There's a BMW 123d running around in Michigan

BMW finally launched the 1-series here in the U.S. recently after selling the smallest BMW-badged vehicle in Europe for several years. Unfortunately, since the commercial failure of the 318ti a few years back, they've come to the conclusion that Americans just don't want Bimmers with fewer than 6 cylinders. As a result, the 1-series ended coming here with the same 6 cylinder options available in the slightly larger 3-series. That means no 4 cylinder engines of either gasoline or diesel varieties, including the vaunted twin-turbo 2.0L diesel in the 123d. The aluminum block four cylinder puts out 204hp and 295lb-ft of torque while achieving 45mpg (U.S.) on the EU combined cycle.

An eagle eyed reader happened to spot an unusual 1-series in Flint, Michigan the other day thanks to the fact the car in question had the three door hatchback body style that's not sold here either (we only get the 2 door coupe and convertible). The 1-series hatch happens to be a 123d. Don't go getting your hopes up, BMW hasn't changed their mind (yet). This example is part of Bosch's diesel promotional fleet along with a number of other cars. The 123d and several other European spec diesels are new arrivals that are already scheduled to spend some time in the ABG garage in the coming weeks. We're particularly looking forward to driving these new arrivals since none of them are big hefty SUVs. Stay tuned for reviews soon!

[thanks to typhoon500 for the photos]