Why not a 235i? From what I can tell after speaking with TRL from BabyBMW they are pretty heavily discounted at the moment.
Yea. Trying to remember the figures but I think they were around the same level as when the 135i's were cheap, certainly cheaper than a 135i is now.
doesn't actually look as great as I remembered, maybe incentives aren't so great since the new year - http://www.babybmw.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=82618 but this thread has his email - http://www.babybmw.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=80539
9+23 8k Miles p/a Initial Payment: £2,931.48 Additional Fees: £180 INC VAT £325.72 Per Month, INC VAT That's for a M235i convertible. Quite a bit dearer than the M135i lease deals from a couple of years ago.
Just over £40k for a standard RS3 just now. A bit over £38k from broad speed. I would imagine that would have been less 4-5 years ago. The one linked is gone now, but didn't look too hugely specced IIRC. £10k+ in options, while easily done, is a lot none the less. Probably closer to £42k for one with a halfway reasonable spec. Such as paint, comfort and sound pack, tech pack audi connect, cruise and tints. Again, no doubt less them years ago. You'd be ticking nearly every box to hit £50k+. So still not too bad on depreciation, so long as you don't go wild with the options boxes.
are you sitting down Fox ?, quoted from dealer "Nothing official out there....but seeing lots of unsold M135i at status 1100 in June falling into 0500 non-buildable. I cannot order up any more 3 doors now and have got only about 5 build slots left for the proper engine 5 door. No M135 being built after week 30 according to the system. Sounds like a switch over between week 30 and week 34 for a September launch to me. All gut feeling mind. As for deals, I can only use the current form to guide us, the 340i and 440i all came out with the same support as the replaced car. However there was a price increase. I have a sneaky feeling that BMW will throttle back on the current support by £500 or so. Means the new car will potentially be around £20 per month more than the old model."
Lexus ISF? Just as fast, far better noise, more reliable, rare, practical.. all in all a great car! My opinion may be slightly bias.. Not sure whether you want to lease? Obv that rules out the Lexus.