[JamesNoBrakes]

The reliability of the German high strung turbo engines isn't great, so I'll start there. Owning a new one for a few years isn't a big deal, but owning one for long term is not as simple as a NA V8, even though ours are pretty high strung now too. Long term ownership is a risky endeavor due to the availability and cost of parts IMO. I'm reminded of the day (under warranty) my rear-computer in my 4-series just decided to die, everything aft of the front seats that was electronic was dead.

The 1 and 2 series are very nice cars at smaller tracks and autoX. They are nimble and change direction pretty fast.

The new 2 series has gained weight. A 240i x-drive is crazy heavy, as in 3871. 3871. Let that sink in. That is embarrassingly heavy for the size of the car. For this I wouldn't consider it. If I'm buying a car that SIZE, I want the WEIGHT to be lower. If I'm buying a bigger car, I'm willing to sacrifice some weight to have a bigger car. It should be the same going smaller.

An M2C would be a different matter. It's got the weight to HP ratio that kind of makes up for this. Would be nice to be a little lighter, but it's turning out to be a monster on the track. Still, with BMW costs and dealer markups, this ends up being at least 70K, 80+ at my dealership.

If all you care about is going fast in a straight line (as most people do), you will be hard pressed to find fault with these mega-torque turbo I-6 BMWs. They'll launch and not give up. If you care about the track, for the same price as a M240i, you can be in a 2SS 1LE, but the Camaro will be better at bigger tracks and higher speeds. The wheelbase is longer and this limits the performance on tighter stuff, like AutoX. It works ok on AutoX, but a shorter wheelbase like the M240i will be even better, despite fighting it's porky weight. To that extent, a 4cyl or V6 1LE would probably do even better, but won't be as luxurious as a BMW, the cabin isolation, noise isolation, smooth ride, etc.