Like all of the BMW cars, they've gotten bigger, lighter and turbo charged to the gills. Ok, not a fan but, BMW is still one of few interesting cars to drive for the money when you compare the other makes and brands like Porsche, Audi and Mercedes.
But, I find myself wondering whether BMW really knows what they're doing with this strategy of bigger, lighter and turbo chargers. I welcome the M4, M2 and any other version that BMW can come up with. And I'm not going to get into a rant about prices, options and BMW’s greed for M badgging (at least not now). At the end of the day, whatever BMW you drive the question that remains is; does the "Ultimate Driving Machine" that you own excites you?
The 4 previous BMWs that I had the pure pleasure and GOD Blessings to own (320i, 325i, 525i and 740i sport) all dam near killed me with pure driving excitement. And when I was looking for my 5th BMW, I was looking for another car that would give me the goose bumps and the occasional wet pants. Unfortunatedly, I discovered the "Ultimate Driving Machine" was fading away and BMW was the cause.
I test drove every one of the 3, 5, 6 series (except the 650i and all M's) and was totally disappointed. Nice cars for long trips but no goose bumps or monster under the hood. When I finally got to the M's, I disovered that the M5 was the best large car, monster under the hood, plus great long trip choice of them all. But at $100K plus, it wasn't what I was looking for. And when I finally got to chance to test drive a 2013 M3, th rest was history. Pound for pound, dollar for dollar it represented the best buy for the money, excitement factor, drivability etc. The only cars that did better were the Porsche Boxter S and 911 S but for a lot more money.
So, what's the point? I just purchased a 2013 M3. This is the last year the M3 with the current specs will be produced. And in my opinion represents the last "Ultimate Driving Machine" in BMW line up under $100K. My next "Ultimate Driving Machine" may just be a Porsche if BMW srews this up.
