and 5 door hatches) :
- No 135i (either regular or ///M Sport)
- Instead, an ///M Performance 320ps ///M140i (or ///M135i***)
- No ///M version

2er range (2 door coupé and cabrio) :
- 306ps ///M Sport 235i***
- 320ps ///M Performance ///M240i ***
- 360ps ///M2

3er range (4 door sedan, 5 door wagon and 5 door 3GT) :
- 306ps regular version 335i
- 306ps ///M Sport 335i
- 340ps ///M Performance ///M340i (sedan and wagon only)
- 450hp ///M3 (probably sedan only, wagon depending on demand)

4er range (2 door coupé, 2 door cabrio and 4 door coupé 4GC) :
- 306ps regular version 435i
- 306ps ///M Sport 435i
- 340ps ///M Performance ///M440i
- 450ps ///M4

How does that sound?

***PS: as mkoesel pointed it out, there might be no 306ps 235i at all but only the 320ps ///M Performance version replacing it. In that case, the latter might well be called ///M235i and not ///M240i since the -35i suffix will be free to use, and therefore the 3 and 5 door hatch versions might be called ///M135i by extension.

Last edited by advantage20; 01-18-2012 at 10:16 AM..
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