Ovr50, couldn't agree with your second comment more. I was going to answer your first post by saying that a true enthusiast would appreciate a BMW 2002 more so than an awesome track beast...obviously you were there...
My point is that an "enthusiast" gets joy out of driving, period. I've had fun driving a lot of cars. The two best handling cars I've ever driven were a Lotus Elise and, believe it or not, an 86 Honda Prelude Si (not that odd in a sense, Car and Driver called it one of the top handling cars in the world when it did a comprehensive test long, long ago...it came in behind a Porsche 944). I've driven a fair assortment in between, but those stand out. And a large part of why I enjoyed them was that it was a treat to go get groceries. My next car is going to be a Mini for that reason. I just got rid of a WRX because I couldn't truly enjoy it often enough to make up for the daily irritants (turbo lag, crappy interior, crappy sound system, odd bulge in drivers seat...)
Many, many cars can generate awesome numbers, far fewer make you feel good just pootling down the road.
If an M3 does that for you, enjoy. If you had a Bimmer in '71 you obviously appreciate the basics. Most BMW drivers today I couldn't say the same about.
opg210