BMW Drops Prices for US 1-Series
The car that's got American propellerheads in a spin just got a bit more desirable. BMW's announced that the 230-horse 128i will start at a modest $29,375. The 300-horse money-shot 135i will begin at $35,675. For reference, the base price of a 328i sedan is $32,400 and the 335i sedan starts at $38,900. Most of BMW's base prices are deceiving since you have to pay extra just to look at them for leather seats, metallic paint and automatic transmissions. Interweb rumors say the 135i may come with lots of standard sports kit (suspension, brakes, etc), so the baby Bimmer could turn out to be a better value than it seems. Still, comparing the 1 to the 3, who's gonna complain about saving $3000? Rich sorority girls and penny-counting petrolheads will be able to get their hands on their own 1-Series in the spring.
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@ Argentla, where did you get that information? According to the technical data the 135i weighs 3373 lbs unladen (unladen = with 150lb driver and full tank of gas) vs 335i @ 3571. All test data I have seen reports the actual weight to be less than this.
With normal options its around 5k cheaper than the 335i. Kind of odd as I was expecting at least 8k lower than the 3 series. A normally equipped 135i (sport/prem/auto/sat/etc) is over 42k. The 328i coupe with same options is the same price as the 135i. Go figure.
I have a feeling the convertible, using a cloth top and shorter roof, may both price-, and performance wise be closer to the coupe than its respective 3 series counterpart. That’s the one I'm waiting for. The 3 is just too complex and heavy, and nobody except surfboards and bicycles rides in the back seat of a convertible anyway.
I knew BMW would do this but $50k is quiet steep for a car of that size. I know BMW wants to keep the premium brand image but I would rather they drop the turbo and only have three packages; base, sport, and luxury with price range of $30 to maxed out price point of $40k. The 1-series is the entry BMW and options should be limited. While I like the turbo six I don't think it should be in the entry level segment.