Whoa! That's it!?
I'll admit to never having bothered to check the price of BMW's top trim models because "they're probably way overpriced anyway", but, that's really quite affordable (never thought I'd ever say this). Not that I can afford one though.
I mean... a S2000 is that price. A G37 is that price. Hell, a sport G35 is getting up there. Even an Acura TL-S is $48k. Geeze, the Japanese are getting expensive. If I were shopping in the $45-50,000 range it'd take some real hard convincing to sway me from the BMW.
Keep in mind that BMWs compare with other luxury brands in base price, but BMWs tend to be very stripped compared to their competitors. A G37 has leather seating power seats, heated seating, a great sound system, metallic paint, etc standard. These sorts of things are frequently (pricey) options on BMWs. When you're comparing identically-equipped Infinitis and BMWs, suddenly the BMWs don't seem so cheap after all.
BMW 335i coupe base: $50,600
BMW 135i base: $41,700
G37 coupe base: $47,350
The 335i comes standard with power seats, heated seats, and real dakota leather. Metallic paint is optional...but so is the pearl paint on the G37. What I like about BMW is that you can buy most of the options individually. Infiniti packages them all into $3k + options. Really, they are fairly closely priced especially when you look at the value of the car after 4+ years.
Re: the 1 series comments, you're right -- it's smaller and weighs only 300lbs less than the 335i. But $10k is a big chunk of change. The 1 is not the car for you if you're looking for something practical (get a similarily priced G35 sedan or 328i). It's more of a competitor to the 370Z/G37 and other sporty coupes. People whine about it being too expensive
![Roll Eyes ::)](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/rolleyes.gif)
(in this thread and the 135i cabrio review thread for example)...but look at the numbers it puts out! For example:
135i v. Z4M v. Porsche Cayman S:
http://www.roadandtrack.com/assets/download/Sept_06_data_panel.pdf http://www.roadandtrack.com/assets/download/0508_RT_BMW.pdfThe 135i is 11k less then the Z4M and 30k less then the Cayman S as tested (yowsa!)
-135i is faster then both 0-60. 4.8 vs 4.9.
-Ties the Cayman S in the quarter mile and beats the Z4M
-Better stopping then both Cayman S and Z4M from 60-0
-1 foot behind Cayman in 80-0, but beats Z4M by by 11 feet
-Ties the Cayman S and Z4M in the slalom.
Only one seats 4....ok maybe 3.5
![Wink ;)](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/wink.gif)
Anyways, sorry for going off topic but the endless cries of the 3 series being a stripper and the 1 series being over priced is making my head explode. Back on topic - The 335d is super
![Grin ;D](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/grin.gif)