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The BMW 1M was a fantastic car, a lot of power for their smallest frame. 135 msport was like 70% of the way there. The N54/N55 for all it's issues was a pretty good tunable motor. Closest thing you can get to it today is an M2 Comp or M240i if you want to same some cash.
All new cars kinda suck though, and will never be as reliable as they used to be. Blame regulation, emission requirements, safety requirements, consumer demand for useless tech, etc. Cars have to be taller so that passengers don't fly over the hood if they get hit, cars need more airbags installed everywhere for safety tests. This adds more size and weight which means the engines have to make more power, except they also have to produce less tailpipe emissions and get higher mpg than they did before. Turbos, direct injection, and now hybrid drivetrains are helping out, except this adds a ton of electronic complexity and tbh between material costs and labor unions, I bet the margin is lower on a new car today than it was 20 years ago, despite them costing 2x as much.
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