I'm not just an American, I'm also a BMW 120d user. I've been lucky enough to have have scored a job in Scotland, and my wife an I wanted a car that we couldn't get in the US, and my wife has been wanting a BMW for a while, so we ordered a 2007 120d.
Specs: 5-door, half cloth/leather interior, comfort access, memory seats, lumbar support, heated seats, premium sound system, 6 speed, sport suspension package, Visibility package, parking sensors front and rear.
Here are some of my impressions after driving it for 4 months and about 1500 miles.
It's an absolutely lovely car. The dynamic stabiltiy control system rocks. I love throwing it into a roundabout with the pedal floored, have the rear kick out, and then have the electronics bring everything back under control. The 120d is plenty powerful. It'll spin the single rear wheel easily under power. The car really, REALLY should have a limited slip differential option. I love having a rear wheel drive car again after a few years of Civic and VW Golf ownership. Prior to that I had a '93 F-150 Lightning. I've dragraced and autocrossed my previous rides. I wish I had this 120d stateside to thrash. I have had to adjust to driving a diesel though. I've tagged the rev limiter so many times. I've just had to adjust to short shifting, ie shifting at 4500 RPM instead of 7000 RPM. You just have to adjust to TORQUE instead of HP.
The comfort access is so sweet. The keychain remote stays in my pocket. I just grab the door handles to unlock and open the door, and then when leaving a quick swipe on top of the handle locks the doors. My wife and I are about a foot different in height, so the memory seats are great.
Speaking of seats, wow are they nice! I have the lumber support and heat options. The side blosters of the sport seat and all the adjustability is remarkable.
The premium sound system is everything I need it to be. Plenty loud, very clear, and it does have an generous amount of bass.
One of my favorite features is the Auto Stop / Start. When stopping in traffic for a stop light, just put the car in neutral, let the clutch out, and the engine turns off. No wasted fuel. Very smart! When the light turns green, just push the clutch in, then engine automatically starts, put the car in gear, and away I go.
As I've already mentioned, I was a truck owner. I just don't see the point anymore. The fuel mileage is just terrible. If I have a car with a reasonable amount of power, I can pull my motorcycles on a trailer. For just about all other activities the hatchback is perfect. Groceries, IKEA, hardware store, whatever, it'll likely fit for 90% of my big purchases.
When I get back to the states in a couple years, I'll be looking for a hatchback. Subaru is at the top of my list, unless BMW brings a 1 series hatch to the US, and then I'll be a repeat buyer.