[CSBM5]

The main reason *many* buyers today want something like an M2 sedan is that the F30/80 3-series is a huge car with a wheelbase longer than the E23 7-series, width more than the E23, etc. My wife has zero interest in an E23, E39-sized car. Audi is cleaning up with the new A3 sales in the small sedan segment. BMW was apparently thinking price was the key, but it's not. The A3 didn't steal a thing from the A4 sales if you compare year over year numbers as the A4 was strong too. Hence Audi has tapped the pulse of the marketplace that simply is fed up with a "series" car getting larger and larger such that now the smallest BMW sedan is the size of the E23 7-series and E39 5-series.

BMW knows this and is late to the game. In the meantime, Audi and Merc are going to clean house in this size sedan market segment.