In the USA, people “used” to buy BMWs because it was the brand out of the big German 3 that offered the most driver involvement… it was also the brand that was always more performance and driving focused as opposed to all out luxury. BMW themselves marketed themselves as the Ultimate Driving Machine… those days are sadly long gone and all the large manufacturers are simply producers of luxury items so it no longer matters… so yes I agree with you, it no longer matters… but sadly it also no longer makes the brand as special as it used to be… whether you think that’s right or wrong is up to you so there is a reason this mindset persists… if you want the lowest level of just straight up luxury and don’t care about anything else, then yea it doesn’t matter but there is a reason the X1, M235i and all other FWD biased BMWs are trashed by any enthusiast.
an X3 M40i is faster than an E92 M3 and almost as fast as an F80 m3… simply due to awd and ease of launch… top end is a different story but around town, the differences aren’t as large as one may think