[MarkDemma]

So for me, driving dynamics is probably the most important thing about a car. My first BMW I got almost by accident. I'd owned an Acura Integra GSR and it had a lot of the characteristics I liked - a small-ish nimble car that was fun to drive. When it was time to replace, I couldn't find any Coupes at the Acura dealer, they had stopped making them, but they did have a CPO 330Ci ZHP there that I took on a test drive on a whim. I was hooked. I'd stumbled on to perhaps one of the best driving cars ever made. And it didn't hurt that it looked drop dead gorgeous.

I kept the E46 quite a while because I hated the E92 generation. Felt bloated, the first gen of the electronic steering was dreadful and I didn't care for the styling. It wasn't until I found the M240i that I was willing to get a new one. It really was almost perfect, for me at least. The steering still isn't as good as the old hydraulic, but does seem better than their first try.

During a servicing, they gave me one of the new 3s as a loaner and I have to say that I did think it was a vast improvement over the last couple of 3/4 generations. It did make me think that a new 2 series based on CLAR might not be such a bad thing ... IF they didn't bleep it all up like they did the 4.

Now that we are actually getting some better hints, so far I have to say:

Pros:

Remaining RWD. Thanks the Gods.
CLAR is a better chassis overall so should have better handling dynamics.
The overall body style doesn't look bad.
Looks like it won't have the same sort of gods awful grill the 4er has - that would have been a deal breaker.

Cons:

As folks mentioned, the front air vents (if the photos are real) look really bad.
I hate tail pipes that aren't round.
It will have the awful new digital dash (but we knew it would).

Don't know yet.

Will the M sport (M240i replacement) get a B58 or just the B48? Having the newer B58 would be nice.
And will the M240 get a manual transmission?

My ideal would be M240i with B58 and manual. My guess would be that the B58 is possible, but the manual will likely be reserved for just the M2.

I've heard it mentioned that perhaps by the time they get to a LCI refresh they might fix some of the problems. Those refreshes often will make changes to the front and rear. I'm also hoping that all the negative feedback about the digital dash will spur some clean up and improvements there. I'm not looking to replace my M240i anytime soon so perhaps by then some of the problems would be fixed.