Apparently, BMW is actually looking into the possibility of selling their popular European 320i and 120i models here in the U.S. The news came via Edmunds’ Insideline yesterday and they were quoting BMW’s Project Director Oliver Friedmann.
It is well known that BMW has been a little disappointed with the 135i Coupe sales and they are looking to change that. The BMW 135i Coupe suffered from low sales due to the higher than expected price, which pushed away even the most passionate 1er lovers. As we mentioned when the car was released, by positioning the 135i so close to its “bigger brother”, the 335i, BMW has put themselves in a tough spot. Everyone started to debate on whether the 3 Series will be still a better buy than the overprices 135i.
When Mercedes-Benz announced a four-cylinder diesel that will make its way into the U.S market sometimes in 2010, we knew it was just a matter of time until BMW will make their move. Looking from a fuel efficiency perspective as well, the 320i and 120i models seem very appealing. The 3er direct-injection four cylinder outputs 170 horsepower, same as the BMW 120i. If you ask me, plenty enough even for the most bimmer die-hard fans.
These latest news correlate with what we posted a few days ago: BMW is indeed looking into phasing out larger, not so efficient engines, and focus more on the smaller ones that will also allow them to keep the prices within the “acceptable” range.
[Source: Insideline ]
8 Responses to “BMW 320i and 120i coming to the U.S?”
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I thought the 135i was selling relatively well given the current market? My local dealer cannot keep them on the lot. I haven’t seen too many on the road but with a US allocation of only 10,000 for 2008 I didn’t expect to see many.
I’ve said this everywhere I can but I’ll say it again. BMW please bring over a variant of the E90 320Si with a mid-mounted engine. PLEASE! I’m telling you right now that you’ll sell at least one of them!
@Gragop: They will come, I have no doubt. I also strongly believe that the 4cyl twin turbo will make it here as well. There are more talks of a 1 Series tii with that engine.
@Gragop: I think I replied to the wrong comment, but regardless. As far as the 135i selling well, they did for a while, but now it has slowed down. Most of the dealerships in IL have lots of models in their lots. I blame it on the high price.
stupid high prices all over the place
no wonder the sales aren’t as good
@Artmic: I think BMW has been pretty good about controlling the pricing and not letting it get out of hand, but in the end they are running a business, so they need to make money.
You guys are funny!Have you checked out how much bimmers sell for in Europe? If you take into account the exchange rate there could be cases in which US folks buy them even cheaper than the German folks!As far as the 4 cylinder engines are concerned: as long as they don’t bring over the 116,118 and 316,318 I don’t think it will damage the company’s image.
@Horatiu B.:
What’s funny is, like I said, I haven’t seen many on the road, mostly 128i Covnertibles but I did catch a 135i coupe running around a few days ago yet my dealer has only a 128i and 135i demos, never inventory. I wish I saw just a few more so I could decide if I liked how it looked on the road.
Again, If BMW made another production run of the E90 320Si I’d be happy with a 4 cyclinder BMW. Unfortunately, as it was a homologation car for WTCC we probably will never see them in production again.
You will not see any more 320si, that is right. And I have to admit that it is not such a great car as you might think… The engine is not so powerful, it needs a lot of revs and has not got too much litres…