Now theres 1 series, 2 series, 3, 4, 5, and you can get lots of them in 2 door, 4 door, M-trim, "GT" styling, or the M3,M4,M5... I argue there is "too much choice" and it dilutes the whole brand.

i kind of agree, at least when I first started shopping around 9 months ago I did. Like a lot of people, I went to dealerships, test drove a couple cars here an there, and quickly realized I had no idea what some of the salesman were talking about - there were so many options, levels, trims, packages - each with code names and different parameters, etc..

i stopped looking, it was overwhelming and turned me off audi, bmw, ford. but i was drawn to the chevy ss [looking for performance sedan, wanted an m3, balked at price], it had one model. But then it also had zero otpions other than color and transmission - and not much color choice either has virtually 1 was in stock.

eventually I bit the bullet and did all my research online, learning the package codes, different build options etc... website's 'build your car' capabilities have come along way. eventually I found my sweet spot, took prints and builds to dealerships and had them look for closest matching.

point is - if your going to spend 40-60k on a vehicle, you want a lot of options, and bmw gives you a ton, and not just add ons, but whole packages that change the driving dynamic - to the point your car feels tailored to exactly what your looking for. Only a few auto makers do that well; bmw and porsche def. excel at it. Does it create overlap, hell yeah. You can option out a 3 series to costing double the initial price tag and looks exactly like a 5 series. And the M prices are out of control, def. paying a hefty premium for the M emblem on the trunk.