[W///]

Originally Posted by mlambert890

The M3 certainly isn't for everyone. Also, people tend to come up with elaborate justifications for whatever it is they decide is most appealing, or whatever they can afford. Thats just human nature. The exclusivity argument is a good example. Above I saw NOVA get mentioned. I would argue that unless you are rolling around in a Veyron, you're kidding yourself if you think *anything* you drive is "exclusive" rolling around NOVA. I can't count the times I've snapped pics of crazy s h i t like a CGT parked *next to* a 458 at the *Tyson's Mall* down there and I only get down a few times a year on business. NOVA is like Miami or SoCal. Nothing is exclusive because there is too much money there and too many people blow too much of it on cars. If you live in an area like that, and your big concern is exclusivity, you have to just spend as much as you can *possibly* afford honestly and hope its enough to make you feel special (not being sarcastic here) The GTR tends to be good for that because, despite only being $100k, people orgasm over it 24x7 even in the most jaded areas (part of why i sold it - I actually find that a turnoff).

On the objective side, I think a lot of people that leave the M3 leave it because their primary concern, atop all others, is stoplight racing. In that case the M3 was never going to fit anyway. It's never been a stoplight racer car at all. Hopefully BMW doesn't cave in and turn it into one. There are already *so* many of those and IMO its diminishing returns and ultimately boring (mashing go pedal and claiming victory after tripling the street speed limit). But thats just me. I am sure there are many who would want BMW to just follow AMG and make a GTR/CTS-V/C63 clone.

On the other side of the spectrum, some leave because the E9x has become "too soft". This happens with every marque. I get it, but its also super subjective. For every person claiming the E36 is the most incredible M3 of all time I can show you ten that will say it doesnt even belong in the same sentence as the E30. The "not old school enough" pissing contest is as eternal as the "not enough TOOOOORQUE!" pissing contest.

In the end it's all about discovering what your own personal priorities are and then finding the car that suits them best.

Of course for many, these days, I think they just get bored really quickly and move on to "the next thing". Each time that "next thing" is the most amazing thing ever until, 6 months later, its time to get rid of it.

Nice post!

P.S Agreed about NOVA. Always something interesting to look at.