Quote:
Originally Posted by mkoesel
It may not be to your taste - fair enough.
But the B48 powered vehicles - the X3 30i, X4 30i, 330i, 430i and 530i - sell in huge volume. Certainly far more than their B58 powered M Performance siblings (though the 540i is probably similar volume to the 530i). Of course, many of these are sold to people living below the snow belt (who don't need AWD and may be attracted by the pricing of a relatively stripped down vehicle), but there are likely to be almost as many sold to people living further north, the majority of whom choose AWD in today's market.
Another way to look at it - the M*40i models are definitely not driving the market in AWD BMW sales. It's the lesser sibling.
Now the Gran Coupe may be more of a southern state model for whatever reason (anecdotally, I don't see many up here compared to the others I listed), and that could be why. But it is definitely not because most folks in the north think BMW's four cylinder is underpowered. If they did then BMW's sales would surely tank and they'd rectify the problem with a B48B20T1 (which doesn't exist - only the "A" variant does) or something similar.
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I don't think that 430i is underpowered. It is pretty good engine. Very potent. But. X-drive with non M cars kills BMW driving feeling to me.
X drive train weights cca 90kg on the front axle. Plus there are additional transmission loses. All in all different car. Although it is good for places with lot of snow during winter.