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There was a time - no so long ago in fact - that RWD typically meant sporty, great handling, and fun while FWD typically meant floaty, under-steering and slow.
These days, its no longer the case. The RWD cars - the non-high-performance ones, anyway - have gotten softer while FWD cars now employ many of the tricks and chassis tuning that used to be reserved for RWD cars. The result is, the value equation for entry level RWD luxury cars has become much more difficult to balance. There may very well still be tangible differences between the experience you get from a Camcord and BMW 3 Series, but they are not the polar opposites they once were. Furthermore, when you consider you get almost 100hp more in the Camcord for the same price, the 3 becomes a much tougher proposition to justify.
That being said, I completely understand the need for an entry level BMW, so I have no problem with the 320i being sold in the US. As for the loaner question, I don't really care what my loaner is so I probably wouldn't mind a 320i. I've driven cheap sub-compacts as rentals before and I just drive them pedal to floor - it can actually be fun to drive a slow car at its limit.
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