Mods: Thanks for keeping this one going. Really no intention to diss the 1m here.
The real purpose of this thread is to see what the consensus is as to what is the last "real ///M." But in reality, as we discuss this, i think the better phrase is "last
true ///M." We've heard that come up a lot in the context of BMW's move to turbos, so it's fair to say that people have some sort of conception of a "true M."
To me, a true M car has a high revving NA engine with incredible responsiveness and lots of high end power, relatively lightweight feel with some "rawness" to it, balanced and precise handling, and not too much luxury and other BS.
That's why I picked the E46.
The E9X is obviously a better car and would be my choice if it wasn't so much bigger and luxo'd up. The 1M has only some of the qualities that fit my definition, but as JC pointed out, the engine is a key component to an M car, so I have a hard time giving the 1M that title. Does the F10 M5 deserve to be written off for the same reason? The jury is still out on the engine, but the added weight and luxo items caused me to omit it from the poll.
shout out to Z4M and E36/8 M coupe with S54 as other contenders. I wanted to include more cars on the poll, and these two should have been on the list.